We Must Distinguish Between What God's People Do From What They Should Do.

John Pavlovitz (click here for a short bio) has recently written an article about the celebratory reactions of many Christians to America's use of tear gas on migrants who are trying to escape the violence and poverty so prevalent in their own nations and often are at least a partial result of American foreign policies. The title of his article is: Christians Don't Applaud The Tear-Gassing Of Children (click here for the article). And his title and article are correct except for one small omission: the word 'do' is used in place of the word 'should.'

Certainly Pavlovitz has good reasons to entitle and write the article the way he did. That we would minimize the horror that our tear gas attacks have had on their targets by excusing and then applauding those attacks is unconscionable.  That we would minimize our nation's attacks on migrants by blaming them for breaking the law, which they are not when seeking asylum, demonstrates that a significant part of our nation possesses an abusive personality type. For part of being an abusive person is to deflect accountability for one's actions by blaming one's victims.

See, we need to read Pavlovitz's article on how Christians don't applaud these attacks on migrants. I won't say another word  about that article because I could not add by way of review or summary to what he said in his article. So please read the article. But again, to say that Christians don't applaud the violence our nation is practicing against the migrants from the caravan shows an ignorance of both biblical and our nation's history as well as a bit of self-denial.

In terms of Biblical history, Carl Trueman well supports his excellent point that the Bible does not whitewash the sins of God's people when he preaches on Joshua 19 (click here for the chapter and there for video of his sermon). Trueman's point, which he makes in an excellent sermon, is that because of human sinfulness, even God's people are vulnerable to committing great sins. And God's people includes those Benjaminites from Judges 19 who apparently had rejected God to the saintly King David who had one of his commanders murdered so he could steal his wife. 

Of course history shows how God's people can easily go astray when other considerations come into play. The tendency of the conservative Christian Church to support wealth and power over the interests of the people is seen through much of Church history. Three somewhat recent examples can be found in pre-revolutionary times of France, Russia, and Spain. It can also often found not just in American history but in today's America. And that the conservative Church provided support for slavery as well as significant support for the then subsequent Jim Crow laws and culture are well documented.

But we Christians don't need examples from the Bible or from history to learn how God's people don't do what they should do. We can see enough examples just from looking at our own lives.

Again, Pavlovitz's article is a necessary read which is why very little is being said here in review. The article's only weakness is to assert what Christians don't do instead of saying what Christians should not do.