Either/or either works, or it doesn’t. Sometimes we really do have to pick our poison. Other times we find ourselves being roped into a false dilemma, and escape through a tertium quid, a third option. Joshua asked the Captain of the Lord’s hosts if He was for the children of Israel or for the children of Jericho. He wisely answered, “No.”
Viet Nam is no argument for pacifism. Chamberlain is no argument for waging aggressive war. We can be against this war, but not against all wars. We can be for that other war, but not for all wars. And so it is with Twitter Wars.
It is not my contention that we all have a duty, if we can’t say something nice, to say nothing at all. It is my contention, however, that not every time some member of the Axis rattles his cyber saber that it is the duty of every member of the Allies to rattle back and amass toy soldiers on the border. In fact, it may be that the best course of action is for all of us to keep our swords in their scabbards.
My gratitude for the courage, Biblical insight and humility of Martin Luther knows no bounds. As we approach the 502nd anniversary of his nailing his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg, we would do well to remember that he wasn’t starting a revolution. He simply sought to start a conversation. The fruit of those conversations eventually led to that watershed moment when all the power of Rome was aligned against him, demanding at the Imperial Diet of Worms, they dressed in their gaudy array, and he in his monk’s cowl, that he recant. And he boldly responded, “May I have 24 hours to think about it?”
It was only after a long night of intense prayer that he gave his “Here I stand- I can do no other” speech. We, on the other hand, can’t be bothered to take time to even proof-read before hurling our rhetorical grenades in the latest twitter war. And the issues we fight over are mole hills compared to Luther’s mountain. Maybe he was cautious, slow to speak where we are not because he was facing the very real possibility of being put to death, whereas the worst that can happen to us is we might lose a few followers.
That, however, is just the problem. Because it is “safe” to be over the top in our assaults against others over the interwebs we forget our calling- that we not be contentious, that our speech be marked by grace, that a soft answer turns away wrath, that we will be known to be His by our love one for another. We forget love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We forget that the very ones we are fighting against over secondary issues are those Jesus fights for, the ones He died for. We forget that He came and was crucified for His bride, the Second Eve, not for her ugly caricature, Big Eva.
Lord, teach my hands to make peace and teach me to pray, “Here I kneel; I can do no other.”