During the single day in which I've been working on this final blogpost in the series on Psalm 37, I've encountered all of the following approaches used by believers to respond to/protect themselves/defend themselves/go on the attack against the people and forces they see as being wicked/unrighteous/enemies of the church:
- Countless shares and retweets of memes or stories portraying the so-called Mainstream Media as intentionally trying to misrepresent the truth and spread fake news while failing to adequately cover not-fake news. Our salvation will come, apparently, from making the right choices about which media sources to trust to agree with us.
- An alarming shared-post on Facebook about how if you type in a certain extremist web address it automatically will take you to a leading presidential candidate's website. Apparently, our salvation will come by making sure we're not rick rolled by the enemies of all that is pure and good in America.
- A weekly (at least) appearance of yet another meme declaring the vital importance of possessing not only guns, but semi-automatic firearms, to protect us all against the people who are out to get us (including the government, who , of course, is out to get our guns). Our salvation, they would have us believe, lies in the carnal weapons of our warfare.
- Another shared meme, this one with the alarming statement that "Any teacher that is indoctrinating our children to hate America should be fired." A commenter asked what seemed a logical question: "Do you know of any that are?" The response: None firsthand. But I'm sure there are some in more liberal areas of the country." Our salvation, it would seem, comes from stirring up fear about something we think maybe somewhere the people who we think might be our enemies are perhaps teaching something anti-American to our children.
- Endless arguments for and against mask wearing, for and against various treatments for the coronavirus, for and against government-imposed restrictions aimed at controlling the spread of the pandemic. Nearly all of them ignoring what scientific experts advise, in favor of a particular philosophical or political approach to a medical issue. Could it be our salvation comes from holding the right opinions about the pandemic and reviling those who hold opposing opinions?
- Christian ministers who are entrusted to mentor children, high school students, college students, international students, and new Christians toward a deeper commitment to the Lord and his mission - putting more energy into posting inflammatory political statements and memes of questionable accuracy and origin, all aimed at belittling and defaming people who they oppose politically but who also need to be mentored toward a deeper relationship with the Lord. It makes me wonder if these ministers believe the salvation of liberals, Democrats, protesters, and people who feel oppressed will come from being defamed by God's people.
Psalm 37 began with David's warning to not fret, to not burn with anger, to not be selfishly envious of the wicked and unrighteous people we see in the world around us.
He goes on to recommend a long list of better responses the people of God can display for the watching world:
- Trust in the Lord
- Do good for the Lord
- Dwell in the land
- Delight in the Lord
- Commit your way to the Lord
- Be still before the Lord
- Wait patiently for the Lord
- Don't focus on schemes
- Refrain from anger
- Turn away from wrath
- Hope in the Lord
- Laugh with the Lord
- Draw your sword for the Lord
- Be generous for the Lord
- Speak wisdom and justice for the Lord
- Keep the Lord's way
- Seek peace for the Lord
Why? Because salvation - for us and for them - comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Psalm 37:39-40
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