In light of yesterday’s protests due to the corruption issues that came to light in the last few weeks, I’m posting here a portion of the small group material I wrote for Victory and Every Nation Leadership Institute (ENLI) few years ago. You can download the whole booklet here:
Proverbs 31:8-9 (ESV)
8 Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Is it ever right for Christians to protest?
That’s a big question hounding believers today. Some say that Christians are only supposed to focus on the gospel and spiritual matters. They should not meddle with political issues, let alone get involved in protesting government policies. Others argue that if an issue involves the poor and the marginalized, then Christians should take action as a matter of conscience. Where should the church stand?
Tucked away towards the end of the book of Proverbs, in between the exhortation against drinking and the long description of the virtuous woman, are two social imperatives: to speak out for those who can’t speak for themselves and to defend the rights of the poor and needy.
This text has a chilling historical consequence. Years before World War II, the German church was already aware of some of the misguided attempts to theologize the superiority of Aryan blood over Jewish blood. Christian leaders and the church in general were mostly silent. When Hitler passed into law what would become the legal instrument to kill millions of people, the church still hadn’t found her voice. Except for the scant brave souls who spoke up and paid dearly for their courage (like Bonhoeffer and the Confessing church), history would forever remember the silence of Christians at a time when their voice was needed in the public square. In the aftermath of the war, the German church belatedly reflected back on Proverbs 31:8–9 and realized how they had been complicit to the atrocities of the Nazis simply by keeping silent.1
Continue reading How to Protest Christianly
Jojo Agot 