On Monday of this week, Thabiti Anyabwile published at The Gospel Coalition website Three Reasons I Stand with the Protestors referring to those who have engaged in protests of what has been described as “the senseless killings” of young African American males.The stance taken by Mr. Anyabwile brought to mind an experience when I, a newly ordained Presbyterian minister, attended the meeting of the Synod of Florida of the Presbyterian Church U.S. I got an immersion experience in the life of my church. Dr. Albert Winn introduced a proposed new confession of faith. A female minister presided at the Lord’s Table. And two big social/political issues got debated. One question put before us was whether we should endorse the efforts of Caesar Chavez to organize farm workers. The other was whether we should petition the President to grant amnesty to those young men who had gone to Canada to avoid the draft during the Viet Nam War. For the majority who voted in favor of both proposals these were pressing issues of justice that the church could not avoid. The time to take a stand and to speak clearly had come. I believed then and believe now that, while these were serious matters worthy of discussion by society, for the church to address them as issues of righteousness was evidence of the PCUS’s commitment to what was then called “the social gospel,” a commitment which has grown much stronger and more radical in the 40 plus years since I attended Synod.Mr. Anyabwile and others think that in the providence of God the deaths of black men at the hands of police, particularly the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and the stranglehold used on Eric Garner in New York City, have pressed upon American society and the Christian church the issue of racial justice. Yesterday The Gospel Coalition and other organizations conducted “A Time to Speak” an online discussion of race held at the Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Martin Luther King was killed. The Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission moved up its leadership conference on “The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation” from 2016 to March 26-27, 2015.

Mr. Anyabwile prefaces his statement of support for the protesters with a brief exposition of Psalm 11:

 

Mr. Anyabwile begins his exposition:

That’s the haunting question the psalmist asks in light of Israel’s social deterioration. The psalmist lives in a time when the wicked under the cover of dark fire their arrows at the hearts of the righteous (11:2). It’s open season on the just.

The psalmist appears befuddled, overwhelmed with the extensive decay of society. So he asks poignantly, “what can the righteous do?” But as a person of faith, the psalmist places his hopes of righteousness beyond the reach of the wicked.

In my view, Mr. Anyabwile makes an assumption that is common yet mistaken. The Reformation Study Bible notes that the “foundation” is “the kingdom conceived as a political entity, including its economy, military, and the like.” What kingdom is this? It is Israel, the nation distinguished because of its covenantal relationship with God – the Kingdom of God, ruled over by a son of God, King David. David is king of God’s kingdom, and David’s enemies are God’s enemies.

Can what is said about that kingdom be transferred to the United States or any of the nations of this world after Israel in God’s plan of redemption ceased to exist as a theocratic nation? I think not. The point of comparison today is the kingdom ruled by David’s greater Son – the church. The Psalm’s contemporary application is to the the church when King Jesus and his faithful are attacked by his enemies, the doctrinal and moral apostates who undermine the church’s foundation in the Word of God.

We ask: Who in Mr. Anyabwile’s view are the enemies and the righteous/just? Are the wicked the police? The members of society who criticize the protesters? Society itself guilty of what he believes is systemic racism? Are the righteous/just Michael Brown and Eric Garner? African Americans as a group? The protesters?

He rightly points to the confidence the righteous have in the just God of he universe:

But again, we must ask: Who are the wicked and those who love violence? Are those who have what some call white privilege the wicked? Do the police love violence? Who are the righteous who shout “Amen” to God’s vindication of them and judgment upon the unrighteous? Michael Brown? Descendants of slaves? Blacks and whites who join the protests? The minority populations of the United States?

Then Mr. Anyabwile finds that the conclusion of the Psalm is not an assurance and a promise but a call to action:

Yet though He looks to the Lord, the psalmist refuses to retreat into escapist faith claims. The Lord’s heavenly reign does not absolve us of tangible action when injustice threatens the foundations. So the writer concludes, “For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face” (v. 7). God remains righteous (“For the Lord is righteous”); God regards righteousness (“loves righteous deeds”); and God rewards righteousness (“the upright shall behold his face”).

Apparently he sees the Psalmist, not as assuring the believing faithful that God takes note now of their obedience to his will and promising that he will in the future reward them with the beatific vision, but challenging them to do things like take to the streets with the protesters whom Mr. Anyabwile supports. Perhaps I may be permitted to ask: Can anyone imagine Jesus or the Apostles Paul and Peter interpreting the Psalm in this way? Nothing in the Gospel record or the Apostolic writings indicates this is a legitimate approach to the interpretation and application of the Psalm.

These are the reasons Mr. Anyabwile gives for his support of the protesters:

1. I stand with the protesters because they better demonstrate what genuine faith looks like.

They say to us with each step that, “Faith without works is dead.” They disprove the easy-to-believe lie that we can regard ourselves faithful Christians while remaining unmoved when we see a man left for dead in the street, on a sidewalk, shopping at Wal-Mart or playing in a park. They make us to see whether or not we’re the Priest and Levite who passes by on the other side of the Jericho road or like the Good Samaritan who felt compassion and acted.I believe God requires we find ways of standing for justice—even if it’s a way different than marching. I believe God requires it of His people because it reflects God’s own goodness and love for justice. To protest injustice is a righteous thing to do—even a gospel thing to do (Titus 3:8, 14).

2. I stand with the marchers because they are the ones protecting the foundations.

Some Christians oppose the marches and the activists. They have argued and continue to think that Christians should not be involved in protest. They tell us that Christians should only focus on “the gospel” and “spiritual themes.” This, they say, is most true of pastors. They are quick to say, “Ferguson is not the right case to use for justice.” But even when a plain case appears on the screen—like John Crawford shot in Wal-Mart, or Eric Garner choked to death, or Tamir Rice shot while playing—they can’t find it in themselves to say “Here’s the case!” Their failure proves their insincerity. They act as if the gospel has nothing to say to the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized and the mistreated—and that’s why their “gospel” remains a cruel delusion to those who need it in such trying times.

…At the very least, forgetting the indwelling sin that affects all without regard to uniform, they think God’s ordination of government ought to tip us toward believing the word of government officials…Such persons have lost the plot in more ways than one.

…Those who protest lawful protests are, in fact, the ones destroying the foundations of a democracy God has ordained and we have cherished. Lawful protestors don’t threaten us; those who silence and censor do. Every law-abiding citizen–including every law-upholding officer–should protect this right…

We’re kidding ourselves if we think we can remain willfully blind about injustice and hope that our law enforcement officers will see what we refuse. For they are us.

3. I stand with the marchers because they are the ones pursuing a just goal with a just means.

When I watch these young people across the country lie prostrate or march energetically in protest, I’m reminded that this gift of non-violent civil disobedience is, in fact, a gift from African-American Christians to the country…

The genius of the Civil Rights Movement was that it peacefully used a right once denied some citizens to prick the conscience of other citizens until justice was won. It was non-violent civil protest that changed the country without destroying the country. That method did more to change the hearts and minds of the country than any other method used in any other protest before it and has defined protests since. Civic protest succeeded so wonderfully because a preacher understood that suffering and love could be redemptive where violence could not.

Dr. King’s strategy and the courage of the many thousands who joined him gave to this country are redemptive language and method for addressing grievances. If Dr. King were alive, I feel confident we’d find him marching, proclaiming, “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” To the extent that any protestor embraces this approach, I stand with that protestor.

Allow for the differences in the times of Jesus and the Apostles and ours, the political systems under which they lived and we live, but is there in the Gospel record or the Apostolic writings anything that indicates Jesus and the Apostles would be marching with the protesters? Would engage in civil disobedience in cases other than when to do what man requires is to do what God forbids or not to do what God requires? Would our Lord would sit down on a mountain and gather his disciples around him to teach about Michael Brown and the misuse of police power? That the Apostle Paul would in the marketplace, or the synagogue, or the Hall of Tyrannus preach to Jews and Gentiles, to unbelievers and unbelievers to believers about micro-aggressions and systemic racism and white privilege?

Even the fearless preacher of righteousness, John the Baptist, when asked by tax collectors what form their repentance should take did not tell them to join the resistance to the Roman tax system or to seek its reform, but rather, “Collect no more than you are authorized to to do.” And when asked the the same questions by soldiers he did not tell them to leave the unjust Roman army or to refuse to keep order in occupied Palestine but rather, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, an be content with your wages.”

Both the left and right are wont to baptize their social and political views with the Gospel and the Word of God. Tax the rich more. Reduce tax rates for all. Grant illegal immigrants amnesty. Do not grant them amnesty. Spend more on the military. Spend less on the military. Stop provoking religious/political extremists. Destroy religious/political extremists. Get out of Afghanistan. Stay in Afghanistan. Provide health care to every citizen and resident in this country. Health care and insurance are individual responsibilities and decisions. Put restrictions on gun ownership. Put no restrictions on gun ownership. Stop climate change. There is no climate change to stop. Reform the prison system. Lock them up and throw away the key.

You can find someone who will tell you that each of these positions is commanded by the Bible and/or taught by the Gospel – that these are matters of justice and righteousness, of good and evil.

I don’t care whether it is the PCUSA or the PCA, the Episcopal Church or the ACNA, R.J. Rushdoony or Jim Wallis, Steve Wilkins or Thabiti Anyabwile we have heard these things before. All of it is the proclamation of some one’s social gospel. And that, my friends, is no gospel at all.