The Christian Century has a good online article today by Greg Carey entitled “In Revelation, faithful testimony is peaceable — not necessarily civil“. Though I do not agree with every one of his points, by focusing on Revelation 5 the author provides a good discussion of the peaceable, yet
thoroughly counter-cultural, witness offered by the faithful Church-militant living in this violent world.
I have made similar, though differently nuanced, points in my recent book, I Pledge Allegiance. Look especially at chapters 4 “Living with Dual Citizenship,” 7 “When Disobedience in a Virtue” and 11 “Blessed are Those who Suffer Because of Me.”
Sorry, but I just gotta say this: I Pledge Allegiance: A Believer’s Guide to Kingdom Citizenship in 21st Century America could be the most important Christian book you read this season in securing a solid Biblical foundation for faithful Christian witness in the era of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Here is an an excerpt from Carey’s article:
“…having promised a lion, Revelation delivers no lion. A lamb appears instead—a lamb who has suffered a mortal wound, no less. Nowhere in Revelation does a lion appear. Instead, Revelation’s primary symbol is the Lamb. The Lamb does carry a sword. But that sword protrudes from the Lamb’s mouth. The Lamb, Revelation’s faithful witness (1:5), fights through the power of its testimony. When Rome is displaced with the New Jerusalem, we behold the Tree of Life. Its leaves provide not domination but the healing of the nations (22:2).
“I find the demand for civility troubling in our present moment. In a time of great unrest and violence, we ask marginalized people to show good manners while others are kicking them in the teeth. Too easily we dismiss the disruptive examples of the abolitionists, the suffragettes, the civil rights demonstrators, and those who overcame Apartheid. I suggest instead that Christians turn to the image of the Lamb: so disruptive as to provoke violence, yet persisting in faithful testimony. Faithful witness can be peaceable without necessarily qualifying as civil.”
I couldn’t agree more.
In light of Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ recent call for folks to offer public challenges to Trump’s Cabinet members, the question of public civility is a hot topic — at least for this news cycle. If you didn’t hear Rep. Water’s remarks, please find them and listen to her before voicing an opinion.
Many, perhaps most, pundits have seriously misrepresented what she said. And the numerous threats she has received subsequently are unconscionable by any standard…oh yeah, except for the racist, white supremacist standard. I forgot…
Personally, I am not a big fan of civility debates. I’ve not seen one that was very productive. In my experience, many folks use their particular notion of “civility” as a club to beat down and silence anyone on the opposite side of an issue; or worse yet, to silence debate altogether.
That seems to be the main achievement of these so-called debates — to stifle debate.
Fretting about “civility” then becomes a socially acceptable way of saying, “Sit down and shut up! You are not being civil!” Alas. The sinful cycle of human arrogance continues on and on.
The plea for civility becomes coded language for enforcing conformity: “You are not discussing the issue in the way I wish to discuss the issue; or you are not using the terms, or the tone, or the volume, or the methods, or the deportment, or the tactics, or the whatever that I think you should use. Therefore, your contribution is uncivil, not to be taken seriously, simply because it’s not the same as my contribution.”
Of course, scripture has a lot to say about Christian behavior, private and public speech, personal relationships (both within and outside of the church), as well as our attitudes toward public officials. (Again…you really must read my book!)
Every person is the image of God, someone who ought never be demeaned or mistreated. Followers of Jesus can never endorse or engage in violence. Everyone is worthy of being loved.
All who follow Jesus must be in the process of conforming their attitudes and actions to the Father’s expectations. (So, be a faithful student of scripture, if you aren’t already).
But we can’t forget that the wild variations of individual personalities we encounter are all a part of God’s design. Neither should we overlook the multiplicity of diverse cultural backgrounds and upbringings individuals enjoy, all of which have a role to play in where, how and why different people draw different lines in the sand as to what is and what is not acceptable behavior.
One person’s civility is another’s mumbly-bubkiss. One person’s prophetic witness is another’s spiritual migraine.
Perhaps the Christian’s most important act of civility appears when we accept others for who they are, as they are, while listening to and seriously considering what they have to say, no matter how they say it or act upon it.
The value of an idea stands independently of its verbal vehicle.
Don’t forget. Most of God’s Old Testament prophets were run out of town on a rail because the masses considered them to be the most horrendously, some would say the most fabulously, uncivil of all uncivil people.
