I watched the news the other night as St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch made the announcement. No indictment against Officer Darren Wilson for the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. I thought McCulloch did and great job, slowly and methodically spelling out every detail before he made the final announcement. Trying to keep things calm. He did his job well.
Because the grand jury made a no-indictment decision in this case, in their minds anyway, Officer Wilson did his job too. Yes, tragically there was a shooting and an 18-year old man died but officer Wilson did his job according to the grand jury.
And in doing so, the grand jury did THEIR job. They were charged with making a judgement, based on evidence and the eye-witness testimony of others.
The soldiers that were called out, the police officers in the line of fire in their community did there jobs as well. The only ones who failed to perform well were those citizens of Ferguson who decided that looting and burning cars were somehow the next logical step in an evening in which they did not get the decision they wanted.
That, in my opinion, is insane. It is lawlessness at its worst.
If we are left to our own devices and we are allowed to do what we want. Officer Darren Wilson would no doubt be hanging by his neck from then end of a rope. He instead is living his life in fear, and rightly so. He should be afraid. Not because of what he did. He simply performed his job. Because of the action he took August 9th, protecting his community, he will now be looking over his shoulder wherever he goes, fearful that someone will end his life.
The thing that strikes me in this whole issue are two things really. One, the black leaders in our nation seem to be fanning the flames, especially Al Sharpton, instead of trying to extinguish them. Would Martin Luther King be doing the same. I think not. He would be advocating peaceful protests. Our president made a few comments but they weren't enough to get people to listen.
Secondly, those people looting and burning businesses. When did it become okay to destroy a random persons property over the actions of another? It's NOT okay!! This whole Ferguson thing is an embarrassment to our nation. Watch the BBC news sometime and discover what the rest of the world thinks of us!
Many of my brothers and sisters in Christ believe that we are in the End Times - the days leading up to the return of Christ. The opening verse of my post today was spoken by Jesus when his disciples asked Him about one of His parables - the parable of The Weeds. According to what I read, these people who are looting and destroying things in Ferguson are being spurred on by the devil. Jesus will judge them when their time comes. And according to Jesus "the weeds" will be "thrown into the fire."
One thing to remember . . . as sad as this situation is, these things WILL need to happen. They have been prophesied. And events like this will get worse.
So what can we do as Christians? I think we need to stick to our beliefs, we need to stand firm for our God and King. In the end, none of this stuff matters, only the salvation we received through our belief in Christ. We need to repent of OUR sins before judging others, and even at that we are not to judge those outside of the church. That is God's job. So we must pray.
We must pray for our nation, we must pray for the family of Michael Brown and Darren Wilson as well. And we must pray for the protesters. The one thing that is needed most . . . the one thing that could have a calming influence on this and other shortcomings in this nation and world . . . is Jesus.
If Michael Brown knew Jesus he never would have acted like he did. If the people burning buildings and stealing things knew Jesus they never would have done what they did. The whole problem with the world today is that not enough people know Jesus. The status quo is simply not going to cut it. We Christians need to evangelize and we need to do it now. But in a loving way.
We can't "save" anybody. That's not our job. We are to be witnesses and carriers of The Gospel, the GOOD news of Jesus Christ. Let us have no fear in this. Let us ask people questions about their faith, lovingly. And pray. We need to pray. Let us do so . . . always. Let us do . . . our jobs.
"When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." - 1 Corinthians 15:54-58
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