Soon I���ll be seventy yearsold.  It���s hard to fathom this, since Istill feel twenty-five.

When I was young, I livedfor moments.  Today, I���m living for time.Langston Hughes has a poem that included the line, ���life is short, but God islong.���  That���s how I feel these days.

My decades as a Christianactivist have taught me valuable lessons.  I���ve had to learn a lot of these things thehard way, but I boiled a handful of ���lessons��� down to twelve common sense andoverlapping principles of protest, some of which are adapted from my book Free At Last? ��� all of which are based on familiar biblical truths. 

They���ve served me well atdifferent levels of cultural engagement, so I offer them as a reminder of ourtrue focus, the gracious God who has ���shown us what is good.���  I hope they can help us avoid the ���syncretistic subculture��� discussed in my lastblog, and save us unnecessary tears and wasted years as we seek to ���do what theLord requires of us ��� namely ���to act justly and to love mercy and to walkhumbly with...God��� (Micah 6:8).

Many of you in the field willalready be familiar with these concepts, but there are also some men and womenI���ve spoken with who are just wading into the waters of protest and prayer,even at this stage.  If you don���t findthese principles helpful today, I hope they will be useful in the years to come. If there���s one thing I���ve learned, therewill always be something in our immediate surroundings that will fall short ofGod���s plan for a just society.

Guiding Principles of Protest

1)  Our prime directive is The Great Commission ��� Habakkuk 2:14.                       

Everything we doshould hasten the day when ���the earth will be filled with the knowledge of theglory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.���  Therefore as we go, whether across the seasor across the tracks; whether to teach or to preach; whether to pray or toprotest; etc., we should be making ���disciples���(Matthew 28:18-22) ��� those who are learning toobey ���all things that Christ commands.��� A disciple can be an individual or a culture, however a disciple is notnecessarily a convert.  Yet the more Christ���scommands are applied, the better the quality of life.

I saw most fruit inthe field when the young Christian activist was engaged in propheticdiscipleship ��� both to those we protest against, and to the protestorsthemselves.  These efforts will besuccessful if, at the end of the protest, people on both sides of thecontroversy have a greater consciousness of the glory of God.  It makes no difference whether this���consciousness��� is embraced or suppressed. The real issue will be exposed to the light of truth.  I would go so far as to say the positiveeffect of prophetic discipleship will even go beyond the remedy of thegrievance.  This is transformativeprotest. 

In his speech thatset the tone of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56), Dr. Martin Luther Kingpointed out that the significance of this protest had the potential to set apositive precedence for years to come.

 

If you will protestcourageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history booksare written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say,���There lived a great people ��� a [Black] people ��� who injected new meaning anddignity in the veins of civilization. This is our challenge and ouroverwhelming responsibility.��� *
Protest withoutprophetic discipleship is non-transformative and empty.  It may change the status quo, but if theproblems of flawed human nature are not diminished through transformation, theywill come back and bite us ��� often nullifying what the protest is trying toaccomplish.  Perhaps we are where we aretoday because hearts in my generation were merely legislated, yet nottransformed.
2)  There is power in our transcendent reference point.

When the protestgoals are secondary to our prime directive of discipleship, we will make moreprogress than when the protest goals are primary.  A transcendent reference point multiplies theeffectiveness of the protest exponentially. To use an analogy, my love for my wife is second to my love for God;because my love for God is first, she gets much more love from me than if shewas first.  Such is the quality andnature of God���s love that I receive.

In my early days, I learnedthat it was difficult to fully exercise the prime directive under theleadership of those who leave out the most important purpose of the protest ���the glory of God.

Our transcendent reference point is the basis of our wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). It is our redemptive God-given contribution to the cause for which weprotest.  Without this uniquecontribution, our voice merely becomes another run-of-the-mill addition to thecacophony, contributing to today���s cultural confusion.

We can be���co-belligerents��� with groups with a non-transcendent reference point, but it���sdifficult to be allies.  Non-transcendentideologies are simply not radical enough for the Christian activist.  The Christian activist is looking fortransformation of society, its systems, and individual hearts.  For us, there���s nothing more radical thantransformation. 

3)  Seek the moral high ground.

Jesus demonstratedthis and we should follow suit.  He didnot ���judge by what he saw with his eyes, or decide by what he heard with hisears��� he judged ���with righteousness...��� (Isaiah 11:3b-4a).  In other words, hear-say or first appearanceare not reliable sources of information on which to base a protest.

The Christianactivist, if he or she is consistent, will take the time to ascertain and sortout the facts.  The Christian voice maynot be the first heard, but will be the strongest voice heard ��� a propheticvoice.

We live in a universe created and lorded over by the infinite personal Creator whose moral principles will always be fulfilled.  Thus, the more we align with His moral principles, the more power we will have in addressing the wrongs against which we protest.

Without moral clarity, the point of the protest becomes bogged down, clouded and confused.
4)  Seek Kingdom righteousness in your protest.

The more righteousthe protest, the more powerful theprotest.  The only basis for judgingbetween good and evil is the character of God. That which conforms to God���s character is right, and that which goesagainst his character is wrong. Important aspects of right and wrong are righteousness andunrighteousness.

Righteousness is arelational term.  It simply means ���doingright by the other party in the relationship.��� Two expressions of righteousness are a) piety,doing right by God in a narrow sense ��� involving devotion and ceremony,and b) justice, doing right by fellow humanbeings.

            For the victims ofinjustice or oppression, justice has two basic applications a) liberation fromoppression, and b) empowerment to do the right thing.  For the perpetrators of injustice andoppression, justice involves the swift and compassionate application of thelegal consequences of their actions and omissions.

For the Christian activist, justice for the oppressed must be pursued and visualized through the lens of righteousness.
5)  Avoid ad-hominem arguments.

Intoday���s emotionally charged cultural context, ad-hominem attacks are common.  They are aimed at destroying the person whoholds the views we oppose, rather than dismantling the views themselves.  This is violence.  Ad-hominem attacks distract us from the realissues, and lay the groundwork for our protest to be interpreted by others withcounter intentions.  In the end, we mayend up with a new tyranny as bad or worse than the injustice we protestagainst.

Weall want to be treated with dignity, compassion and respect.  It was all too easy back in ���the day��� to seethe provocateurs of the protest as a dehumanized enemy.  In the heat of many tense moments, we had toconstantly remind ourselves, not only do our opponents bear God���s image justlike us, but they are sinners in need of grace ��� just like us.  By failing to act on this truth, or byengaging in ad-hominem violence, or by not calling it sin when we see it occuraround us, we forfeit the moral high ground.

            Yes,be angry if you must.  But focus thatanger primarily on the grievance itself, not necessarily on the people behindthe grievance.

6)  Avoid being provocative beyond the offence of the grievance itself.

Let the grievance dothe speaking for you.  When we embellishthe grievance with unnecessary provocation, it clouds the issue and iscounterproductive.  The cause of justicedoes not need the help of evils such as hatred and falsehood.  Anger? Yes, but anger without sin (Ephesians 4:26).  The less anger is accompanied by evil, themore efficacious will be the anger.  Themore anger is accompanied by love, the more efficacious will be the anger.

So, speak thetruth in love, demonstrate the truth in love, dramatize the truthin love, chant the truth in love, SHOUT the truth in love,etc.  In other words, be forceful, but doit in love ��� a powerful weapon indeed.

7)  Let the Word of God do the heavy lifting.

The Word of God canbe spoken without giving its chapter and verse, yet it has the same powereither way.  The Word is still the Wordwhether it is quoted directly, paraphrased, dramatized, expressed in narratives,articulated in ���spoken word,��� rhymed in ���hip hop,��� chanted in slogans,etc.  Too many times the Christiancommunity has been so uncreative with the Word that we fail to communicate it ���often giving the impression that the Word is a set of tired  and powerless clich��s.

We have yet to tapinto the wisdom and power available to us in the Word.  The Word of God is the power that createdthis universe (John 1:1-3) ��� a reality so vastthat we don���t know where it ends.  Thesame ���Word��� also sustains the universe (Hebrews 1:3).  That being the case, it should not surpriseus that the ���Word��� will ���accomplish what it desires and achieve the purpose forwhich it was sent.��� ���It will not return...empty��� (Isaiah 55:11).

When the Word isrightly and creatively applied to the art of protest, its effect will be tangible.

           

8)  Justice does not equal revenge.

Many cite an ���eye foran eye��� and a ���tooth for tooth��� (Deuteronomy 19:21)as a justification for revenge.  On thecontrary, this is a ���lex talionis��� ��� a law of limitation.  In other words, ���no more than an eye for aneye, no more than a tooth for tooth.���

The wise Christianactivist helps his or her co-belligerents take a stand of ���non-vengeance��� ���leaving the vengeance to God because he or she knows that God can and will do afar better job of revenge than we can imagine.

On the other hand, manycite Jesus words to ���turn the other cheek��� (Matthew 5:39) as a call to be punks. This twisted interpretation has contributed to the toxic perceptions ofChristianity among our urban youth.  Onthe contrary, ���turn the other cheek��� is a statement of ���non-vengeance.���  It is also a call to respond to an enemy in away he least expects.  Therefore, if yourenemy expects you to be mean, then be kind. On the other hand, if your enemy expects you to be a punk, then beaggressive.

Never let the oneagainst whom you are protesting put you in a box; when he tries, bust itopen.  As Christ���s ambassadors, we arecalled to be diplomats ��� not door-mats.

9)  Words have different meanings to different communities.

When we define thepoints of agreement with our co-belligerents, we must make sure that our sharedwords have the same meaning.  When thatis impossible, we must make sure that we understand what they mean and theyunderstand what we mean.  On that basis,we can make intelligent decisions whether or not, or how to cooperate.

The more ourco-belligerents understand how our words and concepts fit into our worldview,the more they will understand our transcendent perspective.  This will contribute to our discipleshipagenda.

On the other hand,for the protest to have its desired effect, we must learn the language of ouropponents.  Communication is a key toprotest, not just words.  In our slogans,chants, rally cries, etc., it is wise to choose words that our opponentsunderstand that will confront them with the truth ��� leaving them without theoption of ignoring the issue at hand and the Ultimate Source of the truth wecommunicate.  This too will contribute toour discipleship agenda.

10)  Let the true narrative of the grievance be self-evident.

Integrity is key forthe Christian activist, so there���s no need to ���juke��� (manipulate) a narrativeto make our point.  Manipulating thenarratives might seem to give the protest a short term advantage but it willultimately undercut it, causing it to lose its power.  As a protest loses moral power, the easier itis for the opponent to explain it away as mere agitation or dismiss it as anuisance.

Because our opponentsbear God���s image and live in God���s world, they have a God-given sense of goodand evil, and justice and injustice (Romans 2:14-16).  No matter how hard they try, they will neversucceed in ���suppressing��� this truth (Romans 1:18-20).  The power is in the truth, not indeception.; admit and affirm truth, even when it���s hard.
11)  Tranquility does not equal peace.

Ihave observed that many in the dominant culture confuse these two.  However, an unjust tranquility is an unstableand volatile sham that needs to be disrupted and demolished.  This is why we protest.

Truepeace is more than tranquility; it is a state of being that leads to God���soriginal plan for human flourishing.

 

Thisis what we point to as the goal of our protest.

12)  Our involvement in protest must have a redemptive and transformative role.

Since the role of theChristian activist is to speak prophetically to all sides in the controversy, importantquestions need to be answered.  How isthe controversy framed?  What is the aimof the protest?  Is it advocating asolution or is it fomenting unrest for other purposes?

As a young activist, I had to learn the hard way that what counts isthe net prophetic message ��� prophetic credits (resulting from the wisethings we do) minus prophetic debits(resulting from the foolish things we do).   Our prophetic messages will never match thecaliber of biblical messages.  After all,the Bible is ���God breathed.���  This is revelation.  The key for Christian activists is to bebiblical by maximizing our prophetic credits, and minimizing propheticdebits.  The net message will be illumination.

Distinctions must bemade when we invoke a rally cry framed by unbiblical parameters.  On the other hand, if a protest organization hasa valid rally cry but is inconsistent in applying it, we must lovingly critiquethis inconsistency.  If we fail to do sowe release more unwanted prophetic debits, and blunt the impact of the protest.

In summary, implementingthese principles will amplify the power of protest to change the unjust statusquo and maximize the quality of the resulting change.  However, there is no guarantee that our opponentsor our non-Christian co-belligerents will receive our transcendent message;that���s up to God.  However, we will havefulfilled our prime directive, society will be better off, and God will beglorified.

Final Observations

I recognize that just likethe great creeds and confessions were not first drafts, we can���t expect to getour theological formulations and practices perfect on first blush.  We need to find our way together.  This is a process that will take time, sweat,love and patience.  I���m open to talkingabout these principles, and having them adjusted for today���s application.  Even as I approach seventy, I���m stilllearning.

If we continue to pursuethis together, the entire church ��� both in the dominant culture and thesubdominant culture ��� will benefit from a theology of protest we can apply toany and all issues, not just those of today.

If you can think offurther biblical lessons beyond these twelve, feel free to add them in thecomment section.

There���s more that I wantto share with you.  Look for it soon.

Notes
*Martin Luther King Jr., StrideToward Freedom (New York: Harper & Row, 1958), pp. 61-63.