A few days ago, I was watching a video of a local council meeting that had been open to the public. Now, let me be very clear, this was NOT a meeting in Freestone County! I just know that something like this would NEVER happen in Freestone County. Anyway, I watched as the meeting progressed (if you could even call it progress) into a shouting, screaming, pointing, gesticulating, cussing, accusing, bruising and ultimately losing argument! By the end of the meeting council members were shouting at citizens, citizens were screaming at members of the council, council was shouting at council and ultimately citizens screamed at citizens. It would have been funny if it had been a movie or comedy sketch, but instead these were real people engaging in a public forum.

Now, I am sure that many of those who came to that meeting had legitimate reasons and concerns (either right or wrong) that needed to be addressed. I’m also sure that the members of that council had reasons (either right or wrong) for their stances. But, speaking as a Christian, there is no reason for us to speak to others with hate or malice within our hearts! And I’m not the one who said it either, trust me! The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Hmmm, let’s look at those words for a minute, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander. All those words seem to describe how we talk, disagree and debate with each other today. It’s those words that describe our politicians at times or people in management/leadership. In today’s world it is the shouter who gets all the attention. But, and this is just my opinion, usually the loudest in the room does not speak for the majority of the people. Just ask Jesus.

The Bible tells us that the religious leaders “stirred up” the crowd to turn them against Jesus. Ultimately the gathering turned into a mob which screamed, “crucify Him (Jesus), crucify Him.” A crowd can turn into a mob in a matter of seconds, usually ignited or stoked by words of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander. In the mob mentality, you will NEVER find Christ.

Let me make one thing very clear, Christ does not speak through the mob. The voice of God will never come from those clamoring for blood and violence. Jesus will never embrace the mob because it was the mob that demanded his execution, it was the mob that persecuted the early church, it was the mob that stoned, beat, and berated the early christians. Do we really want to be aligned with such behavior?

To my Christian brothers and sisters, we must be sure to refrain and remove ourselves from any actions that separate us from hearing the voice of God. If we approach others, as Paul writes with, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Then there is no opportunity for the mob to take over. And maybe then Christ’s voice will be heard and mutual understanding will be accomplished.

While the rest of the world shouts, screams and gives in to the mob, let the church arise above those argumentative ashes and embrace the actions of Christ.

Your friends, and recovering instigator,

Pastor Mike McVey
Minister – First United Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ACS Chaplain – United States Coast Guard, Station Galveston TX
Chaplain – Texas Game Warden Service
Email: pastormike@fumcfairfield.org