By James Wilson
I was thrilled by the Veteran’s March on
Washington story that broke in mid October.
It was both peaceful and effective.
It was populated by veterans and their supporters – people who have earned
the right to be heard and to participate in the governing of our land. Confronted by DC Park Police – under orders
from the White House to close public monuments – they stood their ground and
kept their cool. (Yes, one man was
arrested for carrying a concealed weapon – out of the thousands who marched and
stood.) And when it became clear to
police that they would neither disperse nor attack the police withdrew. The veterans even stacked the barricades they
removed from around capitol monuments in neat piles, underscoring their
position as icons of the power of sowing in the opposite spirit.
A
few days later hundreds of patriotic Americans demonstrated for freedom by
cutting the grass and cleaning up the grounds of the Capitol Mall. Confronted by repression, they too sowed in
the opposite spirit. And by “opposite
spirit” we simply declare the displacement of cursing with blessing, falsehood
with truth, and domination with submission – to God alone. For His strength is always perfected in our
weakness if we believe and submit to His Word in 2 Corinthians 12:9.
But
let’s be clear about the spirit we oppose.
Of course we speak of the spirit of this world – in biblical parlance –
the spirit amply manifested in the behavior and attitude of the Obama
Administration. The nation watched in
horror as the president shut down public monuments requiring no on-site
personnel – a presidential temper tantrum – during the shutdown. We watched in grief as he effectively cursed
Americans who gave their lives for their country when he cut off funding for
families and funerals. The Fisher
Foundation restored this funding from their resources, replacing cursing with
blessing.
The Los Angeles
Times reports intelligence community insiders confirming the White House and
State Department endorsed NSA spying targeting law abiding American citizens –
and even the heads of friendly foreign states – while the president claims he
knew nothing about it. CBS News reports
five million-plus Americans have already lost their medical insurance while the
president still says all Americans will be covered by the insurance of their
choice – if insurance companies approve.
Our government maintains it cannot find the terrorists who murdered the
American ambassador to Libya; CNN locates and interviews these people in
Libya. It has been known for over a year
that the administration consistently lied about the circumstances of the attack
and has stonewalled about its own inactivity while Americans were dying. The same must be said for the IRS scandals
unfolding during the same period. But
courageous media people and members of Congress have consistently sought and
revealed the truth as it has come to light.
They have replaced falsehood with truth.
The IRS scandal
is a classic case of suppressing dissent by targeting dissenters for
reprisal. It is now well known that
hundreds of conservative organizations – and some too liberal for
administration tastes – have had their lawful applications for tax exemptions
delayed or denied. Private information
on these agencies, and on individual persons who oppose the administration, has
been given to Obama officials for use against them. The president himself has used his office to
fan flames lit by race baiters such as Al Sharpton. The roll-out of Obamacare has been fraught
with intimidation tactics like the firing of a government employee for
answering questions posed by radio host Sean Hannity – questions that were
procedural in nature and her responsibility to answer if she was to do her job. Federal employees with knowledge of the
Benghazi disaster have been forbidden to testify before Congress. Yet the response of citizens to this bullying
has been to do what the vets did in Washington and businesses like Hobby Lobby
are doing in asserting their rights in a non-violent and courteous manner. They displace domination with submission – to
God alone. By asserting their freedom in
this way they move from defense – the path of rage and negativity – to offense
– the path of peace and positivity.
Christians
during this time are called to fight fire with water – the living water of baptized
life – walked out in public as well as in private. This sowing in the opposite
spirit brought about the conquest of the Roman Empire in the first three centuries,
the liberation of Eastern Europe in the 20th Century, and the first
three American Great Awakenings. It
achieved the Civil Rights Revolution and a worldwide Gospel outreach of
unprecedented proportions. Operating on
offense wins the game in the ultimate sense.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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