Really, no one needs my opinion on the death of George Floyd. Nor does anyone need me to comment on the protests that have sprung up around the United States in response to his death. I suppose such a blog post would get plenty of views (and probably a good amount of comments), so I’m not doing myself any favors by deciding to keep my opinions to myself. Most bloggers know that addressing “hot topics” generate more readers.

The Word of God warns against needless controversies and the unnecessary expression of opinions. Chris Hohnholz and Richard Story of Voice Of Reason Radio did a sobering podcast this past weekend explaining the importance of holding our tongues during times like this. They appeal to a wide variety of Scriptures admonishing Christians to be circumspect with our words.

Their podcast prompted me to think about using my blog to remind women that we don’t always have to right the wrongs of our culture. Without argument, our nation (as well as other nations throughout the world) increasingly demonstrate intentional rebellion against the Most High God. But it may not follow that He calls us to avenge every injustice.

In pondering the bigger picture that Chris and Rich presented on their show, I thought back to Jesus during His arrest and as He stood in trial before Pilate. As He faced the worst injustice in all of history, He refused to utilize His divine power.

Let’s look at His arrest first. Peter knew that Jesus hadn’t done anything warranting arrest, so he took it upon himself to avenge the Lord. Yes ma’am, he would make sure those Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers regretted their attempts to mess with his Lord!

But Jesus stopped Peter’s violent response to the injustice.

⁵¹ And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. ⁵² Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” ~~Matthew 26:51-54 (ESV)

Jesus was abundantly capable of avenging Himself, wasn’t He? Furthermore, He knew even better than Peter did that He’d done nothing to deserve the treatment He received. Yet He accepted the degradation, confident that His Father would vindicate Him.

Hours later, Jesus stood before Pilate. To cover up his cowardice, Pilate tried to intimidate Jesus into doing something — anything! — that would keep him from condemning an innocent Man while letting him save face. Again, Jesus refused to fight.

³³ So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ~~John 18:33-36 (ESV)

We all have opinions about the death of George Floyd, and we all have opinions about the protests over his death. Each of us wants to bully the rest of the world into embracing our opinions.

But maybe the Christlike posture is to back away from arguments and trust the Lord to have His way. We don’t know His purposes in these twin tragedies. Perhaps a refusal to voice opinions is the more godly way of dealing with either of them. Like Jesus, we can trust God for final justice.

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