The extremely loud bang on the door startled us. When the door burst open, my wife, Trace, jumped back as a lady from our neighborhood rushed into the house and started uncontrollably yelling at her. I was stunned and tried to calm things down when she turned on me with quite a tongue-lashing.
As I tried to protect Trace, the woman literally assaulted me, though the somewhat violent grip on my arm was more rude than life-threatening. As she cussed me out, she called me a part of my body that I actually find quite useful, so I tried not to take it as a personal insult. I was about to take it as a sacrificial lamb, but when she turned back on Trace, the lion in me rose up and told her, “This is unacceptable and must stop NOW!!!.” I heard myself roar as I sent her out the door. Trace said it sounded more like Ben Carson.
When a close friend of the infuriated woman came by later to apologize, I put down my lion posture and became more of a lamb. I said I held no unforgiveness and was genuinely concerned for someone who would be that ballistic over a seemingly small incident. I actually owned the part that I contributed when I had grievously let our 12-pound killer mini-poodle off her leash to terrorize the neighborhood by wagging her tail and chasing tennis balls in front of our house. The woman was furious that Trace, the HOA president, hadn’t kept me on a tight enough leash to make sure our dog was leashed.
As Christians, how we respond affects our households, neighbors, and everyone we interact with. If we are not protecting our households, communities, and nation by standing up for injustice as the lion of Judah, we are cutting off a key aspect of Jesus, the one who turned the tables over, came to bring not peace but division (Luke 12:51), and called out the Pharisees (the legislative, judicial and executive branch of Jewish society) as an evil brood of vipers, hypocrites, wicked, and whitewashed tombs. (Matthew 12:24, 23:27-28). Today, he would be kicked off Facebook for violating community standards.
At the same time, if we’re not demonstrating the love of God and Jesus, the sacrificial lamb and the Prince of Peace, we’re missing the fact that the Lamb of God came to take away the sins of the world, not add to them with unrighteous anger, pride, and worldly attitudes and actions. The reality is that Jesus is the Lamb of God AND the Lion of Judah. If we are to re-present Him today, we must be as bold as lions (Pro 28:1) and gentle as lambs.
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as clever [wise; shrewd; cunning] as snakes [serpents] and as innocent [harmless] as doves. EXB
In order for us and the church to overcome the woke wolves, the sanctimonious serpents, and the global elite scorpions, we must have wisdom and discernment to fight, fight, fight, and love, love, love by declaring the truth of the word in the power of the Spirit with the fruit of the Spirit. We must speak the truth in love. (Eph 4:15)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control Eph 5:22-23
The Psalms describes where God’s glory, salvation, prosperity, and goodness dwell:
Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. Psalm 85:10
Revelation 5 describes Jesus as both the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb who was slain. We need the revelation that both aspects of Jesus’ identity are necessary for us to prevail in humble strength, loving courage, and merciful righteousness in times of unrighteousness, tyranny, pride, moral decay, and fearful cowardice. We, the church, as the body of Christ, should be “full of truth and grace.” (John 1:14)
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