Note: After reviewing what I had written and the resignation of Will Smith from the Academy of Motion Pictures, in retrospect I was not happy with the blog…I had in word become part of the Mob. A man’s dignity has been taken from him and in a broader sense his irresponsible act, an injustice to the entire Black community. As to the Academy, well nuff said. I am going to go ahead and publish this blog but do so with a sincere prayer for Will Smith….forgiveness and restoration…and the peace that passeth all understanding. 

When we step out of the “The Pew” to find something to share it is inevitable that we will end up looking at human behaviors or the lack of civilities toward one another as deemed acceptable by our enlighten society. We then usually try to compare those worldly behaviors to Christian Standards and to find ways we can reconcile the obvious lack of Godly behaviours and the Christian respect and love for others. Life never disappoints…and our determination to seek justice for our hurt lends to our desire for instant gratification when seeking to right a wrong and then leads us to meet that wrong head on and slap it down…in this case, slap it in the face. Most of you know what I am writing about. It was the slap heard round the world. A man took offense to a joke about his wife…that would be Will. Quicker than a speeding bullet, which I am grateful to report, was not involved…You see Will storm the jokester’s position…that would be Chris and slapped him in the face. You might be asking how in the world did I equate this slap to a Mob? What is a mob? To those of you who visit the Pew  each week you know by love of words and dictionary…let’s go there.  

  Mob.  

noun – a large crowd of people, especially one that is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence: 

verb – (mobs, mobbing, mobbed) [with object]crowd around (someone) in an unruly and excitable way in order to admire or attack them:  

What caught my attention about this incident? Was it the venue, people involved or the reaction of the people there at the time… Well the venue is of interest to many people both in the business and those who follow it. Been around for a long time and has always been used as a platform to garner attention for certain social agendas. So I was not attracted to those two things…what was of interest to me was the reaction of those there and the mob that gathers around such things. I wrote a blog in May of 2018, I will list it at the end of this blog. Justice and the Mob…that is what drew me to this recent event in the news cycle. You may completely disagree but please don’t slap me.

So stepping back inside the Pew let’s look at it from a Christian standpoint. The first thing is the need of society to assign blame…to see that justice is done. In our world today that is a huge thing and all to often the process of finding justice is perverted by the Mob. What happens next in this latest saga of seeking justice? Will the rules and practices that are now in place determine the outcome…or will the Mob Mentality of the day be applied? Follow me to a different time when Mob Mentality made Christianity and those who served the Lord difficult. This Mob thing has been around a long time and in reference to scripture there are 15 occurrences of such activity in the Bible, OT and NT. Three can be found in the Old Testament and the remaining twelve in the New Testament. The bible gives us a clear picture of what we are dealing with when we allude to a mob.

Plasm 26:5…I hate the company of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked. (NET)

Plasm 64:2…Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the scheming of evildoers, (HCSB)

Both these are from King David and indicate his desire not to be a part of such a group…he declared them to be a bunch of scheming, wicked evildoers.

I have written in the past that I don’t like overwhelming folks with scriptures but It would be helpful if you took the time to read those I share today in their proper context. Next we will look at some scripture from the New Testament. I will not burden you with all 15, just some whose context might be filmlillar to you.

Matthew 26:47…While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

(HCSB  The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus)

Acts 17:5… But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. (NRSV  Searching for Paul, Silas in Thessalonica)

Acts 21:34… Some in the mob were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks. (HCSB  Riot in the Temple Complex)

The verses above are just a few that speak to the influence of a Mob during the days of Christ’s ministry and  into that period of the early Church and shows without any doubt mob rule is no respecter of Christianity or even what public behavior is currently acceptable. There are lots of thoughts yet in my mind about this situation but the best way to close the blog this week is to acknowledge that you will find no wisdom, no compassion, no fairness within the Mob Mentality, Justice belongs to God… 

Life is Good

jk 

Link to other blog – The Bible, Starbucks and Social Justice……Mob Style