Fighting Fire with Fire

On September 6, 2018 a young man named Botham Shem Jean was murdered in his own home by a police officer. I have stayed away from recent tragic events such as this for the sake of protecting my mental health but, this one was different. This young man was a member of the Church of Christ.

He was a member of my own church family. So, as you can tell by me writing this, that it had to hit home for me. Honestly, I did not know what to do at first. After I watched his funeral, I thought to myself what’s next? I did what I only know how to do and what comes natural to me; I prayed.

As a Christian we are commanded to forgive and “turn the other cheek” which, is true. Often, I believe that we forget that we can fight as well. We must learn how to fight in the Spirit and not in the flesh. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 says “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” O’ how powerful prayer can be!

I read once that we need to learn how to differentiate with what we are experiencing in the flesh against what we know in the spirit. During times such as this my flesh wants to fight, scream, and yell but, my spirit calls me to pray. To some prayer may seem like such a passive way of dealing with this type of situation but, to those who know who God is, know how to win a war. You fight on your knees first and fight fire with fire.

“To those who know who God is, know how to win a war. You fight on your knees first and fight fire with fire..”

After being affected by such a tragic event, I am choosing to fight fire with fire. Yes, Fire! In the bible God is sometimes depicted as fire. Hebrews 12:9 says, “For our God is a consuming fire.” Fire is also used as a depiction of God’s presence i.e., the burning bush. For a time, such as this we must fight fire with fire and invoke the presence of God in the midst, by using prayer, the greatest weapon that those who belong to Him can use.

In Mark 9:14-29, A father brought his son who had an unclean spirit to the disciples to be healed. The disciples tried and were unsuccessful and Jesus cried out “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? (vs.19)” Jesus did heal the boy and later on the disciples asked “Why could we not cast it out?” Jesus said, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Instead of the disciples deciding to fight fire with fire, they chose to fight flesh with flesh. The disciples thought they could rely on their own strength to cast out the unclean spirit, failing to realize that only that kind of authority comes from the Father.

"This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

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When I sat and thought about how I could bring about change. Jesus’s words disrupted my thoughts. “This kind can only be driven out by anything but prayer.” Moving forward, let us put prayer in its proper place and unleash the power that it contains.

Pray for justice, peace for the family, and a change in how African Americans are viewed throughout society.