During a recent google search we stumbled upon a post on Patheos, you know that site which claims to be "the premier site for credible information on religion" (they are as reliable as wikipedia), entitled "The Theology of Riot".

The article is written by Jim Coppoc, "a student at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, and a long-time learner of social justice methodology.". Jim opens up his post with asking the reader to ask yourself, did Jesus sin? Clearly the answer is no, otherwise Jesus would have been disqualified as the Lamb, as one of the three persons of the Trinity (the Son), and as God incarnate.

So why would Jim have us ask such a question? The question is a loaded/baited question, however his line of thought is pretty clear once you keep reading. Jim is attempting to equate what Jesus did in the temple to modern day rioters in America. Before we continue, there's one thing that needs to be addressed:

YOU'RE NOT JESUS.

Now that's out of the way, let's look further into this.

Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-19, and Luke 19:45-48 all record similar stories about Jesus cleansing the temple:

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."

Matthew 21:12-13

Then we have the temple cleansing in John which seems to vary but in timing and elements. Here's the most notable difference in John's account:

And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple,

John 2:15

So did Jesus riot?

To answer this we need to dig further into this and understand both the passages and what the term riot means. There's several definitions of riot, but to sum it up it means: "a violent disturbance". So did Jesus use violence and disturb the peace? Was Jesus' intent to destroy, injure, or kill? Was Jesus disturbing the peace in public? The answer is No.

What Jesus did at most is what's called a "show of force". Running off thieves that have set up in your home, and turning their stuff over in the process is not a riot.

Sorry Jim, but that's hardly a riot.

Did Jesus Ever Riot?

No, never, not once. The only time any of Jesus' disciples ever acted out in a violent manner is when the Pharisees sought to arrest Jesus in the middle of the night. Peter reacted with violence cutting a servants ear off. Jesus immediately commanded Peter and the others to stop: Matthew 26:51, Mark 14:47, and John 18:10-11. In the Gospel of Luke it's further recorded that Jesus healed the servants ear.

But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

Luke 22:51

If Jesus was so keen to riots and violence surely he would have allowed the aggression to continue... but he didn't. Instead he stopped them.

The reality is that the only events even close to rioting in scripture were never initiated by Jesus or the Apostles nor were they themselves the rioters or rioting. Instead they were the victims in which the rioters slandered, chased, beat, stoned, and murdered them. Both Luke and Acts record numerous riots and violence against the Apostles:

Acts 4:3-22, 5:17-42: Peter and John are arrested, questioned by the Sanhedrin, and flogged.

Acts 6:8-8:1: Stephen is arrested, questioned before the Sanhedrin, and stoned to death, which result in further persecution of the church in Jerusalem.

Acts 8:3: Saul (Paul), before his conversion imprisoned Christians.

Acts 9:2: Saul (Paul), before his conversion imprisoned Christians.

Acts 9:23-24, 20:19, 23:12-14: Jews plot to kill Paul

Acts 12:1-5: King Herod executes James and imprisons Peter.

Acts 13:44-51: Paul and Barnabas being driven out of Antioch of Pisidia.

Acts 14:5-6: Jews and Gentiles attempt unsuccessfully to stone Paul and Barnabas.

Acts 14:19-20: Jews stone Paul nearly to death.

Acts 16:16-24: Paul and Silas are flogged and imprisoned by Gentiles in Philippi.

Acts 17:1-15: Paul and others are chased out of successive towns by Jews.

Acts 18:12-17: Paul is made to appear before the Roman proconsul Gallop in Achaia, who dismisses the case as an internal dispute.

Acts 19:23-41: Worshipers of Artemis in Ephesus riot against Paul and his companions, but they are not harmed.

Acts 19:27-28:30: In his final journey to Rome, Paul is taken by Jews in Jerusalem to be killed, but is rescued by Roman soldiers who imprison him. He testifies before the Sanhedrin, and the governor Felix at Caesarea before using his status as a Roman citizen to have his case heard by the emperor.

Then there's the ultimate act of riotous violence by the mob that demanded Jesus be tortured and crucified.

Jesus and the Apostles never rioting, and never advocated rioting on any level. They were not arrested, beaten, or murdered for advocating for social justice. They were for speaking the truth of Scripture and God.

This doesn't mean social justice was never discussed either, because the Good Samaritan is a great example of equality and how to pursue it. However Jim and many other "progressive" Christians want to somehow correlate scripture to modern day societal issues in a manner that's completely false. When Jesus said:

Don't assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Matthew 10:34

He was not referring to violence from the hands of himself or the Apostles. Instead he his directly referring to the division that will be created by those who followed him versus those who don't. It's also a warning how non-believers will react towards believers. It's all about proper context and reading the verses that surround it, not cherry picking and then using scripture to suit your agenda.

How do we handle injustice then?

We handle injustice through actions that glorify and lead people to Christ. We follow the two greatest biblical commandments of:

'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

Mark 12:30

'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

Mark 12:31

The problem with the majority of the protests and every riot, is that it neither mentions nor leads anyone to Christ. In most cases when someone mentions God, Jesus, or the Gospel, they get drowned out, attacked, or ran off by the protestors and riots.

Trying to riot for worldview philosophies while claiming it's your right as a Christian, is nothing more than Heretical Nonsense. As such the "Theology of Riot" and "Christian Rioting" gets the label of: