This afternoon I walked through a G20 protest. I'm not certain what they were protesting (something about corporate clowns comes to mind) but what stood out to me was one young man's anger. He was hoping to take some photographs but the police officers would not let him cross the line they had created. "I know my rights!" he shouted. He believed that it was a grave offense to deny him access to the protesters in order to take his photograph.
Over the next several days there will be much anger in this city. People from all around the world will gather here at the newly erected fences and scream for transformation, for rights, for a difference to be made.
In my mind this type of protesting is limited in its effectiveness. It serves to inconvenience and anger the public (the traffic (including streetcars) was at a standstill) -- people they should be trying to win over. And it usually fails to open up a window of conversation with the leaders.
As Christians we also long for transformation in the world. How should we go about doing it? At the risk of sounding (or more likely being) idealistic, I believe that love is a significant part of the answer. If we sincerely show love to those around us then even our enemies will be rocked to the core. People will be drawn to the God who is at work in us. If we focus more on speaking the truth in love than on winning arguments people will sense that there is something different about us.
How are we doing at loving?
And thus we need to continue the love movement that Jesus started.
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