People who abuse human rights are not served by Christian silence; sometimes resisting them is part of being a good soldier of Christ.
They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No!
The Wrong People To Abuse
This is during Paul's second missionary journey in Philippi, a Roman colony. Roman citizens had rights, one of which was that they had to face trial before being imprisoned. But just like in Kenya, officers constantly abused those rights and got away with it because many were fearful or ignorant.
This time round, they touched the wrong people. Paul knew his rights. They could not be released quietly after their rights had been abused. They protested. If it was in Kenya, what they were doing would have been labelled maandamano.
Christianity Is Not Docility
The officers swallowed their pride and came and honorably escorted the soldiers of Christ out. With that, a lesson was learned: stop abusing people's rights.
When you read this, you wonder who taught Christians that being docile when fellows abuse office and run roughshod over others is practicing good Christianity. People who abuse human rights are on Satan's side. Resisting and protesting against them is being a good soldier of Christ. Haki yetu!
