Hooligans in belgrade

As I was watching the CNN coverage of the riots in Serbia the other day, the news camera zoomed in to some of the action on the street in Belgrade. Several protesters were standing in the back of a pickup truck as it made its way through the swarming throngs of people.

Intermittent fires were burning in buildings in the background. As the truck moved along, one of the men in the back of the pickup casually turned towards the camera, lifted a bottle to his mouth, took a long drink, and offhandedly tossed the empty bottle away.

I don't know what the man was drinking, but from his demeanor and those around him it wouldn't be surprising if it was alcohol. While the Bible does not prohibit the use of alcohol in moderation, drunkenness is strictly forbidden. And the presence of alcohol in an already violent situation would certainly form a deadly mix (news reports said that one person was found dead from the attack on the U.S. Embassy).

The embarrassed Serbian government said that the violence was not general, but rather caused by extremists. While over 100,000 people took part in the protests, most were peaceful. According to the official Serbian statement, it was the renegades and vandals that caused the isolated cases of destruction and mayhem.

Well-meaning people sometimes express their concerns through peaceful demonstrations. However, often hooligans and troublemakers will take advantage of an already unstable situation to express their personal outrage and hatred, or simply to act out their own unrestraint and rebellion.

In one example that took place in another country several years ago, there was a workers strike against a telecommunications company. When the picket lines were formed, one eyewitness observed that many of the strikers didn't even work in the company but were troublemakers brought in from anti-government groups seeking to destabilize the country in general.

True Christians are to be respectful of persons and property. And true followers of Scripture are even warned against associating with those who are seeking to overthrow governments: "My son, fear the Lord and the king; do not associate with those given to change; for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin those two can bring?" (Proverbs 24:21-22). There are changes that need to be made in the United States and around the world. But the real, lasting changes will come only when Jesus Christ Himself sits on a throne on this earth – and will put down all those who rebel against His governance. As Paul said, "For it is written: 'As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God'" (Romans 14:11).

True Christians are not to walk in disorderly or riotous conduct. Paul warned, "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21). (Read our booklets What Is a True Christian? and Do You Believe the True Gospel?)

God wants us to practice self-restraint and self-control. While most of us may not be participating in riots and protests, are there other areas of our life where we "let go" of restraint and say things or do things that we later regret? Self-control is one of the fruits of God's Spirit (verse 23), and something all Christians should learn to exercise. The riots in Belgrade have profoundly reminded us of this fact.