Let’s Go Brandon

Background

We should get two things out of the way first. If you don’t know what the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon!” means, you should simply type it into your search engine and find out. I’m not here to do your homework for you. Secondly, in what I shall proceed to say I would to highlight that this is not some Victorian disapproval of salty language. I am in favor of salty language. I think there is a place for it. I think evangelicals would do well to lightly salt their language far more often than they typically do. But like salt…salty language can be overused, misused, or abused.

That said, we should not be swept off our feet. Keep your wits about you, particularly in this flood of lawlessness that surrounds us on all sides. Remember what Tirian told Eustace, “Do not scold, like a kitchen-girl. No warrior scolds. Courteous words or else hard knocks are his only language.” You either speak with kindness or sternness. If someone is your guest you treat them with good manners. Good manners are simply “love in the trifles” as someone once said. If, however, you are speaking to an opponent and enemy, you do not befoul your language to scold them. You speak stern and hard words, to make them understand you mean business and you will not be a cupcake in engaging them.

The chants of “F*** Joe Biden” which broke out at college football games were quite a PR blow to an administration that needs young voters, and whose approval ratings are already cratering less than a year in power. The crowds shouting this taunt were, it should be noted, mostly college students at a football game to have a good time. They were not soldiers in arms. But viral videos are the weaponry in the battle for keeping our nation free and prosperous. So such viral moments should not be discounted out of hand. For the last several weekends “F*** Joe Biden” has been a trending topic on Twitter and across social media platforms. We should at the very least take notice the shifting winds.

The hilarity of seeing a prized voting bloc ridicule the Biden administration was doubled when an NBC sports babe was interviewing a NASCAR driver after his win, and misheard (or just as likely tried to cover up) the “F*** Joe Biden” chants by saying that the crowd was chanting “Let’s Go Brandon.” Which thing they most certainly weren’t shouting. But thus was born a new motto for the GOP, and those fed up with the encroachments on liberty which the Oba–I mean Biden administration seem hell-bent to implement.

Corrupt Communication

As Christians, we must obey Scripture. We should speak as Scripture directs. Paul tells us: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers (Eph. 4:29).” And: “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man (Col 4:6).” Now, this doesn’t mean that Christians should never speak with sternness, with provoking language (i.e. just study the prophetical books of the OT). We should let Scripture shape and determine how we rebuke and reprove evildoers and tyrants.

The nearest the apostles come to such language as we are discussing here would be when Paul wishes that the Judaizers would castrate themselves. We might call this episode an instance of apostolic saltiness. The Judaizers wanted the Gentiles to compromise on a matter of Gospel freedom, and Paul was not about to capitulate to those who wanted to include a small dose of self-righteousness with the free Gospel of grace.

Contrast this with threatening someone with an unwanted sexual act. That is what saying “F*** you” means. I know, definitions are so passé these days, but that is the meaning of the phrase in question. The prophet Ezekiel comes closest to this, I believe, when he says this to the adulterous house of Israel:

Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

Ezekiel 16:35-39

Notice, however, an important distinction. The chants of the mob are prone to being fickle. They have the habit of shifting their ire to a new target ten minutes later. The prophetic voice, however, speaks hard words against religious, political, and economic tyrants. The prophets were equal opportunity offenders. While we should not join in the chants of these wandering sheep of America, what we should note is that the fact that our pulpits have been devoid of prophetic voices for decades has led to college students at football games being far more prophetic than our pastors have been.

We are called to honor the king. But the church must also oppose him when he is not carrying out his office in true justice and righteousness. The church is commanded to sing the Psalms, and so pray to God that the Biden administration would be caught in their own traps (Ps. 9:15). We should pray, along the lines of Psalm 137, that even as this administration has overseen the execution of untold thousands of unborn babies, may the heads of their babies be crushed on the rocks.

In other words, why opt for the the crass language of a dissipate culture when we have the more forceful language of Scripture? The blunt force of the Church’s prophetic office is like a hypersonic missile, while chants of “F*** Joe Biden” hold the rhetorical power of a fly-swatter. So, joining in the chanting is out of the question. But Christians must recognize that it is because we adopted a Precious Moments piety that has led to such an abysmal condition of a once free and Christian nation. As we hear the chants we should hear our own indictment for failing to preach and live a hot Gospel. We should feel the rebuke of the Lord for sending our children to the pagans for their education. We should feel the hot wrath of God’s anger over permitting that woman Jezebel to waltz in midst without calling for her to be tossed from the window.

Corrupt Politicians

When evaluating the Biden Administration, which is an unmitigated disaster on all fronts (moral, cultural, fiscally, etc.), it is right to be outraged. That heat rising to your face when the Dept. of State announces that today is “National Pronoun Day” is righteous anger. That ire over another print run of monopoly money is just indignation that they are stealing from your great-grandchildren.

They are running our country into the ground, and they deserve all the ire that they are inviting upon their own heads. You can’t pull out the pillars of righteousness and and expect the building to remain standing. The way in which we oppose them is to do the thing which will most anger them. Do not consent to their programme. Just like we ought not to go along with the juvenile chants of college students, Solomon’s words to his son apply here as well: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not (Pro 1:10).” They want to monitor your bank account, your health status, your health decisions, and if you’ve misused your right to free speech. They want you to applaud drag queens giving a show at the local middle school. Consent thou not. Do not go along with their inane edicts, with their pronoun confusion, with their fiscal necromancy, or with their failure to protect our nation from the threats of communist China. For too long we have gone along with these evils, and now if ever you needed courage to do so, now is the moment to not consent in this national folly.

When You Must Say “Let’s Go Brandon”

One other thing to be noted. There was a post making the rounds that claimed that some Canadian agency was requiring its employees to agree to NOT say “Let’s Go Brandon.” Snopes labelled this as a false rumor. But, let’s ask ourselves, why is it unsurprising that something like that even seemed plausible? We are already in the clown-car, shouldn’t be surprised at all the white face paint and red noses.

If, however, something along the lines of that fake news were to genuinely begin to happen, it would be incumbent upon you, to preserve free speech for future generations, to work that phrase into your daily conversation in multiple instances. Like Daniel opening his windows to pray after Darius’ boneheaded decree, so too you should zig when they tell you to zag. Buy one of those “Let’s go Brandon” shirts. Put the bumper sticker on your car. Wear the face-mask with the motto plastered on it.

In sum, we must not join vigilante crowds and their profane chants, even in innuendo. However, as Christians, we must quit abdicating our role to disciple the nations. Part of discipling the nations is giving them the salt of prophetic truth. They’ve had the bland cram of MSNBC. So give them Pauline Gospel salt. Give them Isaiah’s vibrant vision of God’s holiness. Stand your ground. Sing the imprecatory Psalms. And if they tell you that you must not, under any circumstances say, “Let’s Go Brandon,” you should let loose a most cheerful “Let’s Go Brandon” followed by “Solo Dei Gloria.” In short, don’t stoop to juvenile language when you have the double-edged sword of God’s Word.