Weapons of Self Destruction

Discussion Questions 

1. Read the prophet’s prayer in Habakkuk 3. Then read the devotional below, “Weapons of Self-Destruction.”  

2. Habakkuk’s prayer is full of awesome—and awful—imagery: pestilence, plague, and devastation surround the Eternal One. How does today’s devotional give you fresh perspective on the proximity of destruction to the presence of God? 

3. In your own community’s history, what have been some “backfiring” consequences of inhumane behavior or destructive decisions? 

4. In Habakkuk 3:14, the chief’s weapons are used against him. What metaphorical weapons do you carry into your days (such as guardedness or judgment) and how do they work against you? 

Devotional 

With his own weapons, you destroyed the chief of those who rushed out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey. – Habakkuk 3:14 (NLT) 

It should come as no surprise that evil incorporates its own demise. 

Every inhumane action diminishes the humanity of the perpetrator. It’s impossible to condescend another’s life without making an evaluation of your own. 

The weapons we form to destroy others do backfire. 

The Manifest Destiny that drove American conquest across the continent now manifests itself in devastated Native American communities and in depleted natural resources. The redlining and the opposition to racial integration that motivated many to abandon our urban areas are now the flashpoints of turbulence and tension around the nation.  

I live in Atlanta, a city that refused to invest in comprehensive rapid rail public transportation decades ago when it was relatively affordable. The reason? To restrict Black people from accessing certain sections of the city. But the weapons of discrimination used by Atlanta years ago have resulted in the city now having some of the worst traffic congestion in the country. Atlantans are restricted for hours in traffic daily, because the weapons designed to restrict some of us now restrict all of us. 

Christian nationalism, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, the contempt for history, and the ongoing refusal to view racial integration as vital to public education—these weapons are formidable, to be sure. So is the backfire. 

A theology that conflates capitalism with salvation. An individualized narrative that ignores the struggles of the disadvantaged. A people who ignore their own origin. An ethos that discards diversity and inclusion from its values. 

Weapons of our making, aimed now against us. 

Prayer
Lord, thanks for reminding us to stop ingesting the toxins of bigotry and expecting others to die. Amen.