Audrey A McGee

Now for a rambling RoCo reflection that came to me as I was washing dishes.

To recap, RoCo is short for Road Company, Taproot’s educational theatre troupe. RoCo goes to schools all over Washington to perform anti-bullying plays. The centerpiece of these plays is a tool called the Three R’s:

Recognize!

Report!

Refuse!

My lines are coming back to me through muscle memory.

Recognize! That’s when we recognize what the bullying behavior is, like leaving someone else out on purpose, calling someone names. Bullying is when somebody keeps being mean on purpose, and it happens over and over again.

Report! This is when we tell a trusted adult, like a teacher, or a parent, or a counselor! Grownups can help make sure that the bullying stops and that everyone stays safe!

Refuse! Say no to the bullying! “You keep leaving me out. Stop making jokes about me. I said no!” Like that!

Something that we often highlighted in our talkbacks with the kids was how to refuse. If we just ignore the bullying, it won’t necessarily go away. And breaking down and getting frustrated is, of course, what the bullying behavior is going for anyway, making it worse.

We encouraged kids to do a few things. 1) Use our words to say no. “I don’t like that, please stop.” 2) Tell an adult (yes it’s a repeat of Report, but still counts here too). 3) Walk away, get yourself out of the situation.

I was reading a book the other day. It’s called The Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson, and something was ringing a bell. He was using the image of a tight street with demons hanging out the windows on either side, but not being able to come in our way. Our job is to walk down the street, but they’re awfully distracting.

“First, the most spiritually defeated [people] are those who pay attention to deceiving spirits…They weakly give into the temptations and believe the lies and accusations…There is no reason why they can’t get up immediately and start walking again, but they have believed a lie, and so they sit there in the middle of the street, defeated.

“The second response is just as unproductive. [They] try to argue with the demons: ‘I am not ugly or stupid…That is not the truth. I rebuke that lie.’ They think they are fighting the good fight, but in reality, those negative thoughts are still controlling them and setting the agenda. They are standing in the middle of the street shouting at the demons when they should be marching forward… We are not called to dispel the darkness– we are called to turn on the light.

“The third response is this: …choosing the truth. We are not to believe evil spirits, nor are we to dialogue with them. We are instructed not to pay attention to them. With every arrow of temptation, accusation, or deception they shoot at us, we simply raise the shield of faith, deflect the attack, and walk on. We choose truth in the face of every lie.”

During my time at RoCo (as in most of my life), I had these self-condemning thoughts, this shame. A lot of people do, and we think that it’s internal, but what if it isn’t? What if it’s an external voice? A bully?

We have to recognize who’s talking to us, and refuse it. Don’t argue, don’t break down, simply raise up a shield, say no, and walk forward.

Who do we report this to? Our friends and therapists are a good start. They may not give you the power that you want over the voices, though. I recommend praying to Jesus. He has a 100% success rate of overcoming demons, though if you try to use His name without actually praying to Him first, you might end up in a worse situation than before. And don’t go to more demons to try to get power over demons, it’s all a pyramid scheme on the other side of the ouija board; they’re just the coworkers to the shame hurting you now.

I may want to point out that Anderson was talking about Christians in his passage up there. We’re the ones that have already accepted Christ into our hearts, meaning that He is fully occupying it. That’s why the demons are only hanging out of the windows and can’t actually hurt us. Your street might very well be paved with them blocking your way.

A friend of mine said that God offered them the option of heaven or hell and they chose neither and walked away. If you’re not curious about God existing and Jesus as God incarnate, then it’s hard to explain the fact that there’s actually one choice, not two or more.

You can choose God or not. That’s the choice.

Hell is of your own making.

You’re letting the bullies in this world torment you instead of running to your favorite teacher and asking for help. You know they’re out there, you can’t change that. That bully isn’t going away by itself. Even if you do stand up to it, you’re not a grownup. It won’t listen to you.

Report the shame to Someone who can do something about it.