Church
Not the Jesus of the Bible
7Warning right up front: this post will probably be offensive to some. I’m just trying to take an honest approach and share my thoughts. They are by NO MEANS gospel. You have been warned.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the election. Who am I kidding? I think about politics all the time.
I’m especially concerned with what I perceive to be a lack of interest in politics in the church as a whole. Perhaps people are afraid to trample on the Separation of Church and State. Here’s a hint. It doesn’t exist, at least certainly not the way it’s used in today’s society.
And I quote…
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof
That’s it. Do you see anything about not putting up a nativity scene in the town square during Christmas? Or not being able to pray at a school baccalaureate service? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
I’m so tired of people telling us what we can’t do when it comes to our freedom of religious expression. It simply doesn’t exist in the Constitution. PERIOD.
Ok, that tangent aside. I’ve started to think about our perception of Jesus, especially when it comes to political issues. I know this a sensitive subject people don’t like to talk about, but guess what? We need to talk about it. We need to take an objective look at Jesus and the inspired Word of God to see how they approach political issues.
- Jesus was pro tax. No, seriously, He was. Check out Mark 12:13-17.
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax[b] to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.”16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him.
Certainly seems Jesus supported the paying of taxes, and this was during a time of extreme Roman oppression. I also LOVE that it was the religious leaders who were trying to trap Him, and He dropped a big ol’ Truth Bomb on them.
- The Bible supports hard work. There are countless examples of the importance of work, not being a sluggard, etc. throughout the Bible. One verse in particular stands out. Check out 2 Thessalonians 3:10.
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
Hmmm…that doesn’t sound terribly pro hand out, now does it? At least not supportive of government hand outs. Paul makes it pretty clear. You work hard, or you don’t eat. I don’t see anywhere in that verse where it mentions food as a right.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating for starving people, or anything insane like that, but there is something to be said for taking personal responsibility, working hard, and reaping the rewards of that hard work – no matter how big or small they might be.
- The government isn’t supposed to take care of the needy. The church is. Again, countless Scriptures to back this up, but check out Jesus’ own words in Matthew 25:34-45.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
Jesus makes it clear that when we take care of the “least of these” we are in fact taking care of / doing good deeds toward Him. It’s on us, not the Federal government or some spending program. The church needs to be the hands and feet – meeting peoples’s basic needs and showing the love of Jesus in a tangible way.
Just going to throw this out there, if the church really stepped up in that area, we probably wouldn’t need the litany of government entitlement programs out there today.
So, there you have it. Again, this is my take on things, and I certainly might be wrong. But we need to take a hard look at Jesus and God’s Word as we make crucial decisions in this election year.
Haters Gon’ Hate
2I think we’ve all run across the phrase “haters gon’ hate” at one point or another in life. I’ve spent quite a bit of time lately reflecting on the phrase as it applies to the church.
Let me start out with a video from Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church.
Now, I get it, when there are people in the church that all they do is slander, complain, tear down, etc., something needs to be done to address them. Try to find out why they are so negative. They need to be admonished, following the principles outlined in Matthew 18:15-17:
15 “If your brother or sister[b] sins,[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’[d] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
However, I’m afraid that sometimes the church / church leaders perceive anyone with anything critical to say as a “hater”. This to me seems like a dangerous position to take. Here’s why.
Let’s agree on a bit of Biblical logic before I explain why this is a dangerous position.
1.) God can use anyone or anything to speak for Him. We see evidence of this in Numbers 22:26-31
Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. 28 Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”
29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”
30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he said.
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.
Clearly, the Lord used the donkey to speak to Balaam. So, it only stands to reason that He could also use another person to speak for Him.
2.) God rebukes those He loves. We see this in Hebrews 12:5-6.
And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Clearly, when God rebukes, He does it out of love, but He definitely does rebuke. He used the donkey to rebuke / spare Balaam from the certain danger awaiting him in the form of the angel.
3.) If God can use anyone to speak and God rebukes those who love Him, then it is entirely possible that God can and (more likely than not) WILL use others to speak things into our lives we don’t necessarily want to hear.
Proverbs 27:17 says “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” It’s clear from the these words, written by Solomon and inspired by God that God uses others to sharpen us. Iron striking iron is a painful metaphor. It’s not like memory foam being gently shaped. It’s a painful process, but it’s a godly process.
If we can agree on all these points, we can see that godly criticism (not the kind simply used for tearing down) can be for our benefit, if we let it. Even Jesus criticized Peter when Peter wanted to set up tents for Him on the Mount of transfiguration. Jesus criticism was to the point of “Get behind me, Satan!” in Matthew 16:23. Harsh words indeed, but they were words Peter needed to hear. They were a part of the process of transforming Peter into the man who would leads thousands to Christ after the Resurrection.
My concern for the church “in general” is that we don’t seem to do too well at receiving constructive criticism. Many times we are quick to label people as “haters” if they don’t share our point of view. By labeling people, we immediately squelch what could be a positive discussion.
We need to do a better job of coming to grips with our imperfections, and taking care of the “plank” in our own eye, as it were. None of us are perfect. We all have a lot we can learn from each other, if we will be open to hear God’s voice speaking to us through imperfect vessels.