When you're making comments or sharing news or other's comments on Facebook, good discussions can often begin.
Last night (November 29, 2014) I reposted a story from Ferguson, MO, USA, that highlighted a protestor who while out looting and pillaging, accidentally set fire to and burned down his own home. This man who got wrapped up in the emotion rather than separating himself from the mob and is now homeless as a consequence to his actions.
Some of us may gloat at this poor guy's actions, misfortunes, whatever you want to call it, but in reality it's a tragic reminder of what can happen when we don't engage our minds and follow only with the heart.
Anyway, a good and loving friend suspected that I was acting and speaking in a contemptuous manner to the situation in Ferguson, MO. By the way, if you are unaware of this incident on the past several months, look it up, I'm not going to rehash it here. What followed was a lively discussion from literally around the world from friends in the US and New Zealand, on how we as Christians should be engaging the unbelieving world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Following are my comments interspersed with insights from other friends. As we are all called to engage the world, it will be difficult. It won't always be pretty.
Context is everything.
To my friend and son in the faith Christopher, it's (my comments) not contempt...it's sadness for a nation (the USA) that's gone completely awry in under a decade. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the country, culture and society that I love to have so deviated from its core principles in such a short time. Instead of standing for truth, justice and mercy far too many people are now standing up for 'fairness' and political correctness. I'm tired (and so are many of my friends and family, like Jane, Marco, Shelley, Kate, Anthony, Joel) of being bludgeoned with absolute nonsense, while also being demonized as being racist and homophobic...all and only because we are standing for what is right, the rule of law and Biblical standards.
The poor guy in the above story purposefully chose to listen to and follow a lie...and he paid a very heavy consequence that he will have to live with for a long time.
I know that there is a lot of shouting back and forth. There's a lot of arguing. There's tremendous incivility. I'm not being uncivil, but I do intend to be forceful when provided the opportunity. (Go back and read through the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel...2 men who forcefully spoke the truth in their times of ministry to a nation that was crumbling from the inside due to its lack of following Scriptural truths.)
Unfortunately - take this in the correct context - I have many friends who are believers who support (wrongly in my opinion) these awful protests and the power brokers who are fanning the flames of hatred...my purpose and point is to hopefully hold up a mirror so that they can see the thoroughly demonic lifestyle and culture they support. Mob rule is demonic. Calling yourself a "reverend" (Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson) and supporting mob rule is demonic. Religions and religiosity are part of the problem but Biblical Christianity is the ONLY answer to and for our world. Remember that Jesus was most abrupt and hard on priests, scribes and religious leaders of that day. According to bold Christian leaders such as the Apostle Paul or Deitrich Bonhoeffer, to not speak is to be a part of the problem.
Abraham Lincoln noted over 150 years ago that if we didn't follow conservative (biblical) standards, we as a nation would fall...and it wouldn't be from the outside; our demise is happening from internal moral decay. "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
As we lose our children (and even ourselves) to "the system", we lose our individuality and purpose that God created us for and called us to be. It is astonishing to see the the black community at large (this is a broad stroke so bear with me) literally committing cultural suicide by believing the lie of progressive policies over the decades. Unfortunately many of their leaders (social, political and religious) don't want to lose their positions of influence and power and so have perpetuated a new "plantation lifestyle" that is now in the form of dilapidated ghettos, thuggery and ruined lives. Instead of preaching the Gospel, their preachers (along with certain white race-baiting hucksters) preach a "new" social gospel. Jesus' Gospel is the only one worth listening to and following in order to live freely and successfully and especially purposefully. Living in the freedom of Christ, we can live freely indeed.
Jesus truly is the answer.
Jesus was dramatically counter-cultural. He lived according to the rule of law, but the Law of God trumps the rule of law every time. And yet we are to respond within the rule of law. After all, it is God Himself who seats these rulers -good and bad - over us.
I agree with you 100% that as Christ followers we are to proclaim His good news and promote healing. That is being done...but remember that sometimes healing requires cauterization and sometimes even amputation so that the rest of the body may heal.
As I've said, taught and wrote about before: everyone likes the gentle and loving side of Jesus, but those same people bristle at the fact that He Himself said He would come and bring division and separation -
“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
"He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?" Luke 12:49-56.
Those are not only hard words, but difficult thoughts to reconcile. Why do you think so many Christians don't "like" to read the Old Testament? They don't necessarily like the God of the Old Testament (all of the blood, guts and conquest), but they do like the God of the New Testament (peace and love man). The fact of the matter is that He is One and the same...always was, is and ever will be. This is the reason why we need to read and know (as well as we can) the whole counsel of God (reading the Bible cover to cover at least one time per year. Biblical ignorance is dangerous.).
As my friend Marco (served as a missionary and church planter in Italy for several years) put it, "The correct picture of God in the person of Jesus Christ [and as He] said in Luke 13, unless you repent you will likewise perish. Is that hatred speaking or love? It's a loving warning to turn away from sin to Him. If a person does not respond to that they remain unjustified and unrighteous and the same Jesus, said to them there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, that was also said by a loving God. Not by me, or Ron or any other biblical interpretation."
Some final thoughts.
In a world that wants no part of God and especially the person of Jesus Christ our savior, He has not only commissioned us but also equipped us as individuals to serve Him by serving other men, women and children in whatever part of the world He may have us. If our hearts are right, we are to boldly go out and preach His Word while at the same time bring healing and much love to those who desire it. In the meanwhile, we will have tribulation - Jesus guaranteed it - until He comes to fetch us. Until then, we are to be obedient and bold, seeking His face while also allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us, even as the evil in this world desires to silence us (through so-called net neutrality, but we're not going there).
A final caution...don't fall for the incorrect idea of universalism (everyone goes to Heaven). It's unbiblical and Jesus Himself taught much on hell and what will happen to those who end up there as Marco noted. Our God is truly a God of love, justice and mercy...but because He is holy, punishment and wrath are His to wield as well for those who reject His calling.
I hope that makes sense...I still love you and am very proud of you! Continue to be a blessing. Stand firm! Let nothing move you.
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."
1 Corinthians 15:56-58 and 16:13-14.
In closing, Jesus has overcome the world. By His substitutionary death on the Cross and resurrection, we are reconciled once and for all to God. HE is Lord over all and over us. He is gracious and merciful. He has forgiven our sins. He is preparing our individual places for His purposes now and in eternity. Each of us is blessed beyond what we deserve. Regardless of what happens, He has won! He is the victor! He is God! Rejoice! Amen!
