Last Sunday's message was on the concluding verses of Matthew 10, the famous "I came not to bring peace but a sword" passage. It's pretty chilling. Jesus demands utmost loyalty from his followers, that they love him more than parents, children, husband, wife. This doesn't mean you don't love them, Pastor said, you just have to love Jesus "more". As he was talking, I thought about the closing words of Pearl S. Buck's "Fighting Angel" about her missionary father: "And so he died, and never knew he lived." Here was a man who was so wholly devoted to Jesus that his family was an afterthought. Unfortunately they were not on the same spiritual plane as he, otherwise they would have accepted their status a bit better. I've known people like that, where Jesus is First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth in their lives all the way down to where others just might, if they pass the doctrinal/lifestyle test, come in at about number 10. They're well aware of it too, because if anyone calls them on it, they quote the above scripture or others like that to justify their actions. Well, as far as I'm concerned they can have their Jesus all to themselves. They don't need me in their lives.
Anyway, after Jesus gets done telling his disciples that he has to be #1 in their lives, he goes on to say that a person's worst enemies will be that of their household. Parents will turn on their children, children will turn on their parents, mother and father in laws will turn on their daughters and sons in law, and so on and so forth. This is all part of his mission. He has come explicitly to stir up this kind of trouble. As I re-read this passage, I thought, you know what this reminds me of? It reminds me of life under a totalitarian system, where nobody can trust anyone else and informers are everywhere. I'm not sure I want to be a part of this sort of thing at all.
Now I have to give Pastor credit, he did say that this scripture was not a license to go out and be a jerk. In other words, if people hate you for being a Christian let them hate you because you love Jesus, not because of your behavior. And he is right there, except that I really don't think loving Jesus is the issue. At least not around here. You can pretty much "love" any kind of "god" or "goddess" you want, and not too many people give a damn. Well, some do, but outright religious persecution is pretty rare here, and thank God and the Constitution for that. So that isn't the reason why Christians are disliked. I've written in other blogs about some of the things I've seen going on in the name of Christianity that I think are pretty mean-spirited. But you know, now I am beginning to wonder about the Founder himself, some of the things he says. If he were around today, he'd be the subject of a lively debate over on Rick Ross Cult Information Network website, and I'm afraid a lot of it wouldn't be favorable. (Interesting website, by the way, it's a real education to see what kind of stuff is out there).
What bothers me in this whole you are either for or against business is that there is no room for conscience. There is no room for doubt. There is no room for questioning. No. You have to make a decision and you have to make it now because tomorrow may be too late. But what I'd like to know, is what happens to those who are mentally incapable of making such a decision (because I am assuming that it isn't just enough to say the words asking the Lord to save you, you have to understand what you are doing). Because I don't see anywhere in Scripture (if you are going by Scripture alone) that there are any exemptions to the rule that he is preaching. And that means an awful lot of us are going to the bad place by default.
Anyway, after Jesus gets done telling his disciples that he has to be #1 in their lives, he goes on to say that a person's worst enemies will be that of their household. Parents will turn on their children, children will turn on their parents, mother and father in laws will turn on their daughters and sons in law, and so on and so forth. This is all part of his mission. He has come explicitly to stir up this kind of trouble. As I re-read this passage, I thought, you know what this reminds me of? It reminds me of life under a totalitarian system, where nobody can trust anyone else and informers are everywhere. I'm not sure I want to be a part of this sort of thing at all.
Now I have to give Pastor credit, he did say that this scripture was not a license to go out and be a jerk. In other words, if people hate you for being a Christian let them hate you because you love Jesus, not because of your behavior. And he is right there, except that I really don't think loving Jesus is the issue. At least not around here. You can pretty much "love" any kind of "god" or "goddess" you want, and not too many people give a damn. Well, some do, but outright religious persecution is pretty rare here, and thank God and the Constitution for that. So that isn't the reason why Christians are disliked. I've written in other blogs about some of the things I've seen going on in the name of Christianity that I think are pretty mean-spirited. But you know, now I am beginning to wonder about the Founder himself, some of the things he says. If he were around today, he'd be the subject of a lively debate over on Rick Ross Cult Information Network website, and I'm afraid a lot of it wouldn't be favorable. (Interesting website, by the way, it's a real education to see what kind of stuff is out there).
What bothers me in this whole you are either for or against business is that there is no room for conscience. There is no room for doubt. There is no room for questioning. No. You have to make a decision and you have to make it now because tomorrow may be too late. But what I'd like to know, is what happens to those who are mentally incapable of making such a decision (because I am assuming that it isn't just enough to say the words asking the Lord to save you, you have to understand what you are doing). Because I don't see anywhere in Scripture (if you are going by Scripture alone) that there are any exemptions to the rule that he is preaching. And that means an awful lot of us are going to the bad place by default.
