Who Is Right and What To Do About It - Day 144 Month 5-24 Week 21-4
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
Deuteronomy 33, Psalm 116, Jeremiah 27, John 12:12-26
Who Is Right and What To Do About It
“They prophesy a lie to you.” Over and over again we hear Jeremiah prophesying to the people that they will be given over to Babylon. Yet, it appears many prophets, diviners, dreamers and soothsayers were saying it will not happen. Jeremiah warns them 3 times these prophets are lying to them. Jeremiah is the only one prophesying God’s truth.
It’s not hard to understand that those who say nice things are easier to listen to. Most of us would rather hear good things about the future than bad things and many people like to have their tea leaves read, palms read, have tarot card readings, go to psychics and the list goes on. We all want to know good things about the future. No psychic is going to stay in business if they talk about all the bad things that will happen. The prophecies of the bible seem to talk about bad things that are coming far more than the good things. In fact, they were to be heard as warnings for the people to change their ways and turn to God. There was always a chance that some bad things could be averted, but the hearts of the people were hard, and God knew that (because He knows everything).
Many of the good things are hidden in difficult prophetic texts. The death of Jesus is described in painful detail in Isaiah 53. In these current days, we also hear of many differing perspectives of what God is doing and what is right and wrong. It’s really obvious in the United States right now. You have the Christian right (Christian Nationalists) who are promoting, immigration crackdown, war in the middle east, and white racial supremacy and misogyny, media control and trying to make the US look like a “Christian nation.” You have the Chrisian left who are primarily saying to love one another and there should be a separation of church and state with freedom to choose your belief system. It is happening in Canada as well but it is not nearly as “in your face” as in the US currently.
So who is right? If each of these opposing viewpoints claim to represent God and by title Jesus Christ, then it’s imperative we understand to the best of our abilities as humans, the character of God. The most accurate and complete representative of the character of God is Jesus, being God himself, “I AM”. Throughout our reading of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we have read how Jesus Himself was constantly in disagreement with the religious leaders of the day. Jesus spent His ministry time with those who were “least of these” and those that needed healing and love. He spent time in Samaria where He chose the woman at the well to be the first missionary to her town. Jesus chose disciples who were largely looked down upon (fishermen, tax collectors etc.) in their communities yet His church started from these men who were “less than.” Jesus taught the two most important laws were love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
Jesus chose the poor and needy to represent Him. He chose a woman of less repute to be a missionary to her people, He taught justice, He commanded us to love others with everything we have. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God separate from the kingdom of this earth when He separated the coin of Caesar (taxes owing to the government) from spiritual devotion to God. His only relationship with the spiritual leaders was standing against their legalism, self-interest for power and prestige. If Jesus truly represents the character of God, I would suggest following in Jesus footsteps.
This is prompting a question for me and maybe for you as well. Who do you listen to for guidance? If you are a Jesus follower, attend a church but not just any church. See and hear what the church (sometimes it’s not just the preaching) is teaching:
Is the church challenging you to personally maintain reading scripture and prayer?
Is the leadership open to you questioning them if something seems wrong?
Is the church inwardly focused (come in here and we’ll help you; want to know God, come here and we’ll tell you, we can’t afford to help outsiders - we need to change the carpet in here so people attending will think we’re up to date, etc…) or is it teaching you to love your neighbour?
Is the church reaching out to its community ( getting involved in social justice issues, helping the homeless where they are at, helping your senior neighbour cut their lawn or garden or get a group to clean a park, feeding those in need where they are with no strings attached?
Are women treated as equal? (Different denominations will look at scriptural interpretation of this different but if women are treated as second class and less superior, it’s wrong - both in church and in homes)
We travel to a church 45 minutes away because it is the one that we found that answers these questions well. We have now found a local church that answers these questions well, but lacks the ability to reach out to its community though it is doing its best. This summer we intend to relook at some of the more local churches to see if we are finding any that fit because it’s hard to reach out to your local community if you are attending a community 45 minutes away; it's also hard when you are the only outward living Christians in an inward acting church - after all we are to be in community.
If you are not a Jesus follower, why not consider it? God loves you and because He does, He sent Jesus. Jesus died for each and every one of us as part of God’s plan to remove our sin nature and give us a new big heart for Him and others - we cannot do this ourselves by being “good”. He offers you His presence and He offers you a passport to His kingdom. Take the new citizenship today. You won’t regret it.
Have a great day!
Steve
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