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In 1095 the first of nine Crusades began when Pope Urban the II pleaded for Christians everywhere to rise up and retake Jerusalem out from under Muslim control . . . which only led to eight more Crusades aimed at further world domination by the sword. Their Christian rallying cry? Deus Volt, which ironically means, "God wills it."
Really?
Was God the author of the theories and actions of the sixteenth century reformation leader John Calvin who set the stage for our ugly modern Christian predicament of saving the world from social ills by presupposing he had the "authority of God in all worldly matters" even to the point of inflicting death upon those who disagreed with his theological views?
Does that sound like the fruit of Christian love?
Is this where it all started -- with "believers in Christ" somehow coming to think that hand and hand with their "faith, hope and charity" comes the God-authored duty, even the God-authored right, to reform social ills, and condemn the sinful in the name of Christ, who himself came not to condemn but to save?
When and where did believers and followers of Christ, who with His chosen apostles set the course for what being Christian really means, come to believe in the errant presupposition that devoted Christians must also uniformly embrace certain philosophies, modes of governing nations, apparel, music, lifestyles and personal preferences?
When did the doors to the blood and body of Christ shut on certain groups because modern, politically motivated Christians deem them morally bankrupt? Have we lost sight of the fact that even as saved and redeemed souls, all believers, in some form or another, also remain sinful?
Ask yourself, "Are Christians known today for their undying faith in God and deeply felt love for all, or their reputation for fighting against social evils like homosexuality, abortion, inappropriate contentography, evolution, divorce, gay marriage and the like?"
The answer provides us with some indication of how far we have strayed from the purpose and point of genuine Christianity.
As believers in Christ the King, what are we truly called to do and be?
Salt and light. Not of this world. Longsuffering. Loving. Cities set on a hill.
What were the words of Christ's great commission? "Go forth and be ye right-winged politically-active anti-homosexuals?" Did the Lord say "Go forth into the nation and picket abortion clinics? Yea, blow them to smithereens if ye must? Yea, go ye forth and boycott McDonalds and other corporate empires that offend our Christian sensitivities?"
Or did Jesus say,
Matthew 28: 19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
And from that passage, when He said, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded," what did He mean?
To love.
John 15:12, John 15:17, John 13:34
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you."
"These things I command you, that ye love one another."
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."
Remember, scripture does say,
1 John 4:20
"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
How on earth did we as believers and followers of the Lord Jesus ever allow the Body of Christ to be tacitly represented by these conservative, often republican, political action committees? And perhaps most importantly, where do we find ANY New Testament directives which tell believers that we have a Christian duty to fight the world (and all of its secular failures) along with, or instead of, sharing Jesus as the light and solution to all things?
Let me answer: We don't find this type of directive anywhere in the New Testament.
Yes it seems that more and more, Christians are known more for their politics than their faith and love. This should have NEVER come to be!
John 13:35
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Now don't get me wrong. All people ought to have the right to fight for or against any public policy with which they are appalled -- and as they are personally inclined. But there is a huge problem when these fights are associated with faith in Christ Jesus and the Gospels we hold dear.
What does the Bible say "the rights of a believer are?
Jesus said in Luke 6:22
"Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake."
How is a christian supposed to take abuse that is heaped upon them by virtue of their Christianity? Are we to fight it or to bear it in His name?
What does Jesus say we are to do if we are sued? (Matthew 5:40)
What did Paul say to do if our employers are unfair to us? (Titus 2:9)
What are we to do if we are struck in the face? (Matthew 5:39)
And how did Jesus tell us to respond and treat our enemies? (Matthew 5:44)
We know the answers, and yet somehow we have come to believe we have a right to fight offense, to sue, to complain, and/or to lash out and protest against those (of the world) that get their way over ours.
But what is said even of our Master?
John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Jesus did nothing politically nor said anything about our fighting the world. It is a sad day when the world identifies His followers by anything other than our faith in God and our love for Him and others.
Listen to John the beloved again,
1 John 2:15-17
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
Then he says in Chapter 5 verse 4,
1 John 5:4
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"
Christians cannot get sucked into the side-tracking vortex of these empty modern causes. Understand, I am speaking of causes to stop sin, not causes to help and serve the poor and sick, and afflicted. Satan uses such vacuous causes to get believers off course and to render us ineffective in sharing the only true solution to such social ills (faith in Jesus) and to sway seekers who are offended by such tactics to avoid the cross at all costs. Instead, Christians's ought to embrace all people in love, share Jesus as the personal solution to all things, and no matter who they are or who they continue to be, refuse to take up fleshly arms in a vain attempt to purify the world. It will not only build a wall between those who know the Lord and those who don't... it will NEVER work in bring people to Him, which is our primary purpose in letting "our lights so shine"
"Certainly every Christian out to actively be involved in serving the world . . . serving the poor food, the lost with directions, the naked with clothing. But there is a huge difference between serving the world and fighting against it."
- From Shawn McCraney's book "If my kingdom were of this world then my servants would fight. - A believers refusal to join popular Christian culture."
This took awhile to write out, hope you enjoyed!
There is much more that speaks about how we can overcome the world by the Spirit of God, and how Jesus Christ's kingdom is not of this world. Hope you enjoyed reading this and may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bring you peace, grace, mercy, compassion, love, longsuffering, and patience!
Really?
Was God the author of the theories and actions of the sixteenth century reformation leader John Calvin who set the stage for our ugly modern Christian predicament of saving the world from social ills by presupposing he had the "authority of God in all worldly matters" even to the point of inflicting death upon those who disagreed with his theological views?
Does that sound like the fruit of Christian love?
Is this where it all started -- with "believers in Christ" somehow coming to think that hand and hand with their "faith, hope and charity" comes the God-authored duty, even the God-authored right, to reform social ills, and condemn the sinful in the name of Christ, who himself came not to condemn but to save?
When and where did believers and followers of Christ, who with His chosen apostles set the course for what being Christian really means, come to believe in the errant presupposition that devoted Christians must also uniformly embrace certain philosophies, modes of governing nations, apparel, music, lifestyles and personal preferences?
When did the doors to the blood and body of Christ shut on certain groups because modern, politically motivated Christians deem them morally bankrupt? Have we lost sight of the fact that even as saved and redeemed souls, all believers, in some form or another, also remain sinful?
Ask yourself, "Are Christians known today for their undying faith in God and deeply felt love for all, or their reputation for fighting against social evils like homosexuality, abortion, inappropriate contentography, evolution, divorce, gay marriage and the like?"
The answer provides us with some indication of how far we have strayed from the purpose and point of genuine Christianity.
As believers in Christ the King, what are we truly called to do and be?
Salt and light. Not of this world. Longsuffering. Loving. Cities set on a hill.
What were the words of Christ's great commission? "Go forth and be ye right-winged politically-active anti-homosexuals?" Did the Lord say "Go forth into the nation and picket abortion clinics? Yea, blow them to smithereens if ye must? Yea, go ye forth and boycott McDonalds and other corporate empires that offend our Christian sensitivities?"
Or did Jesus say,
Matthew 28: 19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
And from that passage, when He said, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded," what did He mean?
To love.
John 15:12, John 15:17, John 13:34
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you."
"These things I command you, that ye love one another."
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."
Remember, scripture does say,
1 John 4:20
"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
How on earth did we as believers and followers of the Lord Jesus ever allow the Body of Christ to be tacitly represented by these conservative, often republican, political action committees? And perhaps most importantly, where do we find ANY New Testament directives which tell believers that we have a Christian duty to fight the world (and all of its secular failures) along with, or instead of, sharing Jesus as the light and solution to all things?
Let me answer: We don't find this type of directive anywhere in the New Testament.
Yes it seems that more and more, Christians are known more for their politics than their faith and love. This should have NEVER come to be!
John 13:35
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Now don't get me wrong. All people ought to have the right to fight for or against any public policy with which they are appalled -- and as they are personally inclined. But there is a huge problem when these fights are associated with faith in Christ Jesus and the Gospels we hold dear.
What does the Bible say "the rights of a believer are?
Jesus said in Luke 6:22
"Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake."
How is a christian supposed to take abuse that is heaped upon them by virtue of their Christianity? Are we to fight it or to bear it in His name?
What does Jesus say we are to do if we are sued? (Matthew 5:40)
What did Paul say to do if our employers are unfair to us? (Titus 2:9)
What are we to do if we are struck in the face? (Matthew 5:39)
And how did Jesus tell us to respond and treat our enemies? (Matthew 5:44)
We know the answers, and yet somehow we have come to believe we have a right to fight offense, to sue, to complain, and/or to lash out and protest against those (of the world) that get their way over ours.
But what is said even of our Master?
John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Jesus did nothing politically nor said anything about our fighting the world. It is a sad day when the world identifies His followers by anything other than our faith in God and our love for Him and others.
Listen to John the beloved again,
1 John 2:15-17
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
Then he says in Chapter 5 verse 4,
1 John 5:4
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"
Christians cannot get sucked into the side-tracking vortex of these empty modern causes. Understand, I am speaking of causes to stop sin, not causes to help and serve the poor and sick, and afflicted. Satan uses such vacuous causes to get believers off course and to render us ineffective in sharing the only true solution to such social ills (faith in Jesus) and to sway seekers who are offended by such tactics to avoid the cross at all costs. Instead, Christians's ought to embrace all people in love, share Jesus as the personal solution to all things, and no matter who they are or who they continue to be, refuse to take up fleshly arms in a vain attempt to purify the world. It will not only build a wall between those who know the Lord and those who don't... it will NEVER work in bring people to Him, which is our primary purpose in letting "our lights so shine"
"Certainly every Christian out to actively be involved in serving the world . . . serving the poor food, the lost with directions, the naked with clothing. But there is a huge difference between serving the world and fighting against it."
- From Shawn McCraney's book "If my kingdom were of this world then my servants would fight. - A believers refusal to join popular Christian culture."
This took awhile to write out, hope you enjoyed!
There is much more that speaks about how we can overcome the world by the Spirit of God, and how Jesus Christ's kingdom is not of this world. Hope you enjoyed reading this and may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bring you peace, grace, mercy, compassion, love, longsuffering, and patience!