Too spiritual for earthly good...

[ABlessedAnomaly]

Ok, a summation of what I'm asking can be found in these two places:
(1) http://www.christianforums.com/t7685541-post61348310/ ; and
(2) http://www.christianforums.com/t7685541/#post61348407

If you've joined late and want to just jump in without reading everything, then orient yourself with those two posts so we are all on the same page. Hopefully through those two, I've set the stage correctly.

Where is the balance between our spirituality and our "earthly good?"

 

[pdudgeon]

We've all heard the saying: "So spiritual that you are no earthly good."

Any truth to this?

Genesis 2:7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
​

God breathed life into man and man became a living soul. This is a spiritual action: we are spirit/soul/body. God formed man's (’adam -- and you thought it was his name) body of the dust of the ground (’adamah). This is physical: it is our bodies. And God breathed (neshâmâh -- a puff, a wind, soul, spirit) life (chay). This is spiritual.

So in Word/Faith there is a saying: We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body.

Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
​

So we were made in God's likeness and image. And we were given dominion over all life in this earth, and over all the earth.

Hebrews 2:6-8
“What is man, that You remember him?
Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him?
7 “You have made him for a little while lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And have appointed him over the works of Your hands;
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
​

Man was put here and appointed over the works of God's hands -- what are the works of God's hands? It is the creation: the living animals, the plants, etc. The only thing that is not mentioned as being in sujection to us is our fellow man.

So we are made a spirit, in a physical (earthly) body. Our relationship and our interaction with God is spiritual. But why are we here? For what purpose did God place man in this world?

To preach the Gospel?? Do you think?

Here's Adam (and soon Eve) and he is placed in this world: to preach the Gospel?? I don't think so. Once the fall occurred and man began to become wicked, there was a need for the Gospel message to be preached. But that is not the original reason we are here.

We are then given dominion in this earth. We are told to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. We are told to be, well, physical (as oppposed to spiritual, which Adam and Eve already were in their relationship with God).

So I'm going to stop here, with this introduction. Man is a spirit, but he was placed in a physical world to take dominion and be physical here. Nowhere are we told that we are to eschew the physical, just that it is not our primary being.

So, can you be so spiritual that you are no earthly good? Who cares if we are? And is that bad? What if we simply focused 100% of our being on our spiritual side and ignored this earth and what is in it? Would that please God? Perhaps that's how we got to where we are today. Hmm?

LOL your post reminded me of Enoch.
Gen. 5:23-24 Enoch lived 365 years in all. He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life. Then suddenly, he disappeared because God took him.

Enoch lived a much shorter life than both his father Jared, and his son Methuselah, but apparently he lived a very good life. So being of 'no earthly good' isn't as bad as it's made out to be.

 

[PastorMike]

LOL your post reminded me of Enoch.
Gen. 5:23-24 Enoch lived 365 years in all. He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life. Then suddenly, he disappeared because God took him.

Enoch lived a much shorter life than both his father Jared, and his son Methuselah, but apparently he lived a very good life. So being of 'no earthly good' isn't as bad as it's made out to be.

Excellent Pam

 

[now faith]

I belive the more Spiritual you are, the more earthly good you will do. Our Lord Jesus did many great works, as Christians we are striving to be Christ like. On the other hand the more self righteous you are ,the less kingdom minded. Self righteous people over look the beauty and love that is before them in this earth, and concern themselves about themselves.

 

[ABlessedAnomaly]

I belive the more Spiritual you are, the more earthly good you will do. Our Lord Jesus did many great works, as Christians we are striving to be Christ like. On the other hand the more self righteous you are ,the less kingdom minded. Self righteous people over look the beauty and love that is before them in this earth, and concern themselves about themselves.

I agree.

But this took a step back toward generality. So what we need to do is to answer (1) what is spiritual? (2) what is earthly good? and (3) can we be too spiritual (or is there a balance)?

#3 is a loaded question. Its answer depends upon how you define #1. Obviously if we define it correctly, then you are right in your post here: true spirituality will lead us to perform righteously.

So why don't we perform righteously, doing earthly good? Well, it is because we are trying to be spiritual. Did you catch that? We aren't being spiritual, we are trying to be spiritual.

When we were born again our spirit was renewed. It was regenerated. It was made perfect.

And if we listened to it and acted accordingly then our actions would lead us to do earthly good. But we don't (and if you disagree and say that you do, then you are likely too spiritual to be any earthly good!).

Romans 7:15, 18-20
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
​

Paul tells us that we simply do not do good. We will to do it, but we stumble. And God tells us that it is really sin that dwells in us that causes this (for in His eyes we cannot sin -- 1 John 3:9).

Perhaps you've heard: our spirit has been perfected; our flesh is sinful; and our soul sits inbetween in a sort of tug of war. We are told in Word/Faith that our soul is our mind, will and emotion*. Our mind is in this struggle and either:

(a) we will try to listen to our spirit; or
(b) we will let our mind listen to our spirit.
​

When you "try," you are getting in the middle. When you allow your spirit to speak to you then you hear more clearly. Our righteous spirit is the renewed spirit that God has given us, that He breathed into us. It is His Life.

When we "try" to be spiritual, then we can become religious and think that we are so spiritual, and in that cloud we will do no earthly good. We have a purpose. Primarily that purpose is to preach the Gospel to the lost.

But if the lost is a homeless man or woman who has not eaten in three days...telling them that Christ loves them will not be well received; giving them food and compassion will get their attention. Being Christ to them will get them to actually listen. Then we can tell them how much Jesus loves them and what He did for them at the cross.

Being spiritual is letting the spirit that God breathed into you bring you to righteousness. It is not over-thinking but rather listening for that small, still voice inside, listening for our spirit-man to speak to us and tell us what to do.

Being over-spiritual is hearing our spirit tell us what to do, and then evaluating it, examining it, turning it over and over and tearing it open to see if there is anything inside of it. This gets too much of the flesh involved. It is the tug of war we talked about, but the flesh is winning.

And earthly good is why we are here. We have dominion here to do earthly good. We are not to turn from doing good because we want to be more spiritual. For this kind of spiritual leads us away from the works that shows that the faith is real. For faith (and our self-spirituality) is dead without works.

But, as now faith says here, true earthly good will follow true spirituality. And true spirituality does not come from us, it is God-driven, Holy Spirit led and Christ centered.




* I don't fully agree with this definition of soul, but it suffices for this discussion.

 

[now faith]

This teaching is the essence, of what Christ taught. Earthly good is in your heart , not always your actions.

 

[Norah63]

Every one who has been a christian very long will get hit with that line.
"you are just too heavenly minded to be any earthly good".
Then they expect you to agree with them, and post a million words to supposedly 'fix' the
situation.
Social gospel will work if we have the power to heal the sick, raise the dead and deliver those held captive by the devil.
Unless and until the church gets to that level of faith, we will always get attacked,
because of the mind- set that everything done, should be by our earthly works.
Someone posted it earlier, the carnal mind is our downfall.

 

[ABlessedAnomaly]

This teaching is the essence, of what Christ taught. Earthly good is in your heart , not always your actions.

I disagree with this last statement.

James 2:17
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
​

What kind of works is James talking about? Works in your heart?

John 21:15-17
15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.
​

"Tend to My sheep." What does this mean to the Father? Well, let's take a look at but one instance where He showed us what our motivations should be:

Matthew 25:31-46 (with comment)
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
​

There are basically three types of people in the church congregation: sheep, goats and wolves. There are also at least two in leadership: shepherds and hirelings. Of these latter two, a shepherd knows his sheep. If one wanders away, he will go find it. If a wolf comes into the flock, he will defend the sheep. A hireling will tend the sheep while it is comfortable. If one wanders away, he will wait for it to come back. If a wolf comes into the flock, he will run so as not to get bit himself.

Of the congregation: sheep are the shepherds own. He loves them and watches over them. They in return provide wool and they love the shepherd. They are actually helpful in the relationship. Goats on the other hand just want to eat the grass that is the sheep's food. They take up space, but are otherwise somewhat harmless. When the flock is gathered at the destination, the goats will be seperated from the sheep -- they can't go where the sheep go. Wolves are dangerous, and once identified the shepherd will attack and chase the wolves away from the sheep. The wolves only wish to seperated the sheep, drive them apart and ultimately away from the shepherd.

Matthew 25:31-46 -- continued
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to 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 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
​

We know that eternal life in found in Christ Jesus. Believe upon His Name and you will be saved. But to whom much is given, much will be required. True salvation changes a person. Intellectual salvation (which is not true) does not. When you are saved a sanctification process begins and you are being made holy. You are imputed the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

In this sanctification process and in the fact that our spirit has been born again, made perfect, justified (just-as-if-I'd never sinned). In our spirit God sees us through the cleansing blood of Jesus and He sees no sins, as 1 John 3:9 tells us: we cannot sin.

But in our carnal nature we can. Paul tells us this in Romans 7. We sin even through we don't wish to. What we will to do, we do not. What we will not to do, that is what we do.

So it is a continuous process of renewing our mind to Christ. It is a continual process of using and flexing and strengthening our faith -- using it in such a way as to call that which is unseen into the natural world. And this is not just houses and money and cars and jewels. No, this is also peace and deliverence and health and no hunger, no thirst; relationships and friendships and associations and fellowships.

In our saved reality we find a new desire to help others. To look outward and give of ourselves. Through this process God will then give back, pressed down, shaken together shall God, through men, give unto us. We know that we have to give before anything is given back. We sow seed, then we harvest.

Those who are goats? They don't sow into others. They have no compassion:

Matthew 25:31-46 -- continued
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
​

As with any 'onion' we can peel this back and find deeper meaning, such as sharing the Gospel message.

But I've found that when God wants to simply and only say "share the Gospel," He usually says: "share the Gospel." He's quite good with language. He knows all of them, you know.

And many times when He speaks to us, he speaks in the literal, physical sense, and in the spiritual sense as well. But to take this passage and simply and only attempt to spiritualize it and make it ONLY about sharing the Gospel, is a mishandling of the Word. (Besides, that too is a physical action.) When we act as goats the Lord says: "you gave Me nothing!"

Genesis 1:26, 28
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion ...
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
​

Dominion. Rule over. We are the judges and rulers in this earth. Psalm 82:6 uses the word "gods." Not deity, but rulers. And as rulers we have a responsibility to this earth and all that is in it from the smallest bug to all our fellow man. We have a responsibility to be earthly good.

Remember: we are spirit, soul AND body. The body is not just some growth on our soul that we are waiting to see if it will fall off.

We are spirit -- to worship in spirit and truth -- and we are physical -- to have dominion and do the works of our living faith.

We are to be earthly good.

 

[ABlessedAnomaly]

Every one who has been a christian very long will get hit with that line.
"you are just too heavenly minded to be any earthly good".
Then they expect you to agree with them, and post a million words to supposedly 'fix' the
situation.
Social gospel will work if we have the power to heal the sick, raise the dead and deliver those held captive by the devil.
Unless and until the church gets to that level of faith, we will always get attacked,
because of the mind- set that everything done, should be by our earthly works.
Someone posted it earlier, the carnal mind is our downfall.

Norah, what do you do with this:

James 2:17
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
​

What works does faith have?

We make the mistake of taking the word "carnal" and equating it simply to physical. That's not entirely correct. Carnal, while being relegated to the physical, has a connotation that has to do with selfishness or self-satisfaction. Carnality is self-serving. A carnal mind is one that thinks about how to gain pleasure for oneself.

When Jesus tells us to lay hands on the sick -- that is a physical action: is it carnal? No. When he tells us to feed the hungry -- a physical action: is it carnal? No. I'm sure you agree with these two points.

The reason for my OP is to ask "can we be too 'spiritual' to be earthly good?" And really I should have put 'spiritual' in quotes, but that would have loaded the deck. I wanted to see initial responses, not regurgitation of what others think I want to see. And the answer to the OP question is a resounding "Yes! We can get too 'spiritual' for anybody's good."

We drive by the corner and see a homeless man begging. We don't slow, but we say a prayer: "Lord, help that man find food."

But we miss the small, still voice that comes back: "I sent him you!" You have dominion for earthly good. You have been given faith that is to be shown alive with works.

You are to be earthly good.

 

[Optimax]

When James said that faith without works is dead, he was speaking of the corresponding action that accompanies true faith.

Without the corresponding action(works), one is speaking of mental assent with scripture.

One agrees mentally that what the scripture says is true but does not act on it.

True faith agrees that what the scripture says is true and then acts accordingly on what the word says, thereby receiving the promise.

 

[now faith]

Earthly good would be the widow giving her last mite, her heart was worth more than those who gave much, her action was a small earthly contrubition. Sometimes our spirit or heart of hearts is with good intention ,but in our actions we bare no fruit. It is Gods will that none should perish,but by giving free will many will perish.

 

[now faith]

Norah, what do you do with this:

James 2:17
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
​

What works does faith have?

We make the mistake of taking the word "carnal" and equating it simply to physical. That's not entirely correct. Carnal, while being relegated to the physical, has a connotation that has to do with selfishness or self-satisfaction. Carnality is self-serving. A carnal mind is one that thinks about how to gain pleasure for oneself.

When Jesus tells us to lay hands on the sick -- that is a physical action: is it carnal? No. When he tells us to feed the hungry -- a physical action: is it carnal? No. I'm sure you agree with these two points.

The reason for my OP is to ask "can we be too 'spiritual' to be earthly good?" And really I should have put 'spiritual' in quotes, but that would have loaded the deck. I wanted to see initial responses, not regurgitation of what others think I want to see. And the answer to the OP question is a resounding "Yes! We can get too 'spiritual' for anybody's good."

We drive by the corner and see a homeless man begging. We don't slow, but we say a prayer: "Lord, help that man find food."

But we miss the small, still voice that comes back: "I sent him you!" You have dominion for earthly good. You have been given faith that is to be shown alive with works.

You are to be earthly good.

Bob you are assuming every one is baptized in The Holy Spirit, those who speak against this truth of the word may not know that still small voice. They would say ah get a job, or their gonna spend it on booze, but they are at church every Sunday. So back to Orginal thought the more Spiritual you are the more sensitive to Gods will you become and the more earthly good you do. The get a job person is to religious to do earthly good.

 

[ABlessedAnomaly]

Bob you are assuming every one is baptized in The Holy Spirit, those who speak against this truth of the word may not know that still small voice.

There is a difference between being indwelled of the Holy Spirit (which every believer is) and being baptized in the Holy Spirit (which every believer is not). When one becomes born again, the Holy Spirit comes in and lives within him. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit is a choice to allow the Holy Spirit to lead (which doesn't mean that at times we won'd push Him back and get proud in our own ability). I'd like you to consider two events:

John 20:21-22
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
​

...and...

Acts 2:1-4
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
​

The first, when we obtain salvation, we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit. The second is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus said in Acts 1 just before He ascended to His Father....

Acts 1:5
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
​

So, yes and no: not baptized, but all believers are indwelled of the Holy Spirit and are under His helps (He is our helper).

They would say ah get a job, or their gonna spend it on booze, but they are at church every Sunday. So back to Orginal thought the more Spiritual you are the more sensitive to Gods will you become and the more earthly good you do. The get a job person is to religious to do earthly good.

This is absolutely true. And it is why in my last couple of posts I began to put quotes around the "spiritually" religious.

 

[ABlessedAnomaly]

Earthly good would be the widow giving her last mite, her heart was worth more than those who gave much, her action was a small earthly contrubition. Sometimes our spirit or heart of hearts is with good intention ,but in our actions we bare no fruit. It is Gods will that none should perish,but by giving free will many will perish.

That's good....a very good start.

 

[PastorMike]

Last year God really challenged me about my motives...

Why do you do the things you do... because you are expecting something in return or just because it is right?

example...

Do you feed the poor because you want them to come to church or just because they are hungry?

We should feed them because they are hungry and let God give the increase...

 

[Norah63]

The 'war on poverty' was declared a few presidents ago. Is that national faith in action?
How has helped the poor? They sure have multiplied since the war started.
Work your faith, and you will see faith with works.

 

[Gxg (G²)]

.

We are to be earthly good.

I would think the kind of earthly good Christ wants us to have is Luke 10:25-39, helping people on the side of the road beaten up rather than going to temple to worship in the name of helping God.

 

[Optimax]

I would think the kind of earthly good Christ wants us to have is Luke 10:25-39, helping people on the side of the road beaten up rather than going to temple to worship in the name of helping God.

I checked!

There is no one here beaten up on the side of the road.

Both sides good!

Middle too!

According to you.

I'm good!

 

[Gxg (G²)]

I checked!

There is no one here beaten up on the side of the road.

Both sides good!
According to you.

I'm good!

May wish to check that road again since A LOT of things were missed--and perhaps due to misunderstanding In the Literal sense, as it concerns people here , of course no one is beaten up---but that was not the context. The issue was seeing what it means to be either "earthly good" or "spiritually good"---and going back to the context of following the example Christ laid out when the principle of helping others out in need.

Perfectly seen, IMHO, in the analogy/parable of the Good Samaritan and what faith in action looked like..as Brother ABM has noted repeatedly.And in line with what Brother ABM noted earlier on a comment I made in agreement with him that went in line with the Good Samaritan:

What about considering the ways people speak of the Kingdom of God and yet ignore how that plays out practically in the lives of others? Dr. Martin Luther King often noted it during the era he lived in and how others often spoke of Christ/His Kingdom and yet it didn't seem to go outside the 4 walls...or be powerful enough to cause others to take dominion outside the church in the world. In his views, "a minister cannot preach the glories of a spiritual heaven and ignore the realities that cause men to have an earthly hell."

This is part of what I want to get at. Dr. King was a man who lived his faith for the "earthly good." And I'd like to pull out of it just what "earthly good" encompasses. Is it just feeding the poor and taking care of orphans and widows, or does it extend to where we shop, what we buy; does it (and how does it) extend past the walls of our church?

And what about if you own a business, does it relate to who you hire or what other businesses you do business with? If you work for a business, does it relate to who you choose to work for? (Example: if you are a church would you hire an atheist as, say, the maintenance man if he can do the job and won't proselytize his atheism?)

​

Simple enough, IMHO...and when not willing to help anyone in need who is in need of mercy, be it someone physically beaten (which happens on all sides of the street when opening eyes to real life people ) or others beaten spiritually, there's always a time to make a difference.

Luke 10:27

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

​

Of course, we can all have a "Come to Jesus" moment where others say "But I didn't see anyone here beaten on the side of the road Lord!!!" and he'll answer directly on the error of missing of the point he made on the subject

I’m reminded of what Dr.Martin Luther King noted when it came to the call to be like Good Samaritans (Luke 10:25-39) in our love for others/in service to God—for as he said best:

I think the Good Samaritan is a great individual. I of course, like and respect the Good Samaritan….but I don’t want to be a Good Samaritan….. I am tired of picking up people along the Jericho Road. I am tired of seeing people battered and bruised and bloody, injured and jumped on, along the Jericho Roads of life. This road is dangerous. I don’t want to pick up anyone else, along this Jericho Road; I want to fix… the Jericho Road. I want to pave the Jericho Road, add street lights to the Jericho Road; make the Jericho Road safe (for passage) by everybody….

”

​

In his speech, entitled “Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence”, Brother Martin said the following for more clarification on the Good Samaritan issue:

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

​

And As Dr.King said best in another one of his speeches, specifically his “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speech, delievered April 3, 1968 :

Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus, and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters of life. At points he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew and throw him off base….

Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn’t stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But he got down with him, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his brother.

Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn’t stop. At times we say they were busy going to a church meeting, an ecclesiastical gathering, and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn’t be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that “One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony.” And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem — or down to Jericho, rather to organize a “Jericho Road Improvement Association.” That’s a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effect.

But I’m going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It’s possible that those men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, “I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable.” It’s a winding, meandering road. It’s really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles — or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you’re about 2200 feet below sea level. That’s a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the “Bloody Pass.”

And you know, it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked — the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?” The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?” That’s the question.

Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.

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[Gxg (G²)]

We drive by the corner and see a homeless man begging. We don't slow, but we say a prayer: "Lord, help that man find food."

But we miss the small, still voice that comes back: "I sent him you!" You have dominion for earthly good. You have been given faith that is to be shown alive with works.

You are to be earthly good.

James 2:15-17James 2
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

1 John 3:17
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
1 John 3:16-18 1 John 3

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Reminds me of how often others say that there's no need to get physically involved with combatting poverty because they say "Well Jesus said the poor will be with you always and it's better to celebrate him" ( Mark 14:6-8, Matthew 26:10-12, John 12:7-9 )...but then miss where he was talking about focusing on Him in his last moments on Earth and not seeing where the phrase "Poor will be with you always" was in the context of the Lord commanding His people to always be generous to the poor/seek to aid them since they'd reflect Him by doing so.

Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land Deuteronomy 15:10-12 / Deuteronomy 15
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Our faith as believers was always meant to be one where we were very much concerned with being of earthly good to others who are within our ability to impact for Him since the Lord did the same for us. Tabitha certainly had that mindset in Acts 9:35-37 when she was always aiding the poor---and so did other apostles. Only in our times does it seem that being earthly good is considered to be demonic somehow...but it wasn't always so, at least in the U.S. It seems that the concept centuries ago in the U.S was to be "earthly good" since there were many things off in the U.S that needed to be reformed in the 18th/19th centuries (i.e. child sweat shops/labor, slavery, prison reform, etc)---with physical action always being seen as a reflection of what spiritual reality one holds to and whether or not they're really "spiritually good/minded at all." John Wesley and William Wilberforce amongst others were key leaders in taking charge of things. Sadly, in later times, people felt that focusing too much on the physical led to people missing the spiritual transformation of their souls---and so there was a strong Evangelical Revival that spread on preaching on the Kingdom of God...with much preaching on conversion being the focus......and in the process, all that matter was the intellectual side of things and talking of Christ rather than living it out/

It seemed to shift later on with Azuza street and William Seymour, as there was an expectation that they were in the end times and to be filled with the Spirit was a big deal. During the Third Great Awakening (1858-1908) teachings on holiness and sanctification, although popular, had swayed toward "sinless perfectionism" which taught that an individual could maintain a perfectly sinless life in this present world through ultra-sanctification. It was these doctrines that were prevalent during the emergence of Pentecostalism in 1904, at what would become known as the Azusa Street revival. There was a focus on Acts 2 when Peter predicts that the prophesied revival had broken out beginning with the pouring out of the Spirit in Jerusalem on the Feast of Pentecost....and that in the last days, God would pour out His spirit greatly...the latter rain.

Many expected for this rain of the Spirit to come forth powerfully in their own times. From here came people such as Charlie Parham. To my knowledge, Parham had a small Bible school in Topeka, Kansas he called "Bethel." In the winter of 1900, he gave his students an assignment instructing them to use the Bible to discover the initial evidence of the Baptism in the Spirit. The students, in their research, concluded that speaking in tongues was found in just about every instance of Spirit Baptism in the Bible. Later, at midnight on the first day of the 20th century, January 1, 1901, 120 Bethel Bible School students were present for a watch-night service...similar to how it was for those at Pentecost.

30-year-old Bible student, Agnes Ozman, asked her teacher and fellow students to lay hands on her to be baptized in the Spirit. As Parham said of the event,

"I laid my hands upon her and prayed. I had scarcely repeated three dozen sentences when a glory fell upon her. A halo seemed to surround her head and face and she began speaking in the Chinese language and was unable to speak English for three days. When she tried to write in English to tell us of her experience she wrote the Chinese, copies of which we still have in newspapers printed at that time." (more here, here and here).
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Though she alone was the one having that experience, it was a POWERFUL one. She reported that for 3 days she could not help but speak in Chinese...and the experience for her was so real that it caused the Bible students and their teacher to shift their emphasis in the messages they brought. It was at that point that they began to say that the latter rain had fallen, with what they considered to be the evidence of speaking in tongues. For them, in what they saw, the language was truly Chinese...given for the sake of evangelism of China as well as an indication of how God desired to do the same in countries around the world.....with God truly taking what happened in the Pentecostal Movement in the U.S and taken it AROUND THE WORLD to China.

Agnes Ozman (As she later went back to mission work), not too long afterward, all the other students experienced gifts of various languages so they could go forth and evangelize the world. Within the next five years, 25,000 more people were baptized in the Spirit and spoke languages that they hadn’t learned.

The Bethel school became a bit of a phenomenom. However, racism still made a BIG difference in things.......and this is said in light of what William Seymour. For William Seymour was one of the Bethel Students....and in 1906, Seymour accepted an invitation to preach at a tiny mission the Congregation in the Los Angeles slums called Azusa Street Mission. Seymour never spoke in tongues, though he still preached that tongues was the initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. He also taught that the Congregation should be open to receiving whatever the Spirit had for them. Not surprisingly, the Second Baptism of the Spirit fell at Azusa Street and the revival lasted 24/7 for three years.

Many felt that the reason that the location of the revival was important was because it happened in a time of MUCH racial discrimination. For Seymour was black and was a ‘colored’ in the Congregation. Charles Parham was one of the great figures within the Pentecostal movement, with his viewpoint helping to influence the Pentecostal Revival beginning in the early 20th century. However, as one who greatly influened William Seymour, Parham would not even let Seymour into the classroom full of white students because Seymour was BLACK.

He felt the work of the Holy Spirit was not solely about Gifts of the Spirit ---but in promoting unity when it came to barriers that were set up due to ethnicity....and that a real work of the Holy Spirit would be seeing a multi-cultural church and a Church that actively sought to deal with racial barriers that kept certain people/groups from having equal access.

With things such as Jim Crow Laws and discrimination happening in many ways all around the U.S, the Spirit of God was desperately needed to impact that practically. For no one could claim to follow the Spirit of God when they didn't think it was significant that there were "colored only" drinking fountains or places where blacks/minorities were denied jobs....treated as second class

Paraham seemed to have at times a bit of a paradox in personality, as he showed a lot of racial openness to others...but on the same token, the ways he often seemed to treat others didn't seem to reflect the spiritual reality of Heaven. Paraham was KKK sympathizer..and didn't seem to be fully against segregation. Although he was also one that greatly influened William Seymour, again, Parham would not even let Seymour into the classroom full of white students because Seymour was BLACK..and the era they lived in was after the Reconstruction. Didn't matter whether or not one was a Pentecostal and believed in the outpouring of the Gifts---for "colored" was "colored"....and what happened in the world of the Negro was radically different for what was going on in the world of whites. Nonetheless, Seymour was NOT going to let Parham's racism stop him from receiving the insights into God's Word that Parham was given. ....and instead of walking away, he chose to listen outside of the classroom window/gain what he could....and took the information he gained in a radically different way than did many others

Sadly, it seems Paraham and Seymour had a significant fall-out later on due to some racial slurs made by Charles who criticized Seymor for his racial mixing of groups in church. The KKK sympathies he had impacted his desires in what it meant to be "earthly good"---and he and Seymor couldn't get along because Charles wanted William to keep the status quo. He was also upset at Seymour seeming to gain more prominence than Charles did. But it seems that God used SEYMOUR and not Parham to begin the Azusa Street reviva because William's focus was on addressing the needs of impoverished/racially divided camps so that there could be true unity and reconciliation in the body reflective of Heaven---no matter what the odds were---while other Pentecostal camps continued focusing solely on the spiritual and ignoring the physical realities that were counter to the Lord (i.e. segregation, racism, etc).

That still seems to play out today when seeing what has now happened in Pentecostalism (i.e. the differences between Holiness Pentecostal churches in black/white communities)...some more concerned with the physical needs of impoverished communities while others feeling that seeking the Spirit doesn't need to be reflected as such. And the same principle also plays out in many other churches when it comes to divorcing practical action from authentic faith.

Just some food for thought, if I may share