Ideology matters; perhaps never more than today. What you believe will drive what you are
willing to sacrifice for it. And more
dangerously, what you believe may strongly influence how much you are willing
to make others suffer because they do not share your beliefs. Belief underlies it all. And our enemy is quick to introduce fear into
that equation. Combine fear and belief,
and it is easy to believe others intend to persecute you for your own beliefs. When you believe you might be persecuted, you
form a defense against this persecution.
And a good offense is always a good defense, so belief and fear combine
to drive violence into our world.
Whether threats are real or perceived becomes irrelevant. The violence that ensues is measurable. Perhaps this is why whenever our Lord
introduced the supernatural of His Kingdom to mankind he always opens the
greeting with “Fear Not”.
Where your willingness to inflict violence over your
beliefs, becomes more important to you than traditional bonds of friendship and
family … belief transcends reasonable boundaries and becomes fanaticism. A fanatic puts his beliefs so high in
importance, that even friendship and family must take a back seat. Friendships of many years can be dissolved in
an instant over a slight change in shared beliefs. Churches split over them. Cain kills Able over them. Differences in our exact interpretation of
beliefs cause us to cast aside friendships, a spirit of community, and even the
blood bonds of family. And in the mind
of the fanatic, all of these must be sacrificed for the sake of what is more
important. Fanatics point to the words
of Jesus on this matter, stating those who love parents or children more than
they love Him are not worthy of Him. But
Jesus did not offer the example of committing violence against
non-believers. Rather Jesus offered us
an example of redemptive love for ALL those who do not yet believe. Yet the fanatic ignores anything in the narrative
of scripture that countermands his beliefs and violent intentions, and
passionately embraces any tittle of scripture that might support them, and so
builds his ‘doctrinal epoch of cause’ to inflict violence where he sees fit.
The fundamentalist is a brand that has emerged in the last
50 years. The fundamentalist is a unique
and partial picture of the fanatic. They
wish a “return” to basic doctrines and are extremely passionate about these
ideas. However, their reactions range
from pity & condemnation for those who do not share their beliefs; to
outright violence against the unbeliever in order to prompt him to see the error
of his ways. If the unbeliever dies in
the process, that is left to the will of God.
Islamic extremists tend to fall in the fundamentalist category. But so do many Christians who are willing to
kill over their beliefs, whether to defend themselves, or to “defend the
faith”. What separates the
fundamentalist from the full-on-fanatic is the boundary of
family-relationships. When the
fundamentalist is willing to discard, or remove, a family member over a dispute
about beliefs – they have entered the domain of the fanatic.
You can see ranges of this in your own life, if we begin by
talking about politics first. Most solid
friendships can endure a difference over presidential candidates and how they
are doing. Good friends just come to a
place where they agree to disagree. Or
perhaps learn to enjoy a good round of debates where no one leaves angry. Families usually do better at this still … but
only because ‘they have to’. The bonds
of blood are way too important to lose over some idiot presidential
candidate. So each family member agrees
to “forgive” the one who is “mis-informed” and they either don’t talk about it
at all (so as not to get angry), or they reach a maturity level that allows
them open discourse without taking it personally. It is rare where a family is willing to break
apart over a disagreement in politics.
Frankly, politics is just not that worth it.
But where it comes to your salvation (in a spiritual
context); people do the stupidest things, in the worst ways imaginable – and
then claim what they do is the direct will of God, as if God spoke to them and
dictated the series of events and actions they must go do. But God does not. God does not whisper in the inquisitor’s ear;
that in order to change this infidel’s thinking about religion, you need to
continue torturing him/her in more and more severe ways. If there is a voice in that ear, it is NOT
the voice of the Lord. Nor does God
whisper in the voice of the ear of a self-described Muslim Martyr; that
murdering the innocent will somehow send a “bigger” statement to infidels about
how wrong they are. Neither act
accomplishes anything, but the degradation of the perpetrator. And to ascribe these acts to the will of God
is to blaspheme the name of God; yet the crime continues on every day in assorted
variations until blasphemy is common place.
Even where minds are so made up; even where opinions rarely
change they only harden; the commission of the gospel lives on. The message of the arrival of the kingdom of
God, and the entry through Jesus Christ lives on, remains relevant, and is
still good news. To live a better life
in the here-and-now is still an awesome concept no matter how badly I have
screwed up doctrines, or how fanatically I am wrong about so so many
things. That good news dwarfs the
condemnation of my fundamentalism, and has the potential to restore the
relationships with family and friends my craziness has broken apart. My entire life could be so exponentially
better through Jesus Christ, and His gift is so easy to accept. Even though our internet jungle of ever
hardening circles of judgement remain, the gospel is bigger, better, and more
powerful than that.
Jesus knew the weird beliefs systems we would face. Jesus knew how beliefs devolve into
fanaticism. Jesus knew even His own
religion would fall victim to this horror.
But the gospel had to go out still.
Matthew continues the counsel of Christ resuming in chapter ten of his
gospel picking up in verse 16 saying … “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in
the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” No matter what the level of violence raised
against the follower of Christ, violence in return, is not the response. This text is very specific that the gospel is
not spread on the point of sword.
Inflicting violence does nothing to change hearts, only love does
that. Responding to threats is not
couched in excellent defensive postures and weapons of self-defense, it is
couched only in love for the enemy who means us harm. Wisdom is a better method of avoiding problems,
than violence. Being harmless makes us
less of a threat than a posture of strength.
Let the Lord be our strength instead.
Matthew continues in verse 17 saying … “But beware of men:
for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in
their synagogues; [verse 18] And ye shall be brought before governors and kings
for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.” Jesus predicts the fury of organized religion
against the pure message of saving grace.
He does not assure us deliverance against these heinous crimes, rather
that we will surely endure them for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the
redemption of the man carrying the whip.
His own religion, that is, the religion Jesus setup with Moses in the
desert will be the first to unleash the satanic fury of fanaticism against the
simple saving message of Jesus as the Messiah.
But religious persecution is not the only brand His followers would suffer. Religion would unite with the power of the
State to continue and expand persecution of the followers of Jesus. In the years to come, the corruption within
the legacy Jewish religion would find its way into the Roman Catholic halls and
extend the reach of persecution against groups like the Waldensians, and other
smaller segments of people who believed in the saving message of Jesus Christ,
not the absolute control of the organized church. “Who” saves you has always been the ultimate
question, whether singularly Jesus Christ, or some version of people claiming
to be His sole church.
Jesus then provides His followers with the ultimate defense
attorney for the upcoming “trials” in which they will be accused falsely,
picking up in verse 19 saying … “But when they deliver you up, take no thought
how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye
shall speak. [verse 20] For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your
Father which speaketh in you.” We are
nothing better than a conduit for the Spirit of God. And to be that, we must get out of the
way. Preparation, is NOT required. In fact, it should be purposely avoided. That takes trust. That takes confidence that we will not be
making a fool of ourselves when the time comes.
But the fool in us will remain silent, while the Spirit that enters us
will speak with a clarity, and emotional pull, that ONLY the Spirit of God can
accomplish. It is the well prepared of
us, that provides no outlet for His Spirit.
We are too busy talking ourselves to let Him get a word in edgewise. And while we speak our own well prepared
words, it is evident we are truly fools.
For Satan can out debate us any day of the week, but against His Spirit,
Satan is moot, and irrelevant.
The core of this counsel relies on a faith in Jesus Christ
to save us. To save us from
ourselves. To save us from situations
well beyond our control. And in the
process, to reach out to others, and point them to the salvation of Jesus
Christ. The goal is not to be saved in a
vacuum, but to spread out the witness of salvation, of what it means to be
saved, in a community that is so desperate to see those effects in
themselves. And we do it so poorly. So perhaps it is time now, to be still, to
remain unprepared, and let our words become His words. And there is no audience who we would wish to
reach more intensely than the members of our own families. Sadly, they will not always be willing to
hear. And worse we may discover
fanaticism in our own ranks against the concept of Jesus Christ and his gift of
salvation.
Matthew continues in verse 21 saying … “And the brother
shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the
children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to
death. [verse 22] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he
that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
Family will rise against family from the inside. The blood bonds that should bind us in
tolerance and love, prove brittle in the face of salvation and the name of
Jesus Christ. Our own families prefer
agnosticism, they prefer methods of self-salvation, they prefer a nebulous god
who can be reached through a variety of methods certainly not only through the
Jesus Christ our silly scriptures describe.
Sad to think, that one sect of purported Christians, would turn in
another, over doctrinal disputes of the how the remainder of scripture (outside
of Jesus) is interpreted. But that is
our history, and will remain our future.
Power carries great allure, and once intoxicated with it, fanaticism is
easy to achieve, even if at the death of a family member. Keep in mind, the true followers of Jesus
Christ are the victims our Lord describes … not the perpetrators. If “Christians” turn anyone over to be
killed, they blaspheme the name they carry.
Also keep in mind, our Lord does not promise us deliverance against the
deaths our own families and the state and the corrupted churches would visit
upon us. Not everyone will get away, or
find escape. Some will die, perhaps
many. But to endure until the end is to
keep our faith grounded in Jesus for our salvation, if not in this world, then
in the far more important next one.
Matthew continues in verse 23 saying … “But when they
persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye
shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.” Our response to persecution is to flee, not
to confront it violently. But the second
half of this verse always stirs up controversy in its interpretation. On the surface, it looks as though once the
gospel is spread to all the cities of Israel (in the time of Christ), that the
Son of Man will return in His second coming.
But it does not say that. It says
that He will “be come”. Keeping in the
mind the timing of this commission, and the quickly spreading fame of Jesus
Christ at the time. What may have been
meant, is that the Son of Man will complete His mission for our salvation, and
“be come” back to the throne of His Father.
It is natural for us to read this from our own perspective, and want so
bad for the words “be come” to mean “returned to take us home”. But the facts on the ground obviously dispute
that, and we know Jesus is not a liar.
Therefore our understanding must be off, and another meaning must have
been intended.
Matthew continues in verse 24 saying … “The disciple is not
above his master, nor the servant above his lord. [verse 25] It is enough for
the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they
have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call
them of his household?” Look at the
history of reformation within the church, any church. When Jesus entered the house and religion of
Israel, they called our God, Satan. When
Luther stood up in the Catholic church, his reputation was the first thing to
suffer. When the youth of our own
churches rise, to embrace the homeless, or meet their peers where they are with
the things they may be used to. We, the
organized body, the elders, the established and traditional members of the
church, ALWAYS shun what is new, or what is different, of what looks “unholy” to
us. Just as the Pharisees of old did to
Jesus. Just as the Catholic leadership
did to Luther. Just as you and I do to
our youth, fearing they bring the world into the church. Odd that the results of the Spirit of God are
always condemned as the workings of Satan, by those who profess to follow
Jesus, but seem to have no real idea who Jesus is.
But conspiracy is no match for the Holy Spirit. Matthew continues in verse 26 saying … “Fear
them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed;
and hid, that shall not be known. [verse 27] What I tell you in darkness, that
speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the
housetops.” The quiet conspiracies to
put Jesus to death are now revealed as part of our scriptures for all to
see. The quiet betrayal of Judas
revealed to everyone. The denials of
Peter reprinted in the light of day. The
hypocrisies of the Catholic church over the centuries, obsessed more with the
power of popes, than the saving power of Jesus Christ. And in our day, the quiet conspiracies that
take place in government halls, or church board meetings, where the interests
of power or financial gains are the number one priority; they will again be
revealed for all to see, in the failures that are sure to accompany them. Jesus is not interested in maintaining our
earthly wealth, and even less in granting us power. Jesus is interested in developing our sense
of humble service, and our hearts to be willing to part with everything we own,
for the sake of another’s benefit. The
former only distracts from the latter, and so it will be revealed for the folly
it is.
Matthew continues in verse 28 saying … “And fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. [verse 29] Are not two
sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground
without your Father. [verse 30] But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. [verse 31] Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many
sparrows.” The message of the gospel is
at war with the natural inclinations of the human heart. Our embrace of sin made this so, and continues
to make this so. It is the power of
Jesus, that can override what we would naturally want, and what we would
naturally do. That is the power of
salvation. What our opposition is
prepared to do, the level of fundamentalism they will claim as justification
for what violence they wish to inflict, is not a matter for us to fear. The tragedy that fanaticism is willing to
impose is not a matter for us to fear.
For our Lord sees all. He knows
us so intimately that He knows how many hairs sit upon our heads (even when
that number is in constant decline 😊). Our salvation rests in His hands not our
own. It is that message that Satan
wishes to cover up. He does not want the
name of Jesus Christ spread he wants it silenced. Killing a messenger does not accomplish
that. But altering a follower’s
philosophy to be one of self does do the trick.
Satan has no need to silence a follower of Jesus who has no
personal testimony to share. Satan has
no need to torture a “Christian” who is already very busy attempting to drive
the sin from themselves, and from their desires. They are already torturing themselves with
their own failure. And one day, they will
reach of point of repeated failures until they give up, and advise others to do
the same. Satan could care less about
the body, it is the permanence of the soul he is after. Directing us away from Jesus Christ gives him
a chance at getting that ultimate prize.
This is how the soul is destroyed.
It is not the ultimate fires that will do the work of destruction. The destruction will happen long before, at
the tips of our own fingers as we refuse to give Jesus our salvation, and hold
on to it instead ourselves. It was
always the introduction of self into Christianity that Satan has long
sought. Do some amount of good
deeds. Give away some amount of
money. In effect, buy your salvation by
the strength of your own hands and intentions.
He sold the lie to Cain, and continues to sell it to us. And too many, who do not know Jesus
personally yet, are avid consumers of this lie, to the destruction of their own
souls. That is worth fearing.
But even then Jesus says we need not fear, for our salvation
is based in Jesus Christ, and not ourselves.
And the counsel for outreach was not concluded yet …
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