Tag Jesus

Christianity Isn’t Vegas

Todd R 1 Comment

A sign like the graphic above is posted near the doors on the way out of the sanctuary in my church.  It is a reminder that sharing Christ with the world is not a task only for those who travel away from home to do it as a full-time job.  It is not a task only for those who go into a “hostile” culture.  It is a task for all who would follow Him, but it is not an easy task.

In Matthew 10:27, during a speech about enduring shame and persecution, Jesus tells His disciples: “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”  For every disciple from then until eternity, this is an encouragement to public Christianity.  The world, including your neighborhood, workplace, and everywhere you go, is the mission field.

What has Jesus taught you “in the dark”?  In church? In your private Bible study and prayer?  In books, blogs, podcasts, or anything else you do in private?

Proclaim on the housetops, though words and actions, how God has blessed you privately.  Don’t keep Him in the dark, but bring Him into the light.

Christianity isn’t Vegas. What happens in church or in private, shouldn’t always stay in church or in private, and when you’re done reading this post, you just may be entering the mission field.

Love Bigger Than Mountains

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Would you be impressed if I moved a mountain by faith?  The apostle Paul might not be.  1 Corinthians 13 begins with these 3 verses:

Photo by Massimiliano Morosinotto on Unsplash

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

In these verses Paul uses wild exaggeration to make a point about the importance of love above all else.  Can anyone move mountains with faith?  It’s never been literally done, but even if someone did, and the reason for doing it was wrong, it would mean nothing.  Has anyone literally given away everything they have?

Also note the repetition of the word “all,” which appears 4 times.  Nobody but God has all understanding, knowledge, and faith, and in Jesus He gave up all He had for us.  Paul is saying that even if we were Godlike in these things, which we aren’t, without love even it wouldn’t matter.

No matter how “impressive” our actions are, if done for the wrong reason, they are useless.

Even if we move mountains, love is what really matters.

God Cares About Your Pots and Pans

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The book of Zechariah, one of the “minor prophets”, contains many puzzling visions and predictions of the then-coming (and now coming-again) Messiah, Jesus.  Zechariah prophesied after the Babylonian exile and God’s purpose through him was to give hope to His people in the form of a glorious future under a perfect King.  The book ends with these verses:

“And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar.  And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.” – Zechariah 14:20-21

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While this seems a very strange ending for a book about Jesus, Zechariah’s words give us an amazing expectation of what Paradise will be like.  The phrase “Holy to the LORD” references Exodus 28:36-38, where the words were inscribed on the high priest’s turban.  The idea is that only very rarely are items recognized as set aside for only Godly use.  However, Zechariah is telling us that this was only the beginning.  When the King comes again in glory, He will establish a kingdom where even the most mundane household items will put to perfect use.  There is nothing He does not care about.

And this concept is not just about bells and pots.  While the Old Testament high priest was a sign of the way back to God, eventually the way encompasses every aspect of us.  Zechariah promises us that every bit of our lives, even those we may give no thought to – our proverbial bells and pots – are to be perfected in glory.  By caring about even these common items, God is telling us He leaves nothing undone.  Nothing will be left in us that is set apart for other “gods.”

In Paradise we will be perfected, fully set apart for His glory, and His work in us has already begun.  “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6

The Cost of Being a Good Samaritan

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Years ago, I heard a sermon illustration about a parent looking out the window and seeing their kids playing with a skunk.  Naturally, they yelled out to the kids “get away from there and come inside!”  The kids quickly came inside but brought the skunk with them!  The point of the story is that when we want to help others, sometimes their problems become our problems.  There is a cost to truly loving others.

The same principle comes out of the parable of the Good Samaritan.  In the well-known parable a man is robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the side of a road.  First a priest, and then a Levite, passed him by.  But a Samaritan, a member of a group despised by many Jews, stopped and helped the man.  This help had a significant cost, as described in Luke 10:34-35:

“He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.  And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”

Here’s a list of what the Good Samaritan provided for the man in these two verses:

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  • Likely some kind of cloth to bind the wounds.  He likely tried to use the cleanest cloth he had with him and ripped or cut it as needed.
  • Oil and wine, which he “poured” on the man’s wounds.  He is more concerned about treating the man than about pouring out too much.
  • A ride on his own animal.  The Samaritan walked alongside, giving the man the more comfortable trip to the inn.
  • Money.  Denarii is the plural of denarius, which was about a day’s wages for a laborer.  The Samaritan spent at least two days wages (“two denarii”) and promised to pay more if needed.
  • Ongoing care and concern.  The Samaritan promised to pay “when I come back.”  He was going to make a return trip to the inn to check up on the man.

Contrast this to the priest and Levite, who both “passed by on the other side” to avoid being contaminated by the man, who appeared dead.  The Samaritan was more concerned about providing help than about whether he would become ceremonially unclean.

Loving people often has costs, including significant ones and ones we don’t anticipate, like the skunk that ended up in the house in the opening example.  While we can’t help everyone in need that we come across, and we’re unlikely to come across someone beat up and left for dead, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” – James 2:15-16

“No one can do everything, but everyone can do something” – Max Lucado

The Apostle Peter, Son of Gomer?

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Peter is one of the most fascinating characters in the New Testament.  His struggles and flaws are written for all to see, but so is the patience and love Jesus had for him.  In Peter’s two letters, we get to see examples of his growth and maturity.  One of Peter’s struggles was how Jews who had become Christian should treat Gentiles.  In Galatians 2:11-21 is a story of Paul rebuking Peter for his hypocrisy toward Gentiles, and in Acts 10 and 11 is a story of Peter receiving a vision from heaven telling him not to treat Gentiles as unclean, because God can make anyone clean.

Peter ponders whether the key is for letting people in or keeping them out.

In 1 Peter 2:9-10, he shares this lesson with his readers:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (emphasis mine)

The bolded words clearly call back to the story of the Old Testament prophet Hosea, who God told to marry a prostitute named Gomer to teach a lesson about idolatry.  Hosea’s children by Gomer are named in Hosea 1:6-9 –

“She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, ‘Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.  But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.’ When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son.  And the LORD said, ‘Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.’” (emphasis mine)

As Peter grew in Christ, he learned the same lesson Hosea learned: that all of God’s people are like Gomer and her children: once estranged from God in spiritual prostitution and adultery, but now a beloved people, betrothed to one faithful God.  Jesus, our Holy High Priest, made the necessary sacrifice for the salvation of anyone and everyone who will come to Him.  Those He saves join His “royal priesthood”, proclaiming His excellent work to all people who have not received mercy, but who His blood covers.

“Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” – Matthew 7:1-2