You hear a lot of people today talking about what Jesus would say or do in certain situations. Actually, I don't think most really know what He truly has said, but it did prompt me to go through the Bible and read all the red letters through the gospels. I encourage you to do the same if you have not done that in a while.
So what does Jesus say?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.
But I tell you anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Do not suppose I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but sword.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.
What goes into a man's mouth does not make him "unclean," but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean.
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.
Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Therefore, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.
Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you love me, you will obey what I command.
I am the vine; you are the branches.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
These are just a few of the things that jumped out at me as I read through what Jesus said. May I never forget the words of Jesus. May I live them out this year.
Blessings,
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Labels Belong on Things, not People
When the "political correct" culture started, I did not like it then, and I certainly do not like it now. What it did was divide. When you start putting labels on people, then you start dividing them. God's Word has a lot to say about division. In I Corinthians 1 Paul appeals to the church at Corinth that they should be perfectly united in mind and thought so that there may be no divisions among them. He even went so far as to tell them that they should all agree with each other.
Paul also warns against division in Romans 16. He tells them "to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. KEEP away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites."
Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:25 that "every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and every city or households divided against itself will not stand."
When we started putting labels on people, we started dividing them and pitting them against each other. When I was teaching, we started dividing students according to their ability. The rational for this seems good, and the intentions were good, but it did not take long for negative side to begin. In English we had five levels of English. The 100 level was special ed students; the 200 level was those who did not meet special ed requirements, but needed extra help; the 300 hundred level was the average student; the 400 level was the honor students, and the 500 level were the top students in the school. Before long we had the "smart" students versus the "dumb" students. Students in my 200 level class would tell me they were the "dummy" class. I hated that they saw themselves that way. The students in the 500 level had an overstated sense of arrogance and self-importance. We eventually did away with this system.
The labels today divide. Think how divisive the words republican, democrat, conservative and liberal are. They immediately divide. When we started hyphenating, our culture we starting dividing it: African-American, Mexican-American, Chinese-American, poor Americans, rich Americans, and the list goes on and on. What happened to the idea of just being American? Isn't that what we are? Why separate us into groups? I hate that you have to check on forms what label you fall under? Shouldn't it just say American?
So what would a united nation and church look like? Being an idealistic romantic, in my world it would look like people loving and extending grace to each other. Are we always going to agree on everything? Absolutely not, but should we not listen and be civil to each other while we are working out our differences? On issues that are not moral or salvation issues, can we not agree to disagree in love? We were so fortunate to attend a church of about 800. It is one of the most loving, grace-giving bodies that we have every had contact with. Did we always agree on all issues? No, but the one underlying thread was we loved each other, so we extended grace where it was needed. We were united in the Truth of God's Word. What the devil tried to use as division points, we turned and extended love and grace to each other.
In our secular world what would this look like? Again in my idealistic world, there would be no such things as republicans, democrats, conservative, liberal and there would certainly be no hyphenations. We would all be Americans. In my perfect world when we were electing people to office, their credentials would be listed, but no labels. A voter would research what each stands for and vote according to how that person lines up with what he/she believes. That would take away people voting because their grandparents were democrats/republicans, and their parents were, and so, therefore, I am a republican/democrat, and so on and so on. The only thing that labels have done is divide us. If you don't believe that, just turn on the TV or radio and listen. It seems all our political leaders want to do is conquer and divided, and that is on both sides of the aisle, and if God's Word is Truth, then we know if something does not happen, we are doomed.
What has political correctness done to us? It has quenched us from speaking and addressing the Truth. It was to promote tolerance, but really all it has done is promote intolerance. I have noticed lately that the people who cry for tolerance are the least tolerant, but we as Christians are never to be tolerant of sin. God still hates sin. Sin separates us from God, and if we die in our sins, we are lost. Those are hard words, that most do not want to hear today. If people are bold and speak up for God's word, they are usually castigated as being intolerant and unloving, but the unloving thing is to let people die in their sins without knowing God. We as Christians have been charged: Go into all the world, and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
I look at our world today and ask myself, "How in the world did we get where we are today?" The answer is easy. We live in a fallen world who needs Jesus. Here lately, I have really been discouraged, but my hope is not in man, but in Christ Jesus. He is the only true hope for change. As I live out this year, I pray I can be a light for Him, and that I can be a uniter, not a divider, a messenger for His Word.
Peace,
Paul also warns against division in Romans 16. He tells them "to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. KEEP away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites."
Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:25 that "every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and every city or households divided against itself will not stand."
When we started putting labels on people, we started dividing them and pitting them against each other. When I was teaching, we started dividing students according to their ability. The rational for this seems good, and the intentions were good, but it did not take long for negative side to begin. In English we had five levels of English. The 100 level was special ed students; the 200 level was those who did not meet special ed requirements, but needed extra help; the 300 hundred level was the average student; the 400 level was the honor students, and the 500 level were the top students in the school. Before long we had the "smart" students versus the "dumb" students. Students in my 200 level class would tell me they were the "dummy" class. I hated that they saw themselves that way. The students in the 500 level had an overstated sense of arrogance and self-importance. We eventually did away with this system.
The labels today divide. Think how divisive the words republican, democrat, conservative and liberal are. They immediately divide. When we started hyphenating, our culture we starting dividing it: African-American, Mexican-American, Chinese-American, poor Americans, rich Americans, and the list goes on and on. What happened to the idea of just being American? Isn't that what we are? Why separate us into groups? I hate that you have to check on forms what label you fall under? Shouldn't it just say American?
So what would a united nation and church look like? Being an idealistic romantic, in my world it would look like people loving and extending grace to each other. Are we always going to agree on everything? Absolutely not, but should we not listen and be civil to each other while we are working out our differences? On issues that are not moral or salvation issues, can we not agree to disagree in love? We were so fortunate to attend a church of about 800. It is one of the most loving, grace-giving bodies that we have every had contact with. Did we always agree on all issues? No, but the one underlying thread was we loved each other, so we extended grace where it was needed. We were united in the Truth of God's Word. What the devil tried to use as division points, we turned and extended love and grace to each other.
In our secular world what would this look like? Again in my idealistic world, there would be no such things as republicans, democrats, conservative, liberal and there would certainly be no hyphenations. We would all be Americans. In my perfect world when we were electing people to office, their credentials would be listed, but no labels. A voter would research what each stands for and vote according to how that person lines up with what he/she believes. That would take away people voting because their grandparents were democrats/republicans, and their parents were, and so, therefore, I am a republican/democrat, and so on and so on. The only thing that labels have done is divide us. If you don't believe that, just turn on the TV or radio and listen. It seems all our political leaders want to do is conquer and divided, and that is on both sides of the aisle, and if God's Word is Truth, then we know if something does not happen, we are doomed.
What has political correctness done to us? It has quenched us from speaking and addressing the Truth. It was to promote tolerance, but really all it has done is promote intolerance. I have noticed lately that the people who cry for tolerance are the least tolerant, but we as Christians are never to be tolerant of sin. God still hates sin. Sin separates us from God, and if we die in our sins, we are lost. Those are hard words, that most do not want to hear today. If people are bold and speak up for God's word, they are usually castigated as being intolerant and unloving, but the unloving thing is to let people die in their sins without knowing God. We as Christians have been charged: Go into all the world, and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
I look at our world today and ask myself, "How in the world did we get where we are today?" The answer is easy. We live in a fallen world who needs Jesus. Here lately, I have really been discouraged, but my hope is not in man, but in Christ Jesus. He is the only true hope for change. As I live out this year, I pray I can be a light for Him, and that I can be a uniter, not a divider, a messenger for His Word.
Peace,
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