Christians Shooting Our Wounded

Yesterday I finished my series on core doctrines of the Christian Church, and concluded that one of the major issues in the way Christians interact with each other today is the lack of distinction between core and marginal issues. Today I want to point to the other major issue that causes problems for Christians in their interactions with each other, a lack of compassion and understanding.

Let me start our with a scenario: you are in a bible study group that meets every Wednesday night. There are six of you and you all get along together really well. You have been together for about seven months and all of you feel like you can rely on your other brothers and sisters in the group for support. One of the group members, Jason, comes to group one night and everyone can tell that something is on his mind. Near the end of the study, the group leader, Phil, finally turns to Jason and says, "is something bothering you, it's apparent you've been upset all night?" Jason looks up with tears beginning to well up and tells your group that he fears he will not go to heaven because of some "sin" in his life. After some prodding Jason finally reveals that he is gay and that as much as he has been trying to repress it, it is just too hard. After some waiting, Phil finally responds by saying that Jason is right to be concerned because the bible is clear that homosexuality is a sin and that he needs to repent and stop sinning. At this point Jason is sobbing and the tension is felt throughout the whole group.

Many of you reading this blog may see nothing wrong with this encounter. This kind of thing happens every day in the Church, driving numerous people away from the Church and away from a relationship with Jesus, and yet those within the Church find this completely acceptable. But now I would like to point to how Jesus handled similar situations in Scripture.

In Luke 19:1-10 we have the story of Zaccheus the tax collector. The passage describes Zaccheus as a tax collector and a sinner (vv 1, 7; in those days tax collectors were seen as terrible sinners not to be associated with, and were always associated with prostitutes). When Jesus saw Zaccheus he said, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house." Before Zaccheus repented, and without any word of warning to Zaccheus about his sinful lifestyle, Jesus showed acceptance to Zaccheus for who he was. Jesus knew the hurt Zaccheus dealt with being a tax collector and was able to emphathize with him, having compassion for him, and so he asked Zaccheus if he could dine with him. The Pharisees were upset that Jesus would eat with a sinner (a big no-no to the religious leaders who felt that would make a clean person unclean). Instead, Jesus showed the man love, without judgment or ridicule for his sinful lifestyle, and it was just by being in the midst of such love that Zaccheus decided for himself to change.

In a similar story in Matthew 9:9-13, Jesus pick Matthew to be one of his twelve disciples. Matthew happens to be another tax collector and is reviled for his sin, except by Jesus. Jesus showed him acceptence, picking him, a sinner, as one of his inner circle. Again, Jesus dines with Matthew, along with some other sinners, and is criticized by the religious authorities who said to his disciples (the very sinners they are referring to), "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus himself responds, and responds classically: "But when Jesus heard this, He said, 'It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 'But go and learn what this means: "I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE," for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"

Jesus' concern was not people's sins; his concern was people's hurts and his desire to heal those hurts, bringing them love. I love that last line, "I desire compassion, and not sacrifice." It reminds us that all the sacrificing we do (sacrificing salvation of others, sacrificing our relationships with others, sacrificing other people's sins) is not what Jesus commands. What Jesus commands is that we have love for one another, showing compassion to each other.

This requires us to look at things not from our own perspective, or bias, but to allow ourselves to look at things from everyone else's point of view. We do not need to sacrifice our own beliefs or even our own presuppositions. What we need to do is to recognize that many things that we often take as fact (e.g. that homosexuality is a sin) are actually our own presuppositions that blind us from emphathizing with others, and therefore from feeling compassion for them. Our role as Christians is to love one another, those outside the Church and those within.

In the above scenario, it would have done Phil right to place himself in Jason's shoes, to shed his own bias about homosexuality and to really see things from Jason's perspective, in order to better handle that situation. For, if homosexuality is a sin, Jason may be able to overcome it just by being around the love and compassion of the bible study, just like Zaccheus did by being around Jesus. And if homosexuality is not a sin (to see my views on homosexuality and Scripture, see "Related Posts" below), then Phil placed an unnecessary barrier between Jason and God. It is not our role as Christians to point out other people's sins. It is our role to be loving and compassionate, because it is only then that we assist a person in their salvation.
Blessings,
-Brandon

Related Posts
http://whatjesusdiddo.blogspot.com/2011/03/homosexuality-robert-schuller-crystal.html
http://whatjesusdiddo.blogspot.com/2010/10/being-compassionate-without-ulterior.html
http://whatjesusdiddo.blogspot.com/2010/10/jesus-shows-compassion-to-outsiders.html
http://whatjesusdiddo.blogspot.com/2010/10/manipulating-scripture.html
http://whatjesusdiddo.blogspot.com/2010/10/gay-christians.html
http://whatjesusdiddo.blogspot.com/2010/10/jesus-and-religious-leaders-in-bible.html

The Bible and the Will of God: a Series on Christianity's Core Beliefs

From the beginning of Church history, all the way up until today, the most divisive issue for us Christians is doctrine. One person believes in infant baptism and another does not, so you fight. One person believes in having communion every week and another does not, so you fight. One person believes Jesus will return before Christians are taken up another does not, so you fight. I have been staying away from the Christian message boards because instead of being places of love and compassion, acting out Jesus' example, they are more like theological boxing rings where Christians try to knock the other person out with their best argument for their particular theology. But this is not how Jesus intended for Christians to treat each other. 1 Thessalonians 5:10-11 says "[Jesus] died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing." This is the purpose of the body of Christ, the Church, to build one another up in mutual encouragement, not to tear each other down for bad theology.

That does not mean that we are not to beware of false teachings, however. We are taught in 1 John 4:1, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." The Bible is clear in many places that we are to beware of false teachings. Paul himself wrote many times to defend against false teachings that were being brought into the Church.

During Jesus' ministry, he warned against false teachings that came from the Pharisees called "the tradition of the elders." We find this in Mark 7 where Jesus and his disciples were eating. While they were eating, we are told that the Pharisees came up to Jesus and asked him why his disciples had not washed their hands properly before eating. This had nothing to do with germs, and everything to do with spiritual cleanliness. The Pharisees believed in the traditional teachings from older scribes who interpreted the Old Testament law in such a way that they believed it taught that one had to wash their hands a very specific way before they could eat. There were many such laws that came from the tradition of the elders, that the Pharisees believed in and was much of the reason they went around criticizing Jesus and his disciples, because they were not abiding by such traditional laws, which the Pharisees felt they needed to in order to maintain their Jewish identity against the foreign occupation of Rome.

In much the same way, Christians today hold on to interpretations that come from tradition of men rather than from the Bible, and argue for their beliefs in such a way that if you do not believe in them, you are not a good Christian. The problem is two-fold. First of all, it comes from a lack of distinction between core and marginal beliefs. Core beliefs are those beliefs that one truly must believe in order to consider oneself a part of that world view. For Christians, a core belief is a belief that is necessary for one to believe, in order for that person truly to be a Christian. Marginal beliefs are beliefs held by Christians that one can change, reformulate, or even drop, and still be considered a Christian. What often happens is that marginal beliefs are confused with core beliefs and people argue for these beliefs as if they are the most important belief one can hold. This often happens with end times beliefs. End times beliefs are really a marginal belief that many people count as a core, necessary belief, and they get enraged if you call yourself a Christian and do not believe the doctrine as they do. I will discuss this more later this week as we go through this series on core vs. marginal beliefs.

The second problem for Christians is there argumentative style. We are reminded in 1 Peter 3:15 "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence." It seems like we all too often forget that "with gentleness and reverence" part.

As we argue for our beliefs, we need to match our tenacity with the kind of belief it is. The more core a belief, the more tenacious we can be in how we argue. If it is a marginal belief, give-in if it is obvious the other person is being stubborn. It is not worth the argument. If it is a core belief, you don't have to give-in, but remain loving, gentle, and reverent through the entire debate.

We are supposed to be Christian brothers and sisters in Christ, present for the mutual uplifting of one another. For the next three or four days I will discuss certain core beliefs that we should remain strong on, and certain marginal beliefs that we need to begin being less strong on. Remember as I go through these core and marginal beliefs that what is most important is that we follow the two greatest commandments taught to us by our Lord Jesus Christ: "to love the Lord God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength; and to love our neighbor as ourself." Never lose sight of the greatest commandments: the commandments to love.
Blessings,
-Brandon

The Power of Presence

Friends,
When the angel Gabriel told Mary she was going to have a baby, conceived of the Holy Spirit, we read in Matthew 1:23 that he says, "'Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,' which means, 'God is with us.'” Jesus represented God in our midst, he brought God's presence to the world. As we read in Scripture of Jesus' life, we come to realize that the greatest gift he gave to humankind was not any miracle he performed, it was not any word that he spoke, but the greatest gift Jesus gave to us was his presence. Sure he performed many miraculous things: healing the blind and the lame, bringing the dead back to life, and turning water into wine. But the purpose of God's incarnation in Jesus was not to heal physical ailments or make a boring party more exciting. Jesus' purpose in becoming one of us was to give us spiritual healing through the gift of God's presence. One of the examples of this in Scripture can be found in John 4 where we read about Jesus' visitation with the woman at the well. Jesus did not perform any miraculous healing in this story, and he didn't even provide any kind of teaching. Jesus gave his presence and brought acceptance to a woman who, as we read about her many husbands and how she was currently living with a man that was not her husband, we realize was not familiar with acceptance. She probably had many people in her village that did not accept her because they saw her as an adulteress because of her lifestyle. But Jesus showed her acceptance, kindness, and love; and most importantly, he showed her God. By providing his presence, God's presence, he gave the woman spiritual healing. Another story that illustrates this is found in John 8 when the religious leaders of Jesus' day brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, before Jesus. They questioned Jesus about stoning her, since that is what their interpretation of the law required. Jesus' reply was, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." When Jesus had looked away, and then looked back, he saw that there was no religious leader to condemn her. Jesus then asked, "did no one condemn you." Upon hearing the woman reply "no," Jesus responded, "then I do not condemn you either." Once again, Jesus does not perform any miraculous healing or provide any fantastic teaching, he simply gives himself, giving the gift of God's presence, by showing compassion and mercy. By being present with others, Jesus gave the gift of the presence of God, which encompasses love, compassion, and mercy.
One of the metaphors used in Scripture to refer to the presence of God is the Temple. In the Old Testament, the Temple represented God's presence in the midst of Israel. When the Temple was built by Solomon, we read in 1 Kings 8 that upon completion of the Temple, and once the Ark of the Covenant was placed inside, "It happened that went the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. Then Solomon said, 'The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud'" (vv 10-12). To the Jews, the Temple held God's presence in the midst of Israel. When Jesus, in all four gospels ransacked the Temple, overthrowing the money changers and announced that he would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, he was illustrating that God's presence no longer dwelled in the Temple, but dwelled in himself. Jesus was announcing that wherever he was, God was. But something remarkable happens when Jesus dies, resurrects, and ascends. He told the disciples that his death and resurrection and ascension would be necessary in order for us to receive the Holy Spirit. We read in I Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Paul tells the Christians in Corinth that because we have received the Holy Spirit, that we are now the Temple of God. In other words, being Christ-followers, we now house God's presence bring God's presence into the world wherever we go.
What this means for us is that as we interact with other people, it is our responsibility as Christians, as those who house the presence of God, to bring compassion, love, and mercy to others. This means that instead of the judgmental, condemning attitude Christians often bring to others, it is our duty to bring mercy and compassion, bringing God's presence to others by showing them his infinite, unconditional love. It also means that we can stop trying to fix every problem, and help people to rest in God's presence despite the problem they are in. It seems that we too often, when we have no solution and no ability to solve a person's problem, we try to solve it anyway by giving advice and trying to work out a solution, instead of helping the person to rest in God's peaceful presence. As a Hospice Chaplain, I often visit people who are moments from passing. Often what is manifested is what is called "terminal agitation." This means that just prior to dying a person will experience high anxiety and become restless. The typical response is to try and do something to help them. Caregivers will run around like a chicken with their head cut off trying to come up with a solution. Medication is given, blankets are put on them, blankets are taken off them, 911 is sometimes called. The best thing to do in this situation is just simply to be with the person. To provide one's own presence, thus providing God's presence, without trying to perform some miraculous cure or relief, is the best gift a person can give. Sometimes just being their is all that is needed in many situations. Stop trying to give a miracle, stop trying to give the best advice, and learn to simply be. The power of presence, and the relief it can give is amazing and is truly the greatest of all miracles if we just give it a try.
-Brandon