What is my job as a Christian? One that lives in a world where things are not easy or as the church dictates? This land where people scream at the top of their lungs to respect their rights, yet laws and mores have begun to persecute Christians because we are commanded to be gentle, meek, and peaceful. This country where a celebrities that party to excess, taking part in immorality are glorified and anyone in the public eye that claims and lives as a Christian is mocked - and if they happen to misspeak or act human at all instead of the perfect standards they are held to, then that same Christian is vilified in social media , the news, and in the media.
I have heard so much hate spewing out about the past and the present, from the public at large and from individuals who hold themselves up as leaders of the church. I have been thinking long and hard, praying for as much wisdom as can fit in this little brain, and have held off commenting on all the stuff in the news over the last few weeks, because I hope I have a light to share.
Jesus told his followers, "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it." Jesus' teachings were revolutionary. The Jewish leaders in the Roman era, generally speaking, were pious, politically connected men who had become more concerned with appearance than the spiritual soul. There were many other religious choices as well.
In the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter's fifth book, Professor Dumbledore is very direct in advising Harry when he says, "Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy." In the Princess Bride, The man in black tells Buttercup, "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." So, whether it's God's Word to us in Scripture, or literature, or the movies, they all agree that tough times are for heroes. The major difference is that eternal paradise is only promised in the Bible by Jesus. He died, was buried and rose from the dead to conquer death and be the living Promise for us. I cant do that, but I can live like I believe and follow His example.
Jesus was all about love. He spoke to people on the street, or His closest followers, the twelve disciples with love and mercy. In John chapter 4 His conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well is a stunning example of love in action. Never does Jesus give the woman a pass on her life's choices of the past. He spoke in the now, and held to the Living Water, the promise of paradise and not her past.
Encounter after encounter shows Jesus in a loving and gentle conversation talking about motivations and teaching lessons by giving us glimpses of what God's heart is all about. This all leads me back to what is my Christian duty in all this LGBT stuff, whether the marriage law or transgender lifestyles? Jesus was asked by Jewish leaders about the most important laws - Love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and all your mind, Love your neighbor as yourself. They asked, about the identity of the neighbor. Such a human thing. Be specific - find the loophole, the flaw and then minimize the lesson.
In Luke chapter 10 the lesson that follows tells of a man traveling when he was accosted by robbers. He was badly beaten and left for dead, a passing Priest, and a scholar who was a devout Jew both passed him by and did nothing. A Samaritan (a man from a despised and socially inferior race) passed by and went to the victim's aid, bandaging his wounds and even taking him into the town and paying for his hotel. In the 40's it would have been a German, in the 50's a Communist, a hippie in the 60's, etc.
If I'm allowed to mix my religion with politics, Jesus was never PC. He calls us to follow Him, to make a difference. That flies in the face of politician's, who try so hard to keep their job they don't do their job. Jesus many times out philosophized the religious and political leaders in His day. That doesn't give Christians a license to be the countries morality police. The flags people fly, the pride in America is not a Christian rite. Christians need to gain some perspective. Be fisher's of men and not political saviors.
