I was recently looking through the Foxe's Book of Martyrs and upon reading the very first sentences I read of Christ speaking to Simon Peter in Matthew 16:18 and it struck me that those verses are so very important to Christianity. Just this morning I read a comment online that summed up a good part of true Christianity verses professing 'Christianity'. Or maybe it went further than that and summed up true Christianity verses everything else. I'm not quite sure. What I do know is that someone posted of how it is said today that the 'church' is in trouble but that the Church...which is referred to as the ekklesia in the original translations of Scripture... is not in any kind of trouble at all. This statement went on to explain how the 'church' that is made up of false Christians being led by false preachers are in trouble not the true Church..ekklesia...of Scripture. Someone commented on that post about how the original poster was more concerned with their 'church' than with victims of a recent event.
Less than an hour after seeing that post online and reading the comment about it, I read those first sentences in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. As I read those sentences I was struck with just how vital that verse in Matthew is. There, in black and white, Christ tells, what could, I guess, be considered the first of the New Testament Christians that He would build His church on this rock and that not even Hell would prevail against it. Yes, that is my own wording but that is the gist of what Christ is saying. Here, on this rock, His church would be built and nothing, not even Hell itself, would be able to destroy it.
So there, on that day, so many, many years ago, Christ spoke of not only His Church...or the body of Christ...but he spoke of how hell would try, and fail, to destroy it.
Today there is so much animosity toward 'Christians' and Christians because anyone wearing the title of Christian, in any form, is considered to be filled with hate and are bigots because they stand for something. Why is it, exactly, that people can stand for just about anything and be looked up to for standing for their belief unless that belief is labeled as Christianity? And in this case I don't suppose there's any distinction between Arminian and Monergist. They arent Calvinist and Pentecostal, they aren't Morman or Catholic. In this case simply wearing the label of Christian gets a person labeled as being hatefilled.
I guess we could say that the gates of hell are pushing against anyone with the label of Christian. It's not the first time it has happened since Christ made that statement so many years ago and it won't be the last time it happens. We can't even say it's the most vicious way it has happened. The very book where I just read of Christ making that statement is filled with stories of people that suffered and died for their belief in Christ. One could, if they were so inclined, do an online search for countries where Christianity is illegal. A search such as that would come back with all sorts of stories of people that are experiencing much more than being called names for their faith. And yet, the very fact that it is happening, even only if in the form of name calling, is a perfect example of Christ's prediction coming true before our very eyes.
Not all that long ago I saw a poster, of sorts, that showed a picture of a Bible with a statement to the effect of Scripture is being lived out before our eyes and those in the world don't even know it. I must admit that since the Lord saved me and I began understanding more of Scripture I can truly say that I can see Scripture in all of life. It's not a matter of seeing, say a creator in the creation, but in seeing the application of sin in the actions of people. It's in seeing the examples, and the stories, in everyday American life. It's in seeing the all consuming sin that fills people, every person, even the people our human minds would say are good, upstanding citizens. It's in understanding how this is all playing out and in looking for Scripture in life and in the everyday happenings that go on around me.
Am I what I should be as a Christian? NEVER. Am I free from all sin? NEVER. Am I even what I think I should be? NO. But I can still see Scripture in life, see it in others.
And today I saw it in the words of one person's post online and in the comments of another person, a person whose opinion was not asked for, was not solicited, and most likely wasn't wanted. I don't know that I would have ever thought anything of that comment if I hadn't almost immediatly afterward read of Christ's words.
But I didn't take the book's words to heart so much as the words in that book spurred me toward Scripture, where I looked up the exact verse where Christ said those words. And in His own words is the foretelling of just what will try to destroy the body of Christ throughout all of time. He does not give us a list of what will come against us but He does give us an example of exactly what will not win. If even hell cannot prevail against the body of Christ then, from the words of Scripture, we can know that hell will try to prevail against the body of Christ.
As a general rule I try to avoid controversial subjects that rear up in our country or world. There are just too many people willing, and, it would seem, waiting to jump in and start fighting through words on their computer (or smart phone), as if everyone around is just waiting anxiously to hear their opinion, or as if by voicing their opinion they are going to affect, impact, or change anyone's thoughts. Yes, I know that I do voice my opinions on this blog but that's different. It's more like me voicing my opinions in my home. If someone doesn't like what I have to say they can simply choose not to come to my house. Likewise, if someone doesn't like what I have to say on my blog they can simply choose not to visit my blog. I have actually had both friends and family that avoid my blog for that very reason. They don't share my beliefs and so they don't read what I write. But the point is that in light of the topic of this post and recent events in America, I simply can't avoid all mention of those events in this post.
I have a family member that puts no importance on Scripture whatsoever. To this person Scripture is a mix of history and made up stories. But this person, when handed a Bible and asked to give their thoughts on what it says in a particular verse, will read what is written there and say that it says...this...whatever this happens to be. This person is not threatened by Scripture because they put no importance on it. This person does not feel as if they must do anything with their life in regard to what is written in Scripture and therefore feels no pressure on themselves because of what they may be reading in Scripture.
If I were to hand a Bible to this person and ask them to read a set of verses that speaks on any particular subject regarding what is right or wrong, this person would read those verses and tell me exactly what Scripture says is right and wrong. Say this person read the ten commandments, they would then tell me that adultery and murder (among other things) is wrong. What I'm getting at is that this person can see a set of rules written out in Scripture. They may not apply those rules to their life, they may not even feel that those rules apply to them, but they can SEE what is written there.
If this person, who does not believe in or put importance on Scripture can see those rules in Scripture and say them back to me, why is it that there is such dispute, even among those wearing the label of 'christian' about just what those rules say?
As pretty much everyone in America knows there was recently a shooting in Florida in a homosexual bar. I have seen 'Christians' online fighting what could almost be considered a virtual civil war over how other 'Christians' should feel and respond to that shooting. This group of 'Christians' feels this way and believes that all 'Christians' should feel and respond the same way they do, that group of 'Christians' feels that way and believes that all 'christians' should feel and respond the same way that they do. And on and on it goes.
If a non-christian can read a set of rules, a do and don't sort of list, in the Bible and read it back, than shouldn't anyone wearing the label of 'christian' be able to do the same? But I know that's the million dollar question that will only ever get an answer of no. Not because that isn't how all 'Christians' should respond but because they aren't really Christians, in fact most of them are no more a Christian than the athiest down the street, and they all interpret the bits of Scripture that they know, even in the rare case when they know the entire Scriptures, in their own way.
It's funny though, because even as I write this I think of how my husband and I, who have the same kind of belief, reacted very differently to that shooting. And because this is a controversial subject I'm not going into how either of us reacted or what we think or believe. I'm only pointing out that we did react differently. Because in the end we are still two different people that may see things in a similar way but we also see things in our own ways.
But, horrific as any public massacre is, that isn't really what I want to write on. I only brought it up because it isn't the shooting that I feel the need to cover but the aftermath of name slinging and blaming that has ensued. I have seen the same thing, but in a different way, over the also very recent death of a toddler at a popular resort. Oh, how the parents have been blamed for what they did or didn't do. Did they do something they shouldn't have? Maybe. Possibly. Probably even. What parent hasn't done or allowed our child to do something we probably shouldn't have? And if we were to examine our most recent encounter with our children we would probably find that we did something that maybe we shouldn't have, or at the very least we would find that there was something we could have done better. But rarely do we examine our experiences as parents with such close scrutiney, and even more rarely do others examine what we do with our children so closely. The difference is when something happens to the child. I remember a few months back when another toddler went missing and made headline news for several days. That child, from what I understand, simply wondered off. There were online comments about how the parents should be investigated but it quickly died down. The ferver of blame toward the parents had no basis and so fizzled out not long after the uproar started. This latest toddler, who shared the same tragic fate as the first one, although through different means, has not been a one minute wonder though. Why? Because blame can be slung. It's like an animal that flings excretement at any hapless passerby. These online people, who are real people in the real world, hiding behind a computer or phone screen, are more than happy to sling the blame if there is even a miniscule amount of blame to fling. And it really doesn't seem to matter if there is a basis for the blame or not.
The shooting that has 'Christians' so up in arms is the same way. Blame can be flung from one 'Christian' to another. Blame can be...somehow...laid on the 'Christians'/Christians so the world, or American's anyway, blame anyone with a label of Christian even though Christians, no matter how they wear the label, are in no way responsible for the shooting. It's as if unseen people reach out from nowhere to battle against the body of Christ when the body of Christ was doing nothing wrong.
But that's not the only thing, so many times when 'Christians' turn up in news articles, online stories, blog posts, or comments on social media, most of those 'Christians' can be traced directly to a denominational building wearing the label of 'church'. That is not the ekklesia spoken of in Scripture. It is not the body of Christ...or church if you want to use the word taken from most modern English translations of the Bible...that Christ used as He talked to Simon Peter. These 'Christians' that fling blame and feed the furor of anger and hate aimed at Christians are not the body of Christ. Few times when 'Christians' are a part of a very seen situation are the 'Christians' involved the body of Christ spoken of as the ekklesia in Scripture. The majority of the time those 'Christians' are a part of a very visible dispute, if looked at closely one can trace said 'Christians' directly back to a denominational building called a 'church'. And if looked at closely it's probably unlikely that these visible, fit throwing, 'Christians' are going to stand up to an honest evaluation for what a Christian is based off Scripture.
After the shooting in Florida there were 'Christians' claiming that the deaths of the victims were tragic and should be deeply mourned and there were 'Christians' applauding the deaths. I'm going to ask how anyone that knows anything about Scripture can look at those two groups, or the many that fell somewhere in the middle, and not see a very strange situation. And the problem there isn't in the shooting but in the reaction, and blame flinging, of those claiming to be 'Christians'. How can you have two groups of people, that by the very nature of the label they wear, should react to something in a similar way? If they base their beliefs on Scripture than they should have a basic understanding of life in general based off Scripture and they should respond to any given situation based off that understanding and belief. Scripture does not change from group to group, it does not become something different for one person than it does for another. Scripture simply is Scripture. And anyone that claims to hold a belief in Scripture should react to all of life based out of their understanding of, and their belief in, Scripture, or rather their understanding of Scripture and their belief in the Lord. Sure, they can have different reactions but those reactions should all be based off the standards set by Scripture. Which means they may have a slightly different reaction but those reactions should be within the bounds of what Scripture says is right or wrong.
And where in all of that do the true Christians stand? I'm not even going to hazard a guess beyond to say that I have seen and heard a few of them use Scripture to react to the shooting. Which is the appropriate way for anyone that claims to be a Christian to react. Scripture should be any Christian's defining line for anything. Ever notice that Old Testament Scripture required children that did not respect their parents to be stoned? We no longer live under Old Testament laws but...how hard would it have been for those parents to turn their own children in and watch them die? Yet, if they wanted to follow Scripture they must do just that. Sometimes following Scripture means doing what is hard, not taking the easy path. Truth be told following Scripture will always be the hard path by the world's standards. And so, in the wake of any situation, good or bad, Scripture should be the standard any Christian uses.
But in using that standard the Christian may find themselves in a situation where the gates of hell seem to rage against them. How confusing it must be for the 'christian' that bases their faith off...whatever denomination they hold...to be told that they are not responding as a 'Christian' should. How hard it must be for the 'Christian' that believes they are a Christian according to Scripture to be told that Christians do not act the way they are and that...this...is proper behavior for a 'Christian'. It almost appears to be a spinning wheel with no way off. A true Christian can go back to Scripture to back everything they believe, or they should be able to. Not so the 'christian'.
Even in all that confusion, in all the name calling, and even the unwarranted blaming, the true Christian can turn to Scripture and see Scripture being lived out before them. They can see that in the midst of the very visible 'Christians', that are fussing and fighting like children or battling like opposing soldiers in a war, there is a method to the madness. The Christian may not understand the reasons why but if they know Scripture they can see that there is a reason for it all. And at the very base of it all is the body of Christ that Christ Himself said He would build, a...church...that even hell itself will not win against.
About a year ago I found myself in the midst of an ongoing conversation with a friend that caused me to basically need to defend not only my faith but just about every part of my life and basically every major decision I had ever made as an adult. Oddly enough I did actually enjoy the ongoing conversation. There were many a time that I said I wished the topic would drop and there were many a time that I was ready to drop the conversation but somehow it kept going. And in that seemingly endless conversation I learned much about myself. Time and time again I looked to Scripture, testing my own beliefs against Scripture, before responding to this friend. And time and time again I had my faith and my beliefs affirmed.
That is the sort of situation that the true Christian finds themself in, even if only in their own hearts and minds, when a situation comes up when 'Christians' are blaming and non-Christians are not only name calling but casting blame. In the midst of all of that the true Christian pulls from their faith, from their beliefs, and from Scripture to at least make a frame for their own reactions. Sure, they have thoughts and feelings on the situation. Their own experiences in life will play a role in how they respond to certain things. But when it comes right down to it, Scripture is the defining line for how they view the situation.
And that defining line is that Christ is building His body...His church...and He will not allow hell to prevail against it. There, in the time of Christ, the battle was laid out and won right before Simon Peter's eyes and it was recorded in the Scriptures for everyone throughout the rest of time. The reality is that on that day, Christ spoke of a plan that had been in motion since before the foundation of the world. And if one understands Scripture and looks closely at life in our modern world, or views history through the lense of Scripture, than one can see that though the battle may rage, even among those that claim to be 'Christians', there is no winning for anyone but Christ.
Even the true Christians are not winning. We are caught up in the midst of an ongoing battle, one that has raged since Adam ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, one that will continue to rage until the return of Christ. True Christians live in the middle of a world that is as foreign to them as another planet would be, they live in the midst of a battle ground that is raging a war that is invisible to most people, they feel the flames from the gates of hell as those gates press ever closer but are held at bay by an invisible hand because Christ said those gates would never prevail against His church.
No comments:
Post a Comment