I think the thing that bugs me
about modern Christianity is complacency, and I am more guilty than you of
this, so please don’t think of this as into a personal rant against you/the
hateful Christian right/the hippie Christian left/anything in between.
First, there are people all
around us, every day, who are eternally dying but have no knowledge of it. The
vast majority of American Christians (at least) seem to assume, by their own
behavior and actions, that either these people are already saved or are not
worth the risk of personal humiliation to make an effort for.
Second, there are people who are
temporally suffering around us, every day, and they do know it. However, it seems like as though modern-day Christians
don’t want to be troubled with the “less-desirables” that we (a) don’t connect
with very well, (b) dwell in places that aren’t appropriate for a Christian to
be seen in, (c) don’t want to enable to continue living like that, or (d) just make
us feel to darned uncomfortable.
Third, there are people around
us who are profoundly full of themselves and act as though they are already
saved forever and are beyond the danger of ever being lost. Why? Because they
check the boxes every day! I did not swear today (check). I did not look at
porn on the internet (check). I smiled at someone at church, and I am a
third-generation First-Seventh-day Romacostal-Captistyrian (check, check—and I
did my Sabbath School Lesson every day this week, by the way!).
I look at the story of Jesus
clearing the temple courts, and it’s a wonder that He isn’t doing that still
today. These people were in the courts of the Gentiles selling sacrifices at
exorbitant prices, obviously under the approval of the priests. All around them
were supposed to be people from all nations seeking God, and right in front of
such people were merchants ripping them off for the sake of the temple—the
house of God. It was supposed to be “a house of prayer for all nations,” according to Isaiah. I can’t imagine all nations
going there and leaving with a very good impression of the God they were trying
to seek.
And along comes
God-in-the-flesh, Jesus Christ, and He sees this. I wonder what He was up to
that day? Often he had taught there, and He would do so again after kicking out
the appointed temple jerks. The very God the nations were supposed to be there
seeking actually showed up there with skin on! And the people who were supposed
to be the most excited about it wound up killing Him.
It points out some inconvenient
truths for me and my fellow complacent Christians. First, our heritage and
credentials in the faith are nothing.
They may only serve, actually, to cloud a true vision of Jesus. Second, the
suffering of those around us who are seeking after God (even if they don’t know
it’s what they are doing) cannot be ignored. There are places and organizations
everywhere that any of us could get involved with (Metropolitan Ministries or
Florida Hospital are a couple of examples in my area) that do great things to
help people every day. Time to roll up our sleeves and get involved in helping
the hurting. And, third, quit being afraid to share Jesus. Pray for boldness
and a clear “nudge” to share Him with someone today. We don’t have to define
who it is or what we will say. God will do that for us through His Spirit.
Our job is daily to live, not just exist, in Jesus. Our
persons—collectively called the Church—are,
since the first Pentecost after Jesus’ left earth, the Presence of God. Our bodies are His temple. I fear to have Jesus
have to act in me the way He had to act in the earthly Temple.
(Thoughts based on Mark
11:15-18)
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