Things I Think…
1. The resurrection of Jesus was, (among other things), a vindication by God of the way that Christ took His kingdom and defeated death and the powers of darkness. He turned the other cheek until He was marred beyond recognition, He humbled Himself to death on a cross, He loved His enemies…He lived out the Sermon on the Mount to the end, taking His kingdom and defeating His enemies with only the weapons of sacrificial love and faith. His death and resurrection brought life to us…by means that offend us deeply…
2. The only way that the mission of God could have failed would have been if Jesus had chosen temporal power and populism instead of sacrificial love and death…”come down from the cross and save yourself” may have been the greatest temptation Jesus faced…it is ours as well…
3. This ridiculous notion that sacrificial love and faith are the strongest forces in the universe was vindicated when Christ walked out of the tomb…today we receive the fruits of the works of Jesus, but reject the method by which they were won…
4. If you claim to follow Jesus, but refuse to use the same path He walked, you are following an idol of your own making…
5. Why do we lose the “culture wars”? Wrong tools, wrong wars…
6. The only wars we’ve been commissioned for are against powers and principalities in heavenly places…and those inside the church who defile her with their own lusts and corruption…
7. My own flesh rebels against these truths…we would do well to remind those who come to Christ that when God bids a man to come, He bids them to come and die…they left that part out of my altar call…
8. Everyone in this culture is now trying to cancel someone else…we’ve almost cancelled everyone now but how many have we loved?
9. Secular culture will always defeat a “Christian” culture that refuses to use the only “weapons” Christ gave us…
10. Happy Easter!
So hard to learn of Christ. So easy to buy a sword.
BD,
It is…as I hide my own sword collection…
If “we” won the culture wars, would that be good?
Josh,
The thought terrifies me as much as what’s happening already…the church wields power as a sword that’s too heavy…
Right. I wasn’t alive, but it seems that Conservative Christianity may have held the lead in the culture wars of the 1950’s. That seems to be the time that all we look back on with great fondness. Doesn’t seem that it left a lot of good, lasting fruit.
Culture War Christianity is the type of religion that mostly wants to control people’s behavior. It holds out Jesus’ love as the carrot for the sinner, if he would just act right.
Sadly, many of those still fighting the culture wars fail to release they lost. It is about as ridiculous as those still fighting the US Civil War. Even sadder are there are many who are fighting both. Both have their myths. For the Civil War, it is the “Myth of the Lost Cause” for the culture warriors, it is the 1950’s, “Leave It To Beaver” and the world portrayed in Pleasantville. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, especially when it is tied to myth and a very myopic view of that period of history.
Thank you Michael for reminding us of everydayâs reality…
Be blessed with speaking the truth, good health and long life!
“Culture War Christianity is the type of religion that mostly wants to control peopleâs behavior. It holds out Jesusâ love as the carrot for the sinner, if he would just act right.’
Well said, Josh…
Thank you, Elena!
Blessings, my friend…
Great words, Michael. And I mean great in the mighty, weighty sense….
( Methinks you might turn into a prophet….)
The longer I live in this culture, the more I hate the focus on self. It seems to be getting more difficult to find people thinking of others first…
I was a teenager in the 50s… even then there were two kinds of professing Believers in the Faith… I thank God for bringing the humble lovers of Jesus into my life… The “you’re no good and God could never love someone likr you” Believers-so-called were around then also. But along came the real evangelists, the John 3:16 proclaimers. . We need some of them again, but God’s will will be done, so….?
Pray
Michael, I love this. A very, very good post! It is all so perfectly true, and so very hard for us to accept. All Christians eventually will know this truth…some sooner than others.
Thank you, Owen.
Not a prophet, just read the book and this is my book report. đ
Thanks, BoC!
35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, âLet those men go.â 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, âThe magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.â 37 But Paul said to them, âThey have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.â 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
I’m glad Paul didn’t just go away quietly but stuck up for his rights comforting the brethren and giving us an example to follow…
Michael,
Well said… I sometimes think that we avoid the way of sacrificial love as Christians because it comes with a price, and the price is pain. If we offer love which is rejected, there is pain. If sacrificial love is accepted, the sacrifice involves pain. As believers, we sometimes act surprised by pain as though it is alien to the Christian life when, in fact, it’s normative… especially if we are showing love.
Exactly…well said, Duane.
The Pauline example doesnât negate anything I wrote…but is the favorite tale of those who want to try to do so…
…And the assertion of his rights as a Roman still ended in his being asked to leave the city…
“tale”?
That was directly from the bible.
Should Paul have just turned the other cheek?
Perhaps there is more to the application of turning the other cheek.
Duane, Paul still left the new Christians comforted…
This will get tedious quickly…as I frantically search for anyplace I wrote anything about not employing the rights of citizenship. My concern is about which citizenship is preeminent….
Isn’t the rule of thumb, follow the rules of the social structure you live in – UNLESS the rules require compromising the rules of the Kingdom of God?
In which case you will be punished = tribulation ( we’ve been alerted to that outcome)…. đ
“Duane, Paul still left the new Christians comforted⊔
and left town at the request of the authorities…
âSecular culture will always defeat a âChristianâ culture that refuses to use the only âweaponsâ Christ gave usâŠâ
In agreement with this conclusion, if you want to defeat secular culture through the law, there are several religions that you could choose from which do succeed. You donât need to corrupt Christianity. Please donât.
Why can’t you do both — stand up for your rights (exclusive to your geography/location) and sacrifically love those around you?
Is it either/or? Does it have to be?
I don’t see the Church as “competing” with the world.
The Way of Jesus is countercultural…
We “win” if we live gratefully and how He commands., knowing we’ll constantly fall short and need His forgiveness. The results, I believe are in His hands. Our job, as I’m saying, is to be faithful and keep walking.
DH,
Let us not forget that Paul’s Roman citizenship gave him the privilege of being executed by beheading in lieu of crucifixion. So I guess it had its perks. /sarc
Duane…I don’t often agree with you but your 12:56 is spot on!