One Side of Jesus
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 Labels: Christian, Jesus, religion 6 commentsChristianity does not receive the same respect as other religions. Sure there are stereotypes about them all, but it seems Christians get the bulk of it. Some may say that the Bible warns of persecution and Jesus forewarned us. While I agree, I think a lot of it has to do with a one sided view of Jesus’ humbleness and humility. This one sidedness is making Christians weak.
Before anyone responds that I am implying that Jesus is not loving, humble and so on. I know He has those characteristics He says it Himself that He is meek (Mathew 11:29). But was He this way towards everything? Absolutely not, He was not meek towards man’s will, but rather to His Father’s will. Yes He did show compassion, but not submissive like He was towards God the Father.
We know this from the two incidents of cleansing the temple. I say two because as I read it I see Matthew 21:12 and John 2:14-16 as separate events because of the description. Jesus stood firm when it came to the issue of worship. In addition, think of the multitudes He spoke to. Can you picture Jesus speaking to a multitude in a timid voice?
Furthermore, Jesus’ words indicate that we should not be weak. Matthew 10:16 “Behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” This means we should not be taken advantage of, yet not sin either. It is also interesting how many times bold, boldly or boldness appears in the Bible in reference to how we are suppose to present the Gospel.
Lastly, I would like to mention the analogies of Christians to soldiers. For instance, the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20. Also the apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:3-4 “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” You may say this is describing the persecution as I mention earlier, but I would ask what soldier does not fight back?
I purposely did not cite from Revelation because I believe that Jesus’ first coming served a different purpose than His second coming. This subject was prompted by the increase of oversensitivity I see Christians having recently.
Good post.
The worst part about it is that sometimes some Christians seem to be saying everything is okay.
You covered this in your post.
Sometimes some Christians are too far into soldier mode.
We should defend the truth, but I see some whose defense of the truth becomes offensive instead of helpful.
And people outside the church judge Christ by His church.
We do fail at times, but we should never quit trying.
I can't help but think that this in part a reaction to a post on Timm's site - just like Roland and I both posted on... ;)
But in all earnest, it is important not to mistake our need to be bold with a desire to think that others must think and believe as we do. Scripture is clear that we will think differently and act differently. And that it is no ones business to judge save Christ. With the exception of a local body (church).
The Scriptures that people twist to show that they are allowed to judge Tom, Dick and Jane out there in the world somewhere are typically Scriptures written for the governance of a local body of believers. And they typically involve a scenario where people have been given "authority" to make judgment.
This twisting of Scripture is something I will always speak boldly against. :)
Geppy,
This is not a reaction to Timm's post and I almost was going to put a disclaimer about the irony of the timing because many of the same people view both blogs. However, this was stimulated by a Christian comedian I like, who is starting a men's conference called Godmen (http://www.godmen.org/index.html)
My main point is not between the difference of believers (which it might slightly cover) but rather Christians and non-Christians.
In my view it seems that Christians are too accepting of worldly things and while the Bible warns of these things happening, it is still are responsibility to stand for God's truths.
Of course the means by which Christians confront these issues is important. But it seems that Christians are becoming timid and rather walk away than choose any confrontation and I believe the main reason is how we view Jesus since we strive to emulate Him.
Do you mean that Christians are too accepting - as in they participate? Or that they "allow" non-Christians to participate?
We cannot expect non-Christians to behave as if they are Christian, as they have not been regenerated.
I would say that they are too accepting in regards to public doings that effect them. Such as schools, entertainment and media.
Christians have allowed these things to get so out of hand that we are almost have to send kids to private schools or home school. As far as entertainment and media go we have created our own sources. By doing so we are somewhat segregating ourselves .
Thus this lackadaisical attitude has only made it easier for Christians to backslide. Temptation is far greater nowadays than in the 50s. The moral attitude of people is very low. It is pathetic that we have to define marriage.
I would say that the battle to define marriage would probably not need to happen if our country allowed health benefits to apply to life partners. It is not proper for same gender marriages, but it is proper for humane health care.