Thursday,
April 8, 2021
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity — all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47
Pariahs, or outsiders, are just that, outside
that which is accepted or expected by those on the inside. In human relationships, that political dynamic
equation never changes. In America the
insider (powerful) and outsider are determined at the ballot box; when either
Dems of the left, or GOP’s of the right sit in the seat of the top dog,
it is the other group who are left standing…outside. In today’s cultural hot topics it can be expressed
this way:
Those on the left or right are pariah to those on
the other side.
No matter whether you favor the political left or right, both
have in plain view a demonstrable Christian basis (if you dig hard enough in
Scripture to find it…and also ignore the plain context that hurts your
viewpoint). The group of Jerusalem
believers in Acts lived like “nearly Socialist” left-leaners, selling-off
everything for the common benefit. On
the other side of the aisle, “nearly Laodicean, right-leaning capitalists”[1] rested in their wealth to create their perfect environment. There you have Biblical foundation, much like
Judas who was looking for the Messiah, but for all the wrong reasons. Judas followed Jesus around hoping he would
fulfill Judas’ hopes and dreams for a chance at being an insider, ejecting the
pariah Roman occupation forces from Palestine. His was the same line of reasoning rabid uber-nationalists
stormed the Capitol in January….if you can’t see and do things the way I
see and do things, there’s gonna be a fight to the death!
Political struggles are idealogical, centered in agenda,
preferences, and greed. They are not nearly
as much grounded in ethics or moral behavior for the common good. In the end, political struggles are all about
winning and losing, never being our brother’s keeper.
When it comes to political struggles (from a theological
viewpoint), those who are truly Christian will be pariah to both the left and
right!
Getting back to the belivers at Jerusalem. All the devotion to prayer, shared meals and generosity
was voluntary. Devotion to
God’s ways produces awe/reverence/fear of God, which, in turn produces
willingness towards trust, fellowship, brotherhood, joy, and generosity. That will never come out of Washington.
The other side benefit is the answer to the problem in the
church we see today of empty pews….when people start truly living in God’s
ways, the trust, fellowship, brotherhood, joy, and generosity will be
irresistable to people seeking meaning; the churches would constantly have the (joyful)
problem of standing room only!
For You Today
Being a pariah goes against the
human natural desire to fit-in, and be liked.
But that is different from what Jesus said (through Apostle Peter):
You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9
[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
[1] See Revelation 3:17
No comments:
Post a Comment