Friday, September 1, 2023
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34-38
Timing is
everything…so said my Dad, who was a certified bowling instructor,
trying to teach me how to roll the ball towards the pins with effectiveness and
the kind of repetitive consistency needed to score better. I said:
What? I’m certain
Jesus was saying the same kind of wisdom to his disciples in that day (and
getting the same kind of doe-in-the-headlights reaction).
It is true
(in a both/and sense) that Jesus is the Prince of Peace,
as much as he is the Lord of Heaven’s armies.
He who self-described himself as “love” is also the author of
Ecclesiastes. It is a matter (as my favorite
bowling instructor would say) of timing.
When Jesus came the first time, lowly, meek, and riding a donkey, we saw
him as the submissive, perfect sacrificial lamb. He demonstrated his love by taking our pain
in his body. The next time he comes it
will be as a warrior, coming to clean up our mess.
Question: Does Jesus’ character change from loving-dove
to unrelenting-hawk in the 1,000-year interlude between Ecclesiastes and
Matthew? Did he only come in peace the
first time, and will he put that aside and be different the next time? Did we get Ecclesiastes wrong? God inspired Solomon to write those words, and
God called him the wisest among men, yet Solomon says there is a time and place
for peace, as well as war. The Answer
must be a resounding NO if you believe the Bible. He said this:
I am the Lord, and I do not change. Malachi 3:6a
So how do we
reconcile all this…is Jehovah a God of war and peace, or
just one, and not the other? When he shows up as Jesus we can expect love,
kindness, and grace…but, when he shows up as the I AM,
look-out?
I think you
know the answer to that, but let’s put it in another scenario: Suppose it is the issue of homosexuality; is he
the God of I love you – I’m ok, you’re ok – you aren’t in for any
judgment? Or is he the God who
says that is sexual perversion, and if you buy-into that there is fire on
the horizon for you, beloved? Applying
that to contemporary culture, the trend is to an absence of judgment on God’s
part. American culture is quite evenly-divided,
but only because there’s a relatively even distribution of humans above and
below 50 years of age. But the trend is
moving towards popular culture legitimizing and even applauding the practice of
homosexuality.
A greater
question then becomes: If public opinion
is moving in one direction, does that make it right? Ultimately there is no fence upon which to
sit, and that brings only two possibilities, both of which are supremely
uncomfortable for those who want to reject Biblical precedent: God will judge, or scripture is wrong. We’re forced to obey God or popular opinion…there’s
no in-between! Humans mess-up, and must own
our mess-up, or defend our beliefs. You
cannot do both.
Within the
denomination I served the past two decades, the move has been towards popular
opinion, with those disagreeing, jumping ship to band together with those holding
Biblical doctrine. And, among both those
who are staying, or leaving, are some who are taking parting shots at the other
side’s position as a lack of Biblically-moral character, preferring to judge
motives and intelligence. The God we’re talking about was not silent on
that:
Do not judge
others, and you will not be judged. For you will be
treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the
standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in your
friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? Matthew 7:1-3
For You Today
I take the stand for Biblical
obedience to love other sinners, because I am also a forgiven sinner. I will not compound my sins by judging
others. What say you?
There are about 2,600 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.
Title Images: Pixabay.com Sword
Dove
Images without citation are in public
domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT©
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