" S o H o w D i d T h i n g s G e t T o B e S o B a d ? "
(C) 2002 W. Duane Clark
WorldSource Publishing
Reminds me of one of the "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey that goes something like this: "When a child asks why it's raining, I think a good thing to tell them is, 'God is crying, and it's probably because of something YOU did'".
Things HAVE gotten pretty bad, and though it may not be your fault, I believe one of the main reasons is because historically, Christians (on the whole) have failed society as a whole.
The crux of the matter is a simple one: as bearers of His Name and supposedly followers of Christ, Christians should follow Him. Is that expecting too much? Does it seem painfully oversimplified?
Painful? Yes.
Because "Jesus Christ said to all Christians without exception, 'Let him who would be my disciple carry his cross, and follow me'. The broad way leads to perdition. We must follow the narrow way, which few enter. We must be born again, renounce ourselves, hate ourselves (a strong way to emphasize deference to others), become like a child, be poor in spirit, weep to be comforted, and not be of the world, which is cursed because of its scandals. These truths frighten many people, and this is because they only know what religion exacts without knowing what it offers, and they ignore the spirit of love, which makes everything easy. They do not know that it leads to the highest perfection by a feeling of peace and love which sweetens all the struggle". (From "Christian Perfection", Francois Fenelon.)
Oversimplified? No. It only SEEMS oversimplified because we always have to make EVERYthing so complicated.
Here's how simple it is:
1) Seek ye first the KINGDOM OF GOD and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. (Matt. 6:33)
2) Jesus came not to be served, but to SERVE. (Mark 10:45)
3) He HUMBLED Himself even unto death upon the cross. (Phil 2:8)
4) The second greatest commandment is this: LOVE your neighbor as yourself.
5) If we must call Christianity a religion, then the only "religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress . . . " (James 1:27) "And when we give a luncheon, a dinner or a banquet, we should invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind and we will be blessed. Although they can not repay, we will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (Luke 14:12)
As Christians, how long will it take for us to realize that our rewards are not of this world? That this is not our home? And if we were to give away everything we have, what cost would that be to us? Did we not receive all we have in the first place?
And I marvel at how effective Satan has been at convincing humanity to search for all ways to amass power and wealth and extend life here on earth. Jesus was the most powerful person who has ever lived, yet He was "homeless and penniless" and only lived for 33 years.
It is understandable why those who reject Christ would want to stave off death for as long as possible - having some fear that:
a) Once they die, it's over . . . COMPLETELY over, or,
b) There may be some truth to the fact that they are trading eternal glory for eternal punishment. But what I can not understand is why one who calls himself a follower of Christ would want to put off, even for a moment, the final act of following Him into glory.
Even a cursory glance back into church history can help us understand how things have gotten so bad. Certainly, the political persecution, the martyrdom and the infiltration of false prophetic spirits into the early church - at the end of the early Christian period - caused most citizens of Christendom to formulate a strategy for self-defense and self-preservation. By that time, large numbers of people had become involved (in the late second and early third centuries), and thus organized Christianity began to manifest itself in what amounts to two diametrically opposed ways:
1) The institutional church, which degenerated into a self-appointed, leader-controlled cult, and, forsaking the second greatest commandment - to love your neighbor as yourself - began to employ the Great Commission by brute force.
2) A revival movement called "Montanism" which began as a movement within the church, but through an increasingly formally organized group of prophets, it became narrow, legalistic and moralistic beyond measure and ultimately degenerated into one of many sects. (From "Early Christians In Their Own Words", by Eberhard Arnold.)
And this brought about "the curse of mutual, loveless misrepresentation, changing Christ's purpose to unite people in love, into fanatical injustice, hate and division". (From "Early Christians In Their Own Words", by Eberhard Arnold.)
So in an attempt to defend itself, Christianity became a house divided and thus ineffectual at those very things Christ called His followers to do. Pulling away from the world in self-defense and self-preservation, Christians neglected the harvest field in order to see to it that their own needs were met.
I am reminded of an incident that happened not long ago in my own life. During prayer before "Key Of David" (the band I played in) went up on the platform to minister, I was compelled of the Holy Spirit to repent of, and ask forgiveness for my selfishness. As I prayed, I confessed that even though I wear a cross around my neck, I really don't want God to apply The Cross to my life. Because if He did, then it would mean the death of me. For the cross is intended for the total destruction of the flesh. (This may seem brutally violent, but from a redeemed perspective, we can see it as Supremely merciful.) And this is the paradox of the cross. What appeared in the natural to be a barbaric form of judgment in the crucifixion of Christ, was in reality a Sovereign act of mercy for all mankind.
And knowing that the end of me might finally be the beginning of Christ IN me, wouldn't the application of His cross be the better thing? Wouldn't the death of me then allow for the life of Christ to be resurrected in and through me?
I must allow myself to be constrained by the love of Christ. I must let Jesus rise up in me at every moment. Only He knows how to act appropriately. Only He knows when to keep silent. Only He knows what to say when a response is absolutely necessary. Instead of determining to strengthen my resolve, I must determine to relinquish to His complete freedom.
1 Peter 4:1 says, "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourself with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin)". Consider this . . . if I am taken out of the equation, then that means:
1) I no longer have to struggle with the desires of the flesh. (Dead flesh has no ability to struggle against anything.) Paul says in Romans 7:15&19, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do." And, "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing." As for me, I am convinced that most people do whatever it is they really want to do. I decide going in that I am going to sin. I actually make up my mind to sin. Later, I can not pray and tell God that I didn't mean to do it. I DID mean to do it.
2) The struggle between "the flesh" and "the spirit" is over with as well. For if "I am crucified with Christ, and yet I live; not me but Christ who lives within me . . . " (Gal. 2:20), then I have ceased to be a target for the enemy. (Even as pathetically stupid as he is, why should he concern himself with a corpse?) He may be able to contend with me, but he can not, and I am quite sure would not even try to contend with Jesus alive in me.
3) I no longer have to defend myself, fight for control or fight for my rights. Isaiah prophesied it when in Isaiah 53:7 he said, "He (Christ) was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth". And Luke confirmed it when in Luke 23:9 he said, "He (Herod) plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave no answer". If I am dead, can I respond to my accusers? If I am following Christ, shall I give an answer? Didn't Jesus warn me about this in Matthew 5:11&12 ?
4) Inter-personal conflict is done with, because in order to have conflict, there must be two opposing positions, and a lifeless body does not offer much of a "position".
5) I no longer have to be concerned that my needs are going to be met. Matthew 7:7-11 assures me that my Father is always aware of what I need and is willing and able and going to provide it to me.
So the early church failed in this regard because instead of the individual Christian embracing the cross of Christ and all that was taught by Jesus and the apostles about loving our neighbor as ourselves, and the futility of trying to serve two masters, and the waste of storing up treasures on this earth, and the utmost importance of taking care of the poor, the orphan and the widow in her distress, they turned away from society and left it to fend for itself, thus fostering the development of all manner if "self-interest" groups imaginable.
And so now it's the "haves" against the "have-nots", neighbor striking out against neighbor and nation rising up against nation, all born of the feeling that - unless they do something - their needs are not going to be met. And here in the United States we have the most wealth; one of the highest life-expectancy rates; we are labeled a "Christian" nation and as an added bonus, everyone hates us.
So the next time someone asks you how things got to be so bad, I think a good thing to tell them is, "The people are crying, and it's probably because of something we did".
