I am very glad for people to send emails to me. Really, I am.
Over 700 people across my district have signed up for my emails, so I get the privilege of sending out emails to lots of people I wouldn't otherwise have a chance to communicate with. I feel it is only right to welcome emails that people send to me. The communication highway, at its best, runs both ways.
I got one this week that was full of beautiful -- actually, stunning--pictures of the life of Christ. They were so striking that I printed them out to put in my Bible.
When I was looking over the printout, I noticed there was a "tag" at the end of the pictures. The tag said that Jesus "is the only one that can save this country and they want Him removed from the government. Our great nation will not stand if we delete HIM from all aspects of our govenment as the atheists want." Then there was the closing request: "The Jesus Test: 'Jesus said, if you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father.' This is the simplest test. If you love God and are not ashamed of all the marvelous things He has done for you, send this email to a lot of people."
Oh dear.
I would gladly have passed on the beautiful scenes of the life of Christ. But it broke my heart that people could reverently review the scenes of the life of Christ and then think that the "Jesus Test" would be to send an email defying the atheists.
That would be understandable, I guess, except that the teachings of Jesus are so clear about what a true Jesus test is. Jesus was absolutely, penetratingly clear: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12) That is the Jesus test. That -- and nothing else. And how did Jesus love us:? Graceful acceptance, patient guidance, constant forgiveness, sacrificial loving.
The teaching of Jesus makes clear what the Jesus test is: love for others. Since Jesus was very explicit in teaching and example about loving his enemies, it would seem to me that the Jesus test would be how faithfully Christians love atheists. So, to my way of thinking, you could send a thousand emails and still fail the true Jesus test. Wouldn't the real Jesus test be to find an atheist and do something kind?
I still love the scenes of Christ that came with the email. So odd to me that people could look through them, recall the life of Christ and then get side-tracked about Christ's clear intention for his followers.
How many times do we look at pictures of Christ and, by forgetting Christ's teaching and example, miss the true picture?
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Rev Dye,
ReplyDeleteThe message of Christianity isn't one of God wanting to better this life for humanity. It is one of warning of a terrible fate in store for those who continue on the road of sin. We are told by God's Word that there are two deaths on the highway to Hell. The first death is when we leave the storms of this life and pass into timeless eternity. The second death is the chasm of eternal damnation. It is the terrifying justice of a holy God.
Are you familiar with the following scripture?
St. Matthew 10.33
But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.
St. Mark 8.38
For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation: the Son of man also will be ashamed of him, when he shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
St. Luke 9.26
For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, when he shall come in his majesty and that of his Father and of the holy angels.
St. Luke 12.9
But he that shall deny me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
Further more in The Washington Post, Annie Gowen has a good article about hapless multiculturalists and their failed attempts to impose their cult of diversity on America's churches. Bilingual services have proven a sure loser. English speakers are unable to understand Spanish preachers; Spanish speakers are unable to understand English preachers. Even the most committed parishioners have reported they are less enthusiastic about attending multicultural churches.
This dovetails with Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam's 2007 findings that "diversity" is actually destructive to social capital. The evidence has shown a strong correlation between "diversity" and declining levels of civic engagement: voting, trust between neighbors, charitable contributions, volunteering to work on community projects. Putnam found that Americans who live in the most diverse communities trust one another only half as much as those who live in the most homogeneous areas.
Human nature is naturally tribal. Leftists struggle with this ineradicable fact. Most people will always feel more comfortable when they are surrounded by others like themselves. Likewise, there will always be a minority of xenophiles. The Church recognized this early on in its history and never sought to dismantle or level the nations.
Christians would be wise to stick to their own traditions and reject the advice of left-wing multiculturalists who don't have their best interests in heart.