If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you... Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. - John 15:18, 20 ESV One of the most troubling practices that I see all too often is that of people, often not even marginally aligning themselves with any sort of Christian-esque religious affiliation, using Jesus' words to subvert the moral authority of God and attack Christians who would use the entirety of the Bible's teachings as a basis for moral order. Seeking to demolish a Scriptural foundation for righteous living in order to establish relativism as a universal moral principle, these people continue to diminish and condense Jesus into a one-dimensional personality with a few good talking points about being merciful and accepting and tolerant. They see Jesus as a mere prophet wandering around, riffing on themes of love and peace endlessly with pithy maxims. They reduce Jesus' teachings to nothing more than a self-help seminar.
Of course, the same people who would defend themselves with such go-to phrases such as "Judge not, that ye be not judged," (Matt. 7:1, KJV) "First, take the plank out of your own eye," (Matt. 7:5a, KJV) or "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Mark 12:31b, KJV) would be wise to understand that Jesus spoke many other things than these. It's true that He meant every word of those previous sayings, but they are all parts of much longer and more complete thoughts. Jesus' life and ministry is complex and multi-dimensional, as are His teachings. In fact, by taking Jesus' words out of context, we could almost paint any picture of Jesus that we want Him to be. Did the same Jesus who told a woman caught in adultery "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more" (John 8:11 ESV) also tell the religious leaders of the day, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are filled with dead peoples' bones and all uncleanness"? (Matt. 23:27, ESV) Could it be that the Jesus who said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9, ESV) is the same Jesus that said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword"? (Matt. 10:34, ESV) The fact that Jesus said all of the above does not discredit His teachings or make His messages contradictory. All of the above were spoken at different times to different people under different circumstances, and all of them appear in passages where much, much more was said. These are perfect examples of how taking Scripture out of context can be so devastating to the teachings of Christ - or for the rest of the Bible, for that matter. The passage in the block quote heading this entry indicates that Jesus Himself recognized that the world hated Him and would also hate those who followed Him. The world has absolutely no problem feigning piety for the sake of throwing Jesus' words in the face of Christians to discredit their position. This is no different than what Satan himself did to Jesus in Matthew 4 when he used Scripture to tempt Jesus. This kind of deception and infiltration should not be surprising for a society that willingly follows "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2b ESV) The world hates Christ. The world hates Christians. If they can use the words of Christ to discourage or defeat Christians, then they will absolutely do so! The Christian must not make excuses, or deny the words of Christ, or feign ignorance to the subtext or context of Jesus' words whenever they are used by the world to attack his beliefs. We have to understand that there is only one Jesus - the Jesus of the Holy Bible - and that His message is complete, clear, and powerful. We must know His teachings thoroughly and completely - and be ready with a powerful, loving, and truthful response whenever presented with a dilution or adulteration of His message. We have an ally - the Holy Spirit - that all of mankind and all of hell cannot defeat. If we know His Word, then through the Spirit we are equipped to combat every ill-intentioned use of Jesus' teaching and to turn them into an opportunity for the gospel's true and indomitable message to be presented.
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Clifton J. Gardner lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, Courtney. He is a Registered Nurse, musician, and writer, as well as an active member of Ezra Baptist Church in Oak Grove, Alabama. Archives
January 2017
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