I have a confession... I killed Jesus the Christ.

In class, a discussion question was posed. How would we answer the following?

1) In his 1933 essay "The Church and the Jewish Question," a defense of the Jewish people against the Nazi's, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that because the Jewish people "hung the redeemer on the cross" they will continue to "endure the curse of its action in long-drawn-out suffering." How would you evaluate and respond to this statement? To help address this question, explore who is responsible for Jesus' death in the Gospels (and Acts). Why does this question matter?

2) From a "purely historical" perspective, why was Jesus crucified? From the perspectives of the Gospels, what is the significance of his death? How would our faith be impacted if the Gospels ended with Jesus' death and did not include the resurrection?

The question in both of these questions: 

Who was Jesus, and why was he crucified? 

In the fall, God rushed in to take the fig leaves (man's attempt to cover himself) and replace them with animal skins (symbolic of the lamb who would be slain). Just a few short years later (decades are short in a 900 year lifetime), Abel's sacrifice was one of the flocks (probably a lamb, although unknown). 

Israel then is birthed into a nation, and an Atonement Lamb is sacrificed for sin. Isaiah 53 (really 52--56) paints such an elaborate picture of this Lamb who would be slain. It tells us that "all of like sheep have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6). Then Isaiah 55:3 tells us:

Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.

The covenant of David is forever. All of us have gone astray. The throne of David is the throne of Jesus. Jesus was rejected by "his own". But his own is everyone on planet Earth too. Romans rejected him. Jewish leaders rejected him. And we have all rejected him at one time or another. Even those of us who were "Christians" have rejected him when we chose not to follow his Word in some fashion or choice. 

We have a Messiah who was the ultimate fullness of what it meant to be walking in God the Father's Torah. That Torah has not passed away, so says Jesus himself. Therefore, the covenant with Israel still stands today as it always has. He is still their God, and those who bless Israel will be blessed; those who curse Israel will be cursed, and the Kingdom of God will one day manifest physically and reside as its capital in Jerusalem. 

Jesus himself said that he would be handed over to be crucified, the Passover supper was about this very thing. He said the woman with the oil was anointing him for burial and predicted that her sacrifice would be included in the spread of the Good News. Jesus even rebukes Peter for trying to prevent him from fulfilling this end. (Matthew 16:23; 26:2, 26-30; Mark 14:6-9; 20-26; Luke 18:31-34, 22:7-38; John 13:31-38). By quoting Isaiah 61, Jesus is tying himself to the larger ongoing prophetic words of Isaiah about a suffering savior who would come (Luke 4:14-30). 

Isaiah 53 goes on to say:

5But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

6All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

10But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.

11When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied.

(See also: Romans 3:23, which is quoting Isaiah)

Jesus was crushed for my sins, not only for some Pharisee's sin in 33 A.D. It was the Father's plan to do so, many years before it happened. And Jesus sees what he accomplished in me through it, and he is satisfied with the results. 

The People of Israel did not hang Jesus… you and I did. Our sin. Our rejection of "good". Our need for a savior brought him to the cross. 

No… Israel did not kill Jesus. I did. And I am grateful for the Grace he's shown me in it. 

Darrell

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Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
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What is Torah?

This was worth sharing... thoughts from class this week. 

 

Reading Response:

Spangler, Tverberg Ch. 10-12

Darrell Wolfe

Literature, The King’s University

Life of Jesus (BIBL-2302)

Professor Jason Moraff

Week Five Reading Response – 11/22/2020

 

Summary

In Chapter 10, At Table with the Rabbi, we find the significance of food, hospitality, and what it meant to be at table with someone. For a middle eastern culture, to have someone as a guest was an honor. The responsibility was taken seriously, even to the point of being responsible for your guests’ safety (which makes more sense of why Job would offer his daughters to the men of the city rather than his guests). We can also see in this practice more sense of Jesus’ command to his disciples to take nothing for the journey and stay with whomever would have them. This also sheds new light on Psalms 23, a table before my enemies. The table and breaking bread were also a sign of peace, and peace treaties. It was, especially at Shabbat, a time to slow down and take inventory of God’s goodness and enjoy fellowship. 

In Chapter 11, Touching the Rabbi’s Fringe, the authors discuss the relevance and significance of “The Law”. Many moderns, especially Christians, see the books of Moses (Gen-Deut) as fry religious rules, impossible to carry out. In fact, Torah is not most accurately translated “The Law” it is translated better as “Teachings” or “Instructions”. These are not rules to be carried out to earn God’s favor, but a series of Instructions to live out of the favor already existent on you as one of God’s chosen people. Breaking this down further, they looked at the rule about wearing Tassels and developed multiple layers of meaning to the practice. When the woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus’ Hem/Tassels, she was making a demand on his authority. Rather than him being made impure by her, his purity ran through her making her pure. The Torah was God’s call to live holy and separate lives. We see through Torah, as compared to contemporary laws such as Hammurabi, that God’s laws were more just, and more focused on the weak and “less than”. Rather than unbearable laws, we see grace and respect for life through each one. Even “an eye for an eye” is a maxim, not be taken literally, ensuring that the vengeance would not be an eye for a life.

In Chapter 12, Jesus and the Torah, we see a new image of Jesus as Rabbi. His debates with the fellow Rabbis of his day were not full rebukes of tradition. Rather, he used tradition, Rabbinic styles of communication, and employed techniques such as “building a fence around the Torah” in his communication style. Surprisingly, when understood in context, Jesus did not say he was fulfilling the law in the sense that he was doing away with it because it was over. Rather, he was fulfilling the law in the sense that he was bringing light to its original intent and meaning, bringing us a more authentic way to live Torah. Without understanding Rabbinic idioms, styles, techniques, and culture, Western Christians miss the subtlety and often the meaning of Jesus’ words. The authors state: “Jesus must have thought the Pharisees close enough to the truth to want to correct their errors. Why else would he have engaged them in debate?” [1]. Knowing this, we can see Jesus’ “Instructions” (Jesus’ Torah) as giving us opportunity to live not to the bare minimum (what is the way we make sure not to break the law?) but I a maximum way (how far can we go in loving our neighbor?). Also, with this in mind, Salvation is barely a first step. Western Christians place such an emphasis on “getting people saved” and then we leave them to figure it out with a few instructions to follow on a pamphlet. Rather, we should be inviting them into a life of discipleship (human to human, not just human to God); which by necessity includes community.

Reflection

It is sad that we do not “eat together” anymore. Not only is this missing in the culture at large, but in my own household. Even when my late wife was alive, we often ate around the television. It was a shared experience, but not one that invited much relationship building. Since she passed, the stilted sadness of the household lingers. We smile, laugh, often watch something together. But the bantering died for a long time. Recently though, it has begun to return. As we began joining our lives with another family with quite a different style, we find ourselves eating food with no screen in sight, talking and laughing and telling stories. Possibly for the first time in my life, I am seeing the benefit of a shared experience of community eating. The theme of these three chapters in my mind was “Building Awareness”. The constant in the subject of food, a new way to see Torah, and a new way to see Jesus interacting with Torah was a drumbeat of awareness around God’s heart for people. My Libertarian bent has me thinking mostly about being “left alone”. I moved out of the city into the country where I am left alone. Nobody ever knocks, there are few cars passing by, and I am left to my own ways. However, in that isolation is no community. I became painfully aware of this when I broke both legs and couldn’t even get down the steps to the gravel driveway to get into the car. Nobody delivers here, no Uber Eats or Grub Hub. Friends came to build a scary looking wheelchair ramp, but then the wheels would get caught on the driveway gravel. Another set of friends gave me a plywood base to land on and maneuver. Another friend picked up groceries I ordered but could not drive to get. My mom moved in for weeks and helped us transition.  Suddenly, my “leave me alone” did not feel like a blessing but a curse. I have been rethinking the need for deeper connection to community, breaking bread with others, discipleship, and making a point of using my talents to help others. Rather than waiting for someone to ask me to walk a mile, maybe I could start offering to do so.

 

---

[1] Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, Updated edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018).

Follow Up Discussion: 

How do you understand the relationship between Torah (the Law), the Jewish people, Jesus, and the Gospels? 

First, Torah is not "law" as we understand it today. Torah was not a rigid set of rules under which people struggled; rather, it was a set of "instructions" for people who were already in covenant relationship with God to walk that relationship out in real life. 

Second, Jesus was a Rabbi of the Torah in much the same way the other Rabbis of his day were. He used many of the same maxims and idioms, styles of communication, and Rabbinic techniques. What was different about Jesus was twofold: 

1. Jesus did not see the Torah as Minimalist: "if we do at least this, we're safe". Jesus saw Torah as Maximist: "Love your neighbor, what's the most you can do to love them?" As such, Rabbi Hillel would say "Don't steal" but Rabbi Jesus would say "Look around to see who's worse off than you and find a way to help." (Spangler/Tverberg Pg.183)
2. While other Rabbis were building a fence around Torah in a fearful attempt not to violate it because "who could know the mind of God?"; Jesus was the author Torah Himself, so he came offering God's own heart on the very instructions he originally gave.

What do you think is at stake in discussing Jesus and the Torah? 

If we understand Torah for what it really was/is and Jesus' relationship to it, we run a far greater chance of having correct interpretation and a far lesser risk of being in error. In essence, we can live closer to God's heart for his people by understanding this relationship.

How does this discussion affect how you understand the relationship between the Tanakh/Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as Jesus' relationship to the Jewish people?

This makes me want to read Gen to Rev all over again with a new eye for how they correlate. Especially knowing how often Jesus used the technique of quoting part of scripture to force the haverim to go find the rest of his meaning; I would like to restudy all the Gospels more slowly, taking a look at every single cross-reference, soaking in the possible hidden meanings that have eluded me all these years. 

I have always asserted, but apparently never lived out myself, that we are essentially Jewish. We, Gentile Christians, were grafted INTO Israel and not out of it. To the degree we remain disconnected from our family heritage, we remain incomplete in our understanding of what it means to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Jesus, and Darrell. 

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Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

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How does The Church handle its LGBTQIA members? A Sociopolitical Research Paper.

Answer: Historically we get an F, but we're in remedial class now so we're improving as a whole. 

*Disclaimer: I could not possibly do justice to the nuance of this topic in a 3-5 page double-spaced 12-point font paper. I was forced to choose a direction, and I ran with it. Given the time and space, I probably will write on this topic more in the future. I intend to give it the nuance and time each issue deserves. Therefore, consider this a primer for future discussions. I also reserve the right to change as I grow, this is how I am seeing it today. 

*******************

How does The Church handle its LGBTQIA members?

 

Sociopolitical Research Paper

 

Darrell Wolfe

Biblical Counseling, The King’s University

Counseling in the Church (BIBC 3304)

Glenna Massey

November 15, 2020

 

 

Abstract

The following will be a short evaluation of how the Church has and should handle its LGBTQIA Members. We will review the impacts of the division with and in the Church, the role of the Church, and the response of the Church. Lastly, we will look at how a Biblical story reimagined could provide the answer.

Keywords: LGBTQIA, Gay, Lesbian, Gay Marriage, Gays and Church

The Impact of being gay in Church

            United Methodist Pastor Jimmy Creech wrote a book called Adam’s Gift, in which he speaks about the first time he was introduced to Adam, a man who was both gay and serving in the church (circa 1984) (Creech, 2011). Adam had same-sex attraction from an early age. He tried to ignore it and even lived as a straight man for a time. He lived and served God faithfully as a member of the United Methodists. Nobody at the church knew he was gay. His experience with “The Church” was that he was hearing about God’s unconditional love from one ear and about how God hates gays and condemns them to hell from the other ear. He could not reconcile these messages as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality. Feeling shamed and guilty for simply being who he was, he even attempted suicide. All too often this has been the experience of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA) community both inside the churches as well as interacting with those claiming to represent the church in the community at large. While attending white parades (circa 1996-1998) in my hometown of Palm Springs, California, I saw someone holding a sign that said, “God hates gays”.

Even as many churches are getting better at their response, the larger cultural debate rages. Legislatures are gridlocked between the defense of religious liberties and civil rights, often resulting in Supreme Court decisions to determine where the lines are drawn in the US Constitution. The 2020 Bostock decision was the latest iteration of that battle (Bennett, 2020).  Faith-Based Adoption agencies are finding themselves in court over adoption to gay couples (Shellnutt, 2019). Youth Pastors will find that the up and coming youth are more likely than ever to either identify as LGBTQIA or be sympathetic to their plight (Shellnutt, 2018).

            To make matters more complicated, if a gay or lesbian couple begins to attend church they are faced with a new dilemma. If the church teaches them that their marriage is not authorized, do they encourage the couple to break-up and divide the children into two homes? One United Methodist pastor claimed that singling out the LGBTQIA community was a violation of the church's charter to “do no harm” (Steele, 2019).

The Role of the Church

The church faces a two-pronged battle. On one hand, the role of the church is to love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40)(Key Word Study Bible NKJV, n.d.). On the other hand, the role of the church is to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). For many sincere men and women who struggle with same-sex attraction (orientation), their options are churches that either accept the LGBTQIA positions on all fronts without challenge (Ex: Pro-Gay Marriage) or challenge the positions while rejecting the persons (Ex: Anti-Gay Rhetoric “God hates gays”). Both the Church of the Brethren and the United Methodist Church have experienced splits over the topic of how to respond to LGBTQIA issues; such as gay marriage (Silliman, 2020; Steele, 2019).

Jay Skylar, in an article analyzing the relevance of the biblical prohibitions of homosexuality, frames the arguments for a biblical acceptance of homosexuality as unlikely to be logically consistent with a Christian Worldview (Skylar, Jay, 2018). Yet, he demonstrates an understanding that Christians hold a dual responsibility to Truth and Love.

The Response of the Church

The response of the church is to love God, love folks, and speak the truth in love so that we can bring freedom into the lives of all who accept that truth (Matthew 22:36-40; Ephesians 4:15; John 8:32).

If we genuinely love God, we will have his heart for God’s people. The biblical account of the woman caught in adultery demonstrates how the church is to respond to sin, regardless of the nature of that sin (John 8:1-11). Under no circumstances is a follower of Jesus Christ to cast a stone. We cannot tell a person created in God’s image (Imago Dei), who was so precious to the Father that he gave his own son to ransom them to himself, that God hates them. In any scriptural list of things God hates, one can find their own pet-sin included. We have all fallen short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23).

Yet, we have this second ideal: Speak the truth in love. Jesus ended his interaction with the woman by telling her “sin no more”. In the Handbook of Christian Counseling, Dr. Timothy Foster reminds us that “the first principle to remember is speaking the truth in love, the second is unconditional acceptance… it means not saying ‘you’ve got be different’(Foster, 2005)(Pg. 142). Ecumenical Minister David Du Plessis once said that he never told anyone they were sinners; that was the Holy Spirit’s job. His job was the love them well, introduce them to Jesus, and let the Holy Spirit do His job (Hearn, 1967). In other words, we accept you the way you are and refuse to force you to change, but we will challenge you to take your life before the Holy Spirit and let Him shape you into His image.

            One valid response is to work with people and lead them into a process with God to seek healing and restoration. In his book, Think Differently Live Differently, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) Bob Hamp tells the story of a woman who was set free from years of being trapped in anger, living in masculine expression. Based on the description, this woman could be classified today as transgender. Hamp softly challenged the lie she was living, “you know you are a woman, right?”. As she released the lies of the enemy (over many months), her body changed, and had her first-ever period in her mid-thirties. Her body had lined up with her created order as her soul healed, expressing physical changes in her femineity (Hamp, 2016)(Pg. 71-73). While this type of healing is highly dependent on God and should likely be sought through the careful hands of a trained and licensed Christian counselor, it is promising that such instances of healing can occur.

            Yet, we all know of people who prayed for some healing that never came (physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.). What response can we give these people? What about those who found no success in “praying the gay way”? Phillip Yancey addresses the topic of pain in his book “Where is God When it Hurts?” (Yancey, 1997). He concludes that even when God does not bring healing, he comes alongside to be with us in our pain. We can find comradery with Jesus in his pain on the cross. Ultimately, we can all identify together with the same struggle. In an article about the church’s response to the LGBT movement, Andy Crouch concludes that “All of us know, in the depths of our heart, that we are queer. Our yearnings, especially those bound up with our sexuality, are hardly ever fully satisfied by the biblical model of one man and one woman yoked together for life.” Once Christians begin to see that we are all fighting the same battle (submitting our desires to God’s Word/Wisdom), we can see our LGBTQIA brothers and sisters as fellow strugglers and not enemies. 

            This still leaves the church with debates. What about gay marriage? What about gay lifestyle? Is there a difference between Orientation and lived experience? Sean Fryling, a Pastoral Care Pastor for Real Life Ministries, stated their position as follows. To anyone identifying as LGBTQIA, the church saws “Welcome, we’re so glad you are here!” Anyone asking to get into leadership or asking for the endorsement of their same-sex relationship would be invited into deeper conversations. They have had pastors on staff who have same-sex orientation but are committed to sexual expression being between one man and one woman in a lifelong covenant relationship. These pastors live as what the Bible would have called, Eunuchs. The Church works with these pastors (and others like them) to get help, counseling, prayer, and support. If they are committed to living faithfully to the Word, their orientation does not prevent them from serving (Fryling, 2020). To those asking for endorsement of their union, churches and pastors could say: “We believe in the biblical mandate for marriage being between one man and one woman. We would love the opportunity to discuss that further together, dive into the word together, and help you see why we believe that to be the case. Please keep coming, we hope you feel loved and accepted, but we cannot endorse the wedding you are asking for.”

Conclusion

While the need persists to remain unchanging on The Church’s stance on topics such as Marriage and Sexual Expression, the need also persists to remain unwavering on our commitment to the hearts of people of any sexual orientation. We must begin to see their struggle as no different than any other Christian’s struggle. Just as to the woman caught in adultery, we must say to everyone (ourselves included) “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more”. Then we must hold their hand and walk with them.

References

Bennett, D. (2020, June 17). LGBT Rights Ruling Isn’t the Beginning of the End for Religious Liberty. Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/june-web-only/bostock-gorsuch-supreme-court-ruling-religious-liberty.html

Creech, J. (2011). Adam’s Gift: A Memoir of a Pastor’s Calling to Defy the Church’s Persecution of Lesbians and Gays. Duke University Press.

Foster, T. (2005). The Handbook of Christian Counseling. Wipf & Stock Publishers.

Fryling, S. (2020, November 11). Pastoral Care/Lay Counseling Interview: Real Life Ministries (D. Wolfe, Interviewer) [Interview]. https://www.reallifeministries.com/pastoral-care

Hamp, B. (2016). Think Differently Live Differently Keys to a Life of Freedom. bobhamp.com. https://tdacad.com/product/think-differently-live-differently-book/

Hearn, J. (1967, June 30). David DuPlessis—"Forgiveness" June 30, 1967  pm [Audio Recording: Posted to YouTube by Jay Hearn]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afL_3rAM3yw

Shellnutt, K. (2018, January 23). Get Ready, Youth Group Leaders: Teens Twice as Likely to Identity of Atheist of LGBT. Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/january/youth-group-leaders-generation-z-atheist-lgbt-teens-barna.html

Shellnutt, K. (2019, April 25). America’s Largest Christian Adoption Agency Lets LGBT Couples Foster in 1 of 35 States. Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/april/bethany-christian-services-michigan-foster-lgbt-couples.html

Silliman, D. (2020, August 3). Brethren Against Brethren: LGBT Fight Divides Peace Church. Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/august/church-brethren-southeastern-district-divide-covenant-lgbt.html

Skylar, Jay. (2018). The Prohibitions against Homosexual Sex in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13: Are They Relevant Today? Bulletin for Biblical Research, 28(2), 165. https://doi.org/10.5325/bullbiblrese.28.2.0165

Steele, J. (2019, April 26). United Methodist Court Keeps Core of New LGBT Legislation. Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/april/united-methodists-judicial-review-umc-traditional-plan-lgbt.html

The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study BIBLE: Key Insights Into God’s Word. New King James (NKJV). (n.d.). AMG Publishers.

Yancey, P. (1997). Where is God when it hurts? Zondervan.

 

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Shalom: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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Are you being Christ this election season?

My prophetic calling is to challenge assumptions and thoughts that keep you from growing in Christ.

When I speak to my Left friends, I challenge their fear or anger at Trump. Not only is he not that bad, he’s actually done some really important things. 

When I talk with my Right friends, though, it is my job to challenge THOSE assumptions. Trump is not Jesus. He’s not even Peter. He might be Simon (before he got the call to follow). Trusted sources say he got saved and he’s a baby Christian, but that’s not validation that he’s a “Man of God” like a seasoned minister. If anything, he’s a King Darius... a SECULAR king that was kind to God’s people. 

Despite my advice, God brought him into office despite all odds. I didn’t vote for him in 2016 or 2020. But I was forced to acknowledge God’s hand has been all over him all four years. 

That being said, God may have brought him in to do what he did and leave. It may our may not be the will if God to have him another four years. We’ll see when the results are final.

I’m worried, though, about how many are treating this election as important for all the wrong reasons. I feel the American Church has taken on an idol of the Republican Party, in place of Jesus himself.

I don’t care who’s in the white house the next four years. I care about what The Church is going to either win hearts or push them away... I’m afraid The Church isn’t acting like Christ this season... that’s the tragedy of 2020. Not a virus, not an election, but the war for the HEART of The Church.

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Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
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The Church and Politics... An Unholy Alliance?

Thoughts for Christians in the United States of America, November 4, 2020:

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10 ESV #BeStillBeLed 

*****

The LORD God is King over all the Earth, despite the election results.

• Note: Despite which side you're on. And Yes, I'm preaching to myself.

Even if you (as I do) believe that one party is 80% controlled by demons and the other party is 100% controlled by demons; God is still God. His KINGDOM is still dominant for those who will enter it. And for those who enter into His Kingdom, they can see His "will be done on Earth (today) as it already is in heaven". 

That means it's time to wake up.

We do not live in New Israel, we live in Rome. The USA is a secular society. We do not elect a Pastor in Chief. We elect a secular president to preside over a secular nation. We elect Cesar, not King David. Whether this was always true is up for debate (see David Barton). The fact is, today, in 2020, we are secular. We are a nation that is at best neutral, and at times hostile, to Christianity. 

Our best hope is to have a Cesar, King Nebuchadnezzar, or King Darius (foreign leaders Israel had to survive under) that will listen to us and protect us, but the likelihood is we'll be thriving despite the ruling class not because of it. 

We can hope for moral laws that protect life, we can hope for a moral culture that respects the Covenant of Marriage; however, if we're honest, if we pull the plank out of our own eyes, we have a ways to go.

The world sees Christian marriages fall apart at the same rates as secular. They see our "sins" and judge us for them as we do theirs. Although not always true, for much of The Church throughout the USA, there is little difference between our lives and those around us. 

Prayerfully consider the following:

*Abortion: Do we focus on the life of the baby, but fail to address issues related to the quality of life of the Baby and Mother after he/she is born?

*Marriage: Do we scream about the sanctity of marriage, but fail to honor our spouses on a day-to-day basis? Fail to love our families well? Fail to honor our father and mother? Fail to honor our wife or husband? Do we have a contract or covenant? 

• Marriage Contract (USA): Protect our rights and limit our responsibility to our paper/partner. Pre-Nup? For Christians?

• Marriage Covenant (Bible): Forsake rights, and accept full responsibility for our covenant partner. 

*Sex: So we shame people for enjoying what God created in their own marriage? Get red faced when people talk openly about the beauty of Sex and Intimacy? Allow the culture to dominate the conversation through our silence? While simultaneously shaming a young man/woman for struggling with their sexual identity? Be honest, is a man/woman openly identifying as LGBT comfortable and loved in your church as they explore their relationship with Christ? Or will they feel the need to hide their identity, as if EVERY other person in the church wasn't struggling with their own sin at some level? 

Kingdom of God or Kingdom of USA: Pick One

It's time we start loving well, operating in the Kingdom and stop trying to serve politics. I hate saying it, even cringe. Yes, we can vote. Yes, we can be involved. But, I fear the Church in the USA (me too) has replaced living in The Kingdom with living in the USA. Devoted to enforcing their views on others, instead of winning hearts. Treating deceived people as enemies, instead of captives in a war of the spirit. 

Challenge: Even if someone is directly servicing the kingdom of darkness, is that person evil or your enemy? Or is it possible they're a human created in God's image and they're deceived? Maybe even serving a distorted feeling of justice because the darkness has blinded them to the real war?

I am the chief of sinners in this regard… but maybe people like me need to lead the way into a new paradigm.

What could it look like if we Think Differently? 

#Selah, #BeStillBeLed, #Shalom

Darrell

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Shalom: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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In this world, but not of it...

Is Jesus’ mission and message political? 

The question came up in class, studying the Life of Jesus. This question is more and more difficult the longer I consider it. My gut says that we have an obligation to be involved in political matters, to influence the kingdom perspectives in houses of power; especially since we live in a representative form of government.

But, is Jesus' mission and message political?

In John 18, Jesus clearly tells a political leader that his kingdom is not of this world. He reinforces that by saying that his people are not fighting for that reason. In this we have an “in but not of” demonstration(1). So he wasn’t establishing an earthly reign at that time.

Further, in Luke 17, Jesus tells us that his kingdom cannot be observed in the natural. He’s not trying to take over and rule a physical kingdom at this time(2). Therefore, his goal was not to overthrow the political leadership and take their rule. At least not in the traditional sense. 

Yet, every message he preached had to do with the way we live here, the way we treat each other here. In Matthew 18, Jesus tells us that our forgiveness should be as extravagant as Lamech’s vengeance(3). Therefore, he certainly intended for our lives to be changed by entering into His kingdom. Historically, we can see that his kingdom revolutionized the Roman Empire. In that sense, through changed lives, his impact was very real and present tense. In Matthew 16, Jesus tells us that he will give the keys to his kingdom to the church, inferring that his kingdom is still operating now, today, in but separate from the earth’s systems of power. 

The best examples of this "in but not of" lifestyle were the prophets and leaders active during exile. These were God's people living among foreign leadership. Daniel, who would have been well known by the Jews in Jesus’ audience, lived in Babylon but was not of Babylon. Showing his separateness by not eating their food. But did Jesus ever reference these in his style? It's interesting to note that he references himself as the Son of Man, a frequent phrase in the OT. One particularly interesting passage is in Daniel 7, where there is a reference to the Son of Man coming on the clouds, another famous reference of Jesus talking about his second coming. 

Jesus rarely came into conflict with Rome, but often with religious leaders.

If anything, I would have to call Jesus' style apathetic to natural rulers. He tells the Pharisees to render to Cesar what is Cesar's and God what is God's(6).

From the gospels alone, I see primarily an interest in working the Kingdom of God out wherever we are. Being aware that the world system is hostile to us (be wise as serpents but harmless as doves)(7). 

This is hard for me. I can see how my defense of another may involve me getting involved in political matters. Yet... The longer I ponder this question, I'm finding no evidence that I should be involved. In fact, all the evidence seems to be pointing me toward political apathy. I need to work his kingdom here, now, despite the system. I need to be about my father's business, regardless of what the world does. 

I'm going to have to ponder this more. Thank you for asking.

References:

1. “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.””

‭‭John‬ ‭18:36‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/jhn.18.36.esv

2. “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭17:20-21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/luk.17.20-21.esv

3. Spangler and Tverberg, Pg. 42-43 

“Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18:21-22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/mat.18.21-22.esv

4. “And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16:17-19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/mat.16.17-19.esv

5. “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.

Daniel 7:13 NASB1995

https://bible.com/bible/100/dan.7.13.NASB1995

6. He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

Luke 20:25 NIV

https://luke.bible/luke-20-25

7. “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Matthew 10:16 WEB

https://bible.com/bible/206/mat.10.16.WEB

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Shalom: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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