The Scourge Of Racism
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One of the most impressive things about the Man, Christ Jesus, is that He is absolutely serious about living to please and do His Father’s will.1 He is the loving Son of God and acts like it; living as a true Disciple of His Father (Isaiah 50:4-6; John 5:19-23, 8:48-49, 10:30-39, 12:48-50)! Sadly, the same cannot be said for many professed Christian men that relate to the Father and the Lord Jesus mostly from a detached distance. In my book, “The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics,” I teach with the Lord’s leading that aspiring strong men of God in His image are loving sons of God and Christ’s disciples forever!2 As I write in this edited 2010 Commentary, living the faith in real life is about living these roles out now, in spite of the hardships, criticisms and persecution that it provokes.
Originally Published July 2010
I have lost count of the times I have been persecuted with the occasional open, but mostly subtle verbal assaults I receive for seeking to live out biblical Christianity in real life. No longer to my surprise after over thirty years, the persecution I receive is primarily from professed Christians who have found ways to rationalize and justify compromises with or just to boldly corrupt God's Word. I am knocked as the proverbial "goody two shoes"3 that makes all of the contemporary, go with the flow folk including even members of my own family angry because I will not get with the program (Matthew 10:34-39). After all, everybody is doing it. Um, where have I heard that before?4
I take a hard look at the lives of my critics and find absolutely no evidence whatsoever that they have more joy, peace and experience of God's genuine blessing in their lives than I do. Instead, what I do find is a whole lot of heartbreak and needless sorrows because contrary to the narcissistic lie made popular on much of Christian television, God does not exist just to make us happy, healthy, wealthy and whole. But even worse, so many have actually invented their own god and jesus that allows them to do anything they want including sin without consequence.5 As a result, many professed Christian lives and homes mirror those of people that have not professed Christ.
As He made His way toward the city of Jerusalem just days before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus saw it and wept over it. He grieved because the religious leaders and people were doing everything they could to bring peace to the nation, but they were rejecting Him who was their peace. The end result would be Jerusalem’s and their destruction as occurred in 70 AD (Luke 19:41-44). With the Lord's heart I weep today for many professed Christians and fellow pastors that are doing the same exact thing Israel was with their made up and corrupted forms of Christianity. In the process, they reject the Jesus of the Bible and destroy themselves.
Christianity is not a religion or set of spiritual and moral principles to live by if you like them. It is the authentic, in time response of the living God to our need for deliverance from His righteous wrath toward our rebellion. For what compared to eternity has been a brief historical period, He has given us time to repent and believe on His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, was buried and raised to life so we might be forgiven and reconciled back to God. Those that do so, become the adopted sons of God who zealously love Him and begin an incredible journey that overflows with the gracious blessings of our Father even in times of difficulty (Galatians 4:6).
Christianity does not make all of our problems and troubles go away. Indeed, as His disciples, we are guaranteed to have tribulation and persecution as we pass through this life on our way to glory (Luke 9:20-26; Acts 14:21-22; 2 Timothy 3:12). However, the Christ of biblical Christianity gives us the spiritual resources to face and overcome this world's troubles through faith in Him (John 16:33). As a result of the very real costs of devotion and suffering for His sake in a fallen, hostile world, the Lord challenges those that would be His disciples to count the cost before signing up to follow Him (Luke 14:25-35).
The aspiring strong man of God in the image of Jesus Christ takes the words, instructions and commandments of our Lord to heart. With a sold out heart in all zeal he seeks to please Him and do His will. He does not twist and corrupt His Master's program to fit his own. Instead, he lives out his faith in and applies the truth of God's Word to every life circumstance he faces. Love, marriage, parenting, extended family, other relationships, the job, athletic fields, politics, social issues etc. are all arenas he lives out his biblical faith without compromise or corruption. Is that you, sir? Please stop calling yourself a Christian if it is not and you are unwilling to repent (Matthew 7:21-23)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 See my January-February 2017 three-part series, Jesus, Son Of Man (and especially part-two posted February 5, 2017 ), under the category, The Cause, to explore
this point further.
2 The book is available at all major internet booksellers, by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
3 This is actually the first instance I used this derogatory phrase in commentaries or blog posts since 2010. I decided not to remove it after having already used it in the
January 28, 2018 post, Character Is Required Of Christian Men, under the category, Instruction, because it fully captures the words and attitude of no small number of
those toward me I have encountered over the years from among professed Christian religionists especially.
4 Read the August 26, 2018 post, Worldly Peer Pressure, under the category, Call To Repent.
5 See and/or download the sobering free one page document, The Gods Of Cultural Christianity in the Strong Man Store.
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