Aunty Jane
Well-Known Member
For me, I too expect those who profess to be "Christians" to live up to the teachings of the "Lord" they claim to serve.I thought this was an interesting piece. Before I finished reading it I wondered to myself, “Is this going to be a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ presentation or a ‘do as I say, do what I do’ presentation?”. . . . .
I found his “do as I say and do what I do” presentation persuasive.
Yet I find so many who justify NOT doing what Jesus taught, and therefore NOT "doing the will of the Father" who sent him, and who taught him all that he was to teach others. (John 7:16)
Here are a few....
1) Matthew 5:43-48...
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Who is our "enemy" in this verse? It is anyone who persecutes or opposes us...he is contrasted here as the opposite of one's "neighbor".
If that "enemy" is not a personal threat but a national one, does that then excuse a Christian from obeying Christ's teaching on this? Did Jesus urge his first century followers (who were all initially Jewish) to fight against the Romans who were oppressing them? They were the government of the day and yet Jesus was careful to avoid getting involved in any political issue, and taught his disciples that they were to be NO PART of that world.....did that somehow change over time? Are Christ's teachings to be ignored by those indoctrinated to put their patriotic duty before their Christian duty? The Jewish zealots who plotted to overthrow the Romans, lost their battle in a humiliating defeat at Masada. God was not with them.
If we have blood on our hands, we have lost favor with God. That includes supporting those who shed blood even if they do not use a weapon themselves. Unless God sanctions a war, he will not support the participants. (Isaiah 1:15)
God has not sanctioned a war since the days of ancient Israel when they had a God-given land to defend.