Scripture from this morning as I opened my Bible was from Proverbs 29:27, "An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked."
I paused for a moment tossing those words around in my head. Where have I seen this Proverb play out before? Oh, I know. Our political environment! Good people and bad people naturally repel one another. Isn't this the climate in which we live today? It seems all we witness day in and day out is mutual disgust between political parties. Personally, I have given up watching the news anymore. The bickering, the fighting, the lies, the propaganda, and political assassinations! The targeted attacks and plots against national leaders has become too much to bear. I'm reminded of Jesus' words,"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives am I giving to you. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid" John 14:27. I'm staying in that peace. Isaiah 26:3 promises, "You will keep in perfect peace the mind that's stayed on Thee." I DON'T WANT TO BE ANY WHERE ELSE!
The Righteous View: (UPRIGHT IN THE WAY) People who try to live honestly and justly find wicked, deceitful, or violent behavior repulsive and unacceptable.---> An "upright" person lives with honesty and integrity just by doing the right thing. They accidently shine a light on the dishonest behavior of the wicked. Corrupt individuals often rely on cheating, lying, or cutting corners to get what they want. However, the upright person refuses to participate in those games. Psychologically from my background in the mental health field I surmise a clean, respected life triggers a sense of guilt or inadequacy in someone doing wrong. So rather than changing their own bad behavior, the wicked person turns that internal discomfort outward, projecting it as pure hostility toward the good person. Goodness and Corruption are completely incompatible.
The Wicked View: (ABOMINATION) People who live selfishly or wickedly despise those who are upright. ---> abomination: something that causes extreme disgust, hatred, or moral loathing. So fundamentally repulsive and contrary to one's core value that it cannot be tolerated. They despise the upright because a good person's honest life serves as a constant, uncomfortable reminder of the wicked persons own guilt and bad choices. You cannot expect total harmony between two people who are heading in completely opposite moral directions. Goodness offends evil and evil offends goodness.
**Galatians 5:17 the flesh wars against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.**
Much of society’s perception that Christians are not loving derives from how we interact with those who do not love us. Jesus foretells in John 15:18 that the “world” will always hate Christians (because we do not belong to the world) “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." However, despite that being true, He also instructs Christians in His Sermon on the Mount to “love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.” Nothing is more counter cultural than Jesus’ command to love those who hate you. That kind of love does not come naturally through our flesh. How many enemies do you love? The power to love those who despise you can only come through the Holy Spirit. So HOW do you love someone so utterly opposes your positions, opinions, choices, all based on your faith? I think the answer has to begin with loving what is unseen – I’m referring to an aspect of our “enemies” that we do not see. When we watch a cable news program or read an article in publications that we know stand against all we stand for, what do we think about the speaker or author?
Many watch the talking head on our TV screens or picture the writer of the words and their blood boils at their audacity to offend our Father and lead so many astray. Yet what we don’t see is what is most important – their souls. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). Their souls are eternal, darkened, lost and controlled by Satan. Only when we look past the appearance, words and actions of someone who hates us can we begin to love them. We must look deeper within, at their souls made in God’s image that longs for Him but is prevented from reconnecting with the Lord. Their souls are empty, devoid of hope. True love is not judging based on what we see, but bringing hope to what we cannot see – their souls. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:15).
The question for each of us is – do we love their souls or judge their flesh? Their flesh is outward – the combination of their sin (in words and actions) and their appearance (physical). Their souls are inward – a battle for possession by either the Holy Spirit or demons. Satan attacks the soul attempting to wrestle away control through affecting the external – the individual’s circumstances. We will always find it difficult to love those who don’t love us if all we see is the external (flesh and blood), but the mandate to love our “neighbor” becomes much easier to obey when we see our kinship with others as eternal souls seeking reconciliation and redemption through Christ. I have found it easier to do if I remember how I too was once blind and lost. To the world, loving the Unseen – who and what we cannot see – is radical. It’s Jesus’ type of love – a love possible only through seeing individuals as Christ sees them. Jesus spoke dignity into people’s lives. The crowds wanted to follow Jesus because He treated the ostracized tax collector, impoverished fishermen, outcast prostitutes, and untouchable lepers with dignity. He saw their value as souls craving to be reunited with the Father, not as those who had value only in fleshly mind and body.
The Agape love Christ modeled by Christ is unconditional, unable to be affected by how well we know someone, how often we see them, what they believe, or anything they do or say. Agape love, for every person’s soul, allows us to demonstrate compassion to disheveled strangers, evangelism to the lost, generosity to the persecuted, and prayer for those who persecute us in much greater proportion than Christians do today. Likewise, it eliminates our anger toward those who hate us and rekindles our sense of responsibility and urgency to lead their souls back to Christ. I would urge Christians to practice self-reflection, humility, and active Christ like compassion by always examining yourselves first and remember the grace God extended to you. Then finally, pray for others genuinely. Lift people up in prayer asking God's blessing and help for them, rather than praying for them to change to suit your personal preferences. That's the Christ-like way.
Until He Comes,
-Pat-
No comments:
Post a Comment