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Date: 03 Dec 2007
Time: 12:32:07

Comments:

I just kind of stumbled onto this article it was very good. My mind kept going back to the quote specifically "I cannot worship a God I can beat up.".... I thought hey thats what the roman soldiers said.... lol  but seriously I appreciated your comments good work.

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Date: 27 Mar 2007
Time: 08:01:01

Comments:

Another bull's-eye.  Thanks, Ward for this article & Tami for your addendum [below]. 

I meet Christians every day that seem to revel in the fact that they believe God’s going to vengefully return as He “kicks butt & takes names.”  I was in the gym a few months back & there were two gentleman engaged in conversation.  One on one side of the locker room & the other 10-15 feet away on the other.  The subject of their dialogue regarded their understanding of the imminent return of Christ.  In essence what it appeared that they were doing was a very weak & misguided (in my view) attempt to share their version of the Gospel.  They patted themselves on the back as they proudly announced (seemingly to all) that they were ready for the wrath that they believed would soon come.  Then as they continued to converse with each they began to speak woes to those poor locker room souls who were not as fortunate.  The “Gospel of fear” was shining in its finest hour…Accept God’s love & mercy because if you don’t He’s going to beat the living garbage out of you when He returns!  “I’m ready!” one proclaimed, “Are you?”  “Yes, I’m ready”, responded the other.  “I can’t wait!”

Then the two proceeded to recount the horrors of what they believed was to come upon “this generation”.  They did a fairly nice job laying out their modern day premillennial take on Matthew 24.  In my view their calculations were almost 2,000 years off & they were indicting the wrong “this generation”, but hey, all’s fair in love & eschatology, right?  Some would say it’s impossible to know God’s return day so what’s the problem with zealousness?  Aren’t these fellows boldly declaring their Christianity?

At this point I did not say a word and as only “The “Predator” can as he escapes Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wrath, I blended in quite invisibly into the surrounding lockers.  I watched the reaction of those with whom this message was targeted.  The majority of the 8-10 unfortunate bystanders, who had to witness this “witness”, were muttering under their breath & shaking their heads in apparent disgust.  No one said a word as these Christ-followers obliviously carried on what almost appeared to be a planned Gospel attack.  But I thought Gospel meant “Good News”?  I guess their version is consistent with much of Christendom’s re-invention of Jesus’ words. 

As the scene was unfolding I thought to myself, have we traveled so far from those 1st century Pharisees who Jesus railed against as they pompously displayed their religiosity in a manner consistent with their degradation of those who were not like them?  I’m certainly not equating these men with the Sanhedrin of Jesus’ day but I think we need to be careful when our attitudes come dangerously close to those we condemn.

The following thoughts were expressed as our locker room preachers attempted to share the Good News.  “The antichrist is coming so choose teams today before you by force succumb to the mark of the beast.  Get right with God before He comes to annihilate those poor schmucks who are “left behind”.  God is going to come & pay back all those rotten sinners & He’s going to vindicate those of us that are on the good team!  Get on the winning team today before it’s too late.”  Listen, I appreciate this kind of zeal but isn’t our testimony supposed to be accurate, compassionate & effective?

I wanted to say something but for two reasons I chose to remain unseen & unheard.  First, I didn’t want to have such a clear association with Christians who were so arrogantly boastful about their saved-state.  Quite frankly I was embarrassed-not for being a Christian but for the way Christ was portrayed.  I count it a blessing beyond measure to know Christ & to be covered by His saving blood.  These men acted as if they had somehow earned such a righteous status not seeming to realize that were it not for God’s grace that they would have been like the rest of the poor “schleps” that they were attempting to “save”. 

The 2nd reason for my silence was for the ultimate cause of the “real” Good News.  I did not want to begin to squabble with their eschatology & therefore bear testimony to the fact that the Bible is only as reliable as those interpreting it.  I didn’t want to air the dirty laundry of the church for all to see.  “For they will know we are Christians by our love” not our bickering. Since I knew most of the fellows that were subjected to this barrage of fear mongering, I wanted to distance myself from this kind of thing.  Some might say, “Isn’t it of supreme value to get folks into the Kingdom regardless of method?”  To me this is situational ethics in its ugly glory—the ends justify the means.  False pretenses & an inaccurate (in my opinion) reading of God’s Word have caused us to share Christ in a way that is not consistent with the Gospel proclaimed by Paul.  Yes, God can use this kind of approach but why should he have to?  Can’t we be better witnesses than this?

Some day if the right opportunity comes along I hope to share with these “well-meaning” Christian souls the harm of their “witness”.  Not that I’m so perfect & self righteous because I have just as many warts as the next guy.  But I think it’s our duty to challenge those that don’t reflect the love & mercy of Christ in their message.  These two men were actually gleeful as they spoke about the wrath that was to come.  Is this not the same type of blood thirsty euphoria that the crowd shared as the Christians were thrown to the lions?  Do we ever have the right to revel in the destruction of anyone, even those that appear to be enemies of God?  If anyone wants to believe in the premillennial rapture, that’s fine, but not boastfully with excitement.   Instead of their jubilance for their anticipation for the nearness of judgment, why were these men not down on their knees begging God for more time? 

Do we not realize that we are all born enemies of God and that nothing good dwells in us that make us more acceptable than the next guy in the locker room?  I’m happy that folks have the boldness to share Christ but saddened that they have such a skewed view of Scripture that cause them to turn the Good News into bad news.

As Ward so gracefully shared, we need to extend the hand of Christ’s love that casts out all fear.  Being in the arms of the Savior should cause us to extend compassion to those less fortunate than us.  There’s never any room for us to be joyful at another man’s ruin.

Matthew 12:7 (ESV) “And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.”

I pray that God’s mercy & grace will overcome those that don’t know Christ & I pray the same for those of us that have already obtained it from Christ.

Acts 7:59-60 (NKJV) And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

How amazing.  If we could come even remotely close to the heart of Stephen, the world would be turned upside down for Christ.

Thanks again, Ward & Tami.

Chuck Coty <><

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Date: 11 Jan 2007
Time: 14:08:01

Comments:
What is the measure of true Christian love, of true mercy? Is it posting nice words about people on email lists. Is it saying nice things about God and others in articles. I guess the best way to know what the true measure of love or mercy is to look to scripture. How does God define love and mercy in a Christian context?

First we mist realize that even God's mercy is not universal:

Romans 9:18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

But Jesus tells us what true mercy and love look like:

Matthew 25 reveals what God thinks of the issue, defining love for Him by how we treat those who are poor, hungry and prisoners:

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, [6] you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Now the article this responds to criticizes a pastor for his quote about the judgment of Jesus Christ. Preterists should agree that this type of judgment did take place in 70 AD, so the viewpoint about Christ is not wrong as the author suggests, but is instead misplaced in time. The language spent on this pastor would, in my opinion, be better spent addressing his futurism than his view of Jesus. His view of Jesus would have been accurate in 70 AD, so that is not the major issue in his theology.

But if we follow scripture, this pastor should not be judge merely by his words, but by his actions, by what they did or didn;t do in showing mercy and love to the poor, the hungry and the sinners in prison. If we look at the record of this pastor with regard to those things, the real demonstration of Christ's love, not mere words on a page, we find that his acts of mercy and love in the City of Seattle far exceed anything the author of the article criticizing him or the author of this article, could ever approach. Neither author organized and runs AIDS hostiles, neither of us runs homeless shelters, neither of us runs recovery groups for drug addicts, alcoholics, sex addicts. Neither of us runs support groups for everyone from struggling homosexuals to miscarriage survivors. None of us is so respected by a city that even those who hate his strong biblical stance, greatly respect what he is doing in the community. Neither of us is the place where city officials go when they need an act of mercy or love. His love or mercy is not conditional, anyone who comes for help received it.

The true measure of love and mercy is not how many nice words we can get published on the web or in magazine, but according to scripture it is in how we treat the least among us. Mark Driscoll is a man who exemplifies the true meaning of Christian love in his outreach to sinners, his reconciliation programs in the community of Seattle, and in his support for those who would have no where else to turn. The church that he founded, follows his direction and lead, in bring true love and real mercy to the city of Seattle. That is where true love is, not the pages of a magazine!


Edward J. Hassertt, J.D.

 
Replies to Mr. Hassertt:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us about the article, “Let’s Not Forget Mercy.”

You wrote, “The true measure of love and mercy is not how many nice words we can get published on the web or in magazine, but according to scripture it is in how we treat the least among us.”

I absolutely agree. But I also think it is important that our words accurately (biblically)  portray the character and nature of the Kingdom of Christ to those who are listening to them. When someone has a very public platform with a large audience, that person would do well to be especially mindful of his words and how they are portraying Christianity to the world. Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Christ should reflect the character of Christ, in both their words *and* their actions.

You listed some very noble and charitable actions performed by the pastor whose unbiblical perspective of Christ was quoted in the article. No one would disagree that caring for the physically poor and oppressed among us is a compassionate thing to do. But of course many non-Christian social service organizations are equally, if not more so, involved in these types of ministries to people with physical needs. The parable to which you refer in Matthew 25 describes characteristics of those to whom the Kingdom belongs. The fact that there are many people outside of the Kingdom who regularly feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit those in prison should alert us to the fact that a merely physical reading of this metaphor of mercy will fall extremely short in leading us to an accurate understanding of what Jesus was teaching about the character of the Kingdom. (Please see: Ye Have Done It unto Me)

There are those in the so-called “post modern” movement who interpret the parable in Matthew 25, and other similar passages, with the same physical focus you have, and thereby support their perspective of Christ as merely a social or political revolutionary.  Taken to the extreme this 'physicalization' of Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom leads to a socialization of the Gospel which not only dismisses His redemption of His people, but also fails to recognize the *spiritual* nature of the Kingdom, and the *spiritual* meaning of the metaphors Jesus used to describe it.

As Ward stated in his article, the world needs the Gospel, and a jesus who wants to “make them bleed” is no more compatible with the Gospel than is the “hippie” or social revolutionary jesus who only cares for their physical needs. It is only when we begin to understand the true and spiritual nature of mercy, that we will understand how to show that mercy first to each other (they will know it by our love) and then to a world in desperate need of it. The mentality behind the “make them bleed” rhetoric with which the above article takes issue is completely contradictory to a Biblical perspective of Christ, His Gospel, and the nature of His kingdom. And certainly to how we as His people are to live--*and speak* --in its light.

in Christ,
Tami Jelinek

Hi Ed,

Thanks for your comments. I must say however, that your view of Matthew 25 sounds strikingly similar to Brian McClaren's view of Matthew 25 in that McClaren ascribes a literalness to the passage which translates into a mere social gospel. At this point I cannot see any difference between your view and what McClaren states in his book, The Secret Message of Jesus. I highly recommend Tami's article. It shatters the social gospel view of this particular text of Scripture.

In Christ,
Ward