You can look back in history and criticize Christians for failing to follow the commands given by Jesus during some of the world’s darkest periods. Today is no different. Christians of the 20th and 21st century will also be judged according to their actions. There are many issues facing today’s Christians, issues that form questions that Jesus himself will expect an answer from all those professing his name.
Today, the world is in the midst of a historically horrible refugee crisis. So the question Christ is going to ask... “why didn’t you actively help the poor, the destitute, and those in desperate need?” Afterall, Christ himself said these things about such matters of human compassion...
Matthew 25: 34-40: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Jeremiah 22: 3-5: Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
Are followers of Jesus supposed to forsake compassion, sacrifice hospitality, and abandon love in favor of a political policy, national security, financial stability, and personal comfort? Not according to what Jesus said. God is perfectly clear as to what the mandate is for helping those in need, and yet today... Christians continue to remain apathetic, passive, and even aggressively hostile toward the notion of aiding such victims. Christians today have been lured by the prevailing politically driven hysteria that has set up racist barriers to the compassion we are to extend to those in need.
How could any so-called Christian promote a gospel of hope, peace, joy, and love while simultaneously supporting restrictive policies preventing people from possibly obtaining these exact same things by denying them entrance into a safe haven, and why would you go one step further by punitively deporting people back into circumstances of poverty, violence and quite possibly death?
God has never been racist about his creation. He has never set one race above another. He loves everyone of every color and ethnicity. He made his human family, why wouldn’t he love everyone? So... why aren’t Christians recognizing and vigorously fighting systemic racism and inequality? What does God say about this....
James 2:9: But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Proverbs 17:15: He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
1 John 2:9: Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
The Christian faith and doctrine clearly promotes the virtues of justice, equality, and fairness for all people, especially for those who are ostracized and mistreated... surely God will ask his followers about this... “why didn’t you help the victims of systemic racism, abuse, and oppression?”
How can Christians ignore and even criticize, a large segment of humanity that’s being victimized by authorities, institutionally incarcerated, professionally repressed, governmentally mistreated, educationally stifled, financially subjugated, and socially rejected? You know who this speaks of... Muslims. God loves Muslims and desires that they come to know, trust and love Him. It’s our job to be part of the solution to that goal, not an obstacle and a passive, oppressive bystander.
Massive abuse on an epic scale is being systemically waged against people simply based on their race and gender, and what are Christians doing to help those abused?
God has never said Christians should become actively immersed in the machinery of governmental politics, but He does expect His followers to stand up for Him and those oppressed. Christians have a chance to be on the forefront of a civil rights movement, fueled by a righteous and holy God who despises corruption, unjust scales, exploitation, bigotry, and racism. That is not political... its just the right and moral thing to do.
Why don’t the leaders of evangelical Christianity desperately and passionately call upon God in these divisive times, why don’t all professing Christians publicly condemn such evil, and why don’t we act, even in small ways, to right such blatant wrongs? Don’t be blinded by self-righteous attitudes... these wrongs are being perpetrated by the political machinery and governments of our world, who like to project themselves as so-call Christian nations. The wickedness being done towards racial minorities around the world is not justified simply because a so-called Christian nations endorses such attitudes as policy. Christians have been suckered into buying that politicized form of religiosity! Christians are not "better" than any other people on the planet!
Christians... think, think about your rotten thinking!!! Why are you so supportive of national and political agendas associated with violence, destruction and death? Is the oppression of peoples you don’t understand okay because they’re not Christian?
Matt. 26:52-54: Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
Psalm 11:5: The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence,
Since Christians represent a God that died for ALL humanity, how could anyone one us actively participate in national agendas that so actively killed, hurt, and neglected any part of humanity? History will testify for God... that one human group destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives through militaristic actions and wars that offered little peace, resolution, or stability.
Christians have watched, passively turned a blind eye, and even cheered as various governments violently intervened throughout the world and selfishly, fearfully, and hatefully supplied weapons, technology, and the means to miserably kill, eradicate, and create humanitarian tragedies across the globe on an unparalleled scale.
What moral gain was achieved? What specific need or goal was so vital that it necessitated such outrageous and rampant destruction? Church, Christians living in the year 2016, please answer these questions and explain yourselves. First, do it quietly in your mind and heart, and then prepare yourself for a day of reckoning with the God of the universe, who will ask for your answer.
Maybe the most disturbing aspect of contemporary Christianity is what appears to be the desperate desire to be politically involved. To believe in the political agenda and be consumed with emotions over the political process... who will be the next president, who will serve on the supreme court and all the machinations of man’s deeply flawed concepts of governance. Why do Christians crave material, economic and political power when God has already warned us against putting faith in such foolish and temporary things?
Matthew 16:26: What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
1 Peter 2:11-12: Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
Do you not trust in God’s sovereignty and His plan for your future? Evidently not, since you devote so much mental energy, time, and resources into supporting candidates, a political party, in the hope that they will prevail in elections, thereby ensuring you will be able to pursue more personal fortune, protection, and influence.
Christians have boasted of a counter-cultural gospel and yet what has actually happened? We fell into the same pitfalls of countless civilizations before us... a desire for carnal power, personal safety, comfort, luxury, fame, and wealth.
Christians have divisively judged, shamed, alienated, hurt, slandered, and attacked others under the banner of “Christian morals,” all in an effort to gain additional political clout and control.
Have we lost so must faith in God’s promises that we’ve abandoned the ways of Jesus for the ways of a worldly empire? Are we so ashamed of identifying with a Divine God who died on a cross that we would rather align yourselves with oppressors, war-mongers, and corrupt rulers?
Okay, that’s a lot of Christian bashing, albeit justified. Is there any good news in all of this? Yes! These issues and provocative questions are still in the process of being answered, and God can still greatly be glorified by how we Christians serve the world around us. God knows his people drift of course and miss the mark. He calls us back to focused purpose and intent, on message. It is “our choice” to follow His way, or continue down this path to oblivion.
By focusing on Christ and refusing to become co-opted by ulterior motives, modern Christianity can leave a mark on this period in human history that can show what millions of believers can do together in the name of Jesus — helping, serving, protecting, and loving everyone!
Our world isn’t without hope because Jesus is alive, and the Holy Spirit can empower us to be the change we’re so desperately in need of. God help us. Get on with the Mission at hand... HIS MISSION... HIS WAY!
