Christ said “love your enemies”, the minister and at least a
few of his congregation called for our President’s death. How anyone can call themselves a follower of
Christ and then ignore His central teaching is the height of hypocrisy. But to use scripture to justify these calls
for death seems to define blasphemy for me.
Why is it that those who think themselves moral and supporters of “life”
are so quick to call for murder, whether by the state or by God, they seem to
have no problem demanding death for those they disagree with.
Christ gave Himself for those who did not love Him. He works on the hearts of those who curse His
name. He offers love and unconditional
acceptance to people who label themselves his enemies. Christ, and therefore Christians, should be
in the business of redemption, of reclamation, of renewal. Condemnation has no part in this work. Calls for death are the exact opposite of the
ministry of Christ. Satan takes great
pleasure in seeing his words be attributed to God. He takes great delight in people believing
God said what in point of fact, the master of evil was behind.
It is no secret that last president George W. Bush was my
political nemesis. I disagreed with
every policy he enacted, almost every statement he made, and I firmly believe
he did more to destroy our values and our constitution than any predecessor in
our history. There were times when I
wondered if he was competing for the role of antichrist. But on his worst day, I never even imagined
anyone would call for his death. Agree
or not, he was our president. His office
should be revered even if the man is not.
And in truth, his act of sending medicine to Africa was charity that
affects and saves lives. Even he is
worthy of praise for this act. Everyone
has some redeeming value. And in any
case who am I to judge another, more to point who are these people to do the
same?
There are Bible thumpers who try to use the words of David
where he calls for the demise of his enemies as justification for their own
calls for death and justice. But when
you read the scripture more closely you find that David was always concerned
with how others would see God if he were to perish. David wanted the world to see God as a strong
God through the destruction of his enemies.
David called to God when his own life was threatened. He cried in mortal fear to his strong
God. But when dangers had passed, David
spoke endlessly of God’s mercy and love to him.
To turn words spoken in fear, into cold blooded intentional calls for
murder because of a political dispute, is to mimic the behavior of Satan
himself.
Then there is the subtle discrimination our country seems to
show to Christians who utter hate speech, over say Muslim Clerics for
example. If a Muslim Cleric were
speaking in such terms I dare say the Christians would be gathering the pitchforks
and torches to take of the problem personally.
But where is the outrage for what this Baptist minister has said. Christians should disavow this minister as
quickly as we would any other religion where this kind of hate speech was
uttered, say in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan for example. Hate is hate, no matter who says the
words. They all come from the same
source – the master of evil, Satan. God
has nothing to do with hate.
It is ironic that most calls for justice are a mask for a
call for vengeance. The same Bible
thumpers who quote David asking God to destroy his enemies, also quote
scripture where justice is defined such as the famous “eye for an eye, tooth
for a tooth, life for a life” series of texts.
This standard of what justice requires is quoted out of an entire volume
of text devoted to the definition of love, of grace, and of mercy. True justice demands our death. But the entire plan of Salvation declares
that mercy and forgiveness are GREATER than justice. The gift we have been given is beyond what
justice demands. Justice was satisfied
in the torture and death of He who was innocent, yet took our punishment. In Christ the demand for justice was
answered, and in the same Christ is mercy and forgiveness defined. Those who claim His name and who have been
forgiven should not dare to turn around and begin accusing others.
Christians should be known for the love they exude. Christ himself said to “love your enemies” to
do good to those who mean you harm, to give to those who would steal from
you. Nowhere do you see Christ demanding
justice, seeking punishment and death for those who disagreed with Him, or
condemning those who we all knew deserved it.
Christ was and remains the pictures of mercy, love, and forgiveness. It is easy to love those who love you. But to show love to those who hate you, or
who ridicule and persecute you is more akin to loving like God loves.
The entirety of the Bible refutes the claim that Sinners are
the enemy. Sin or evil is the enemy, not
the poor unfortunate, addicted, stupid, diseased beings … us … who engage in
it. We are the targets of
redemption. We are the erring children
of God who He wishes to bring out of our self-inflicted pain and in to the life
He has prepared for us. He hates the sin
within us, but not us. He hates the pain
we bring on ourselves and on others when we embrace evil and sin, but He does
not hate us. It is more pity than
anger. It is more tender than harsh. We are the object of His affection, not the
target of His retribution. To call for
the death of sinners is to call for suicide.
To call for the death of sin, is to submit the will to Christ and allow
the process He wishes to impart to begin in us.
It is easy for the Christian to equate the sin with the
sinner, while not looking in the mirror.
We turn our righteous hatred for the evil acts into a blind and
unrighteous desire to judge and inflict pain on the perpetrator of the evil,
rather than try to redeem him from it.
While Christ stands always at the doors of our hearts knocking to be let
in, His servants stand always in the streets with torches lit and pitchforks at
the ready to seek out who may have been caught in public sin. We hide our own atrocities and wish to
publicly punish those who have been revealed in their own. In this we serve not Christ but his
adversary, Satan.
I do not blame the world for running in terror from a group
so disposed to call for murder and then claim their God justifies their
actions. I do not blame the world for
getting a horrifically incorrect picture of the character of our God. I blame myself for it. I blame my fellow brothers who claim His name
and then have acted this way. It is the
Christians fault that God is so maligned.
It is the Christians fault for not living by the precepts that Christ
outlined. It is the worst of ironies
that we are known more for our hatred and fear than our love and acceptance. If we could only learn to hate and fear evil,
while loving and accepting people, we would create an entirely different
picture of our God than what we have offered the world so far.
Are there any left who will defend the honor of our God by
simply loving as He loved? Are there any
left who will sacrifice their pride, humble their hearts, and learn to love
unconditionally and without reservation?
Are there any Christians left in the world or have we all simply been
lost to apathy …
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