Revolution!

How far is too far? I love reading the scripture with the revolutionaries. Sometimes I wonder where those people are today. Does God still use this approach? It seems as though, in our society, you can not get the attention of an audience unless you "slap" them in the face. We used to be able to use sensationalism to get their attention. That no longer works.

If you remember correctly, in the late nineties a new singer hit the scene. His name was Marilyn Manson. Through his on stage exploits, this guy had the United States in an up roar. Manson would preform self mutilation with broken glass and sexual acts with store bought appendages. Now, no one is looking. He could do these things all day and he is still last decades news. With the loss of the ability to "shock" people would the acts of Hosea cause a stir?(Hosea) Could someone marry a prostitute to show his Christian brothers and sisters that we have sold out to consumerism? If Ezekiel were to take a cow patty and cook some food over it to show how American Christians look a lot like Ezekiel 16:49, would that wake anybody up?(Ezekiel 4) I think that has been done on an episode of "Jackass".

On the other side of this coin, one could go too far. One of my pet peeves is the affect of nationalism and patriotism on the Church. I have for so long wanted to "smack" American Christians in the face. It seems as though nobody cares. The thought ran threw my head one day to take a large cross and lay many national flags at the base and set them a blaze. This in my revolutionary mind would show the affect of nationalism on the glorious works that Christ has for his bride. Sounds great right? Then the Holy Spirit grabs my heart and leads me to 1 Corinthians 13. If anything I do is without love it is religious noise. At that point, I say to myself that I'm doing it for the love of the Body. Then I move a little further to see that love is not rude. Dang! Burning the flags of nations is rude. I can do an act such as this but at the same time I will be alienating the people I am trying to reach. I also have to remember that I am also trying to reach the non-believers. Would I be doing the "Great Commission" a disservice? How far can a Christian go to make a point?

When we look back at Jesus, we see many revolutionary acts. The Messiah at one point was called a drunk and a friend of sinners.(Luke 7:34). In many instances Christ broke the sabbath and had no issue offending the powers that be in doing it.(Matthew 12:10; Mark 3:2, John 9:14–16) It seems as though that Jesus was not in the business of keeping the masses happy.
If Jesus were to storm the a church today he would be arrested, called a dialectical Marxist, and been the subject of at least one Focus on the Family episode of how the moral fabric of America is being destroyed.

moral relativism!!!

Truth. Does it exist? I think so. So if truth exists how do we define it? I fell it should be defined as what would exist without the existence of human thought. If that is the case then the age old question has been answered. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does is make noise? Yes. Due to the fact that sound is a wave the wave still happens. Same applies to gravity, light, and mass.

So on to the bible. Jesus said,"I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life."(John 14:6) Does this same rule apply to Jesus and his word? Without human thought would God be the same? I think so. I do believe that the bible is all truth. Holy spirit inspired. So when I read this I believe it. When he said turn the other cheek(Mat 5:38-39), I believe this too. Currently there seems to be a lot of dialectical thought being brought into Christianity and the word of God. I would like to attack this.

moral relativism - "anything goes"

In the process of someones life they may go threw many different experiences that may mold their opinion and perception of life. Does this perception change truth? I don't think so. In the adult entertainment business some girls have a tattoo that says "daddy's girl". Unknown to a lot of us, this means that they were "broken in" being molested by a male family member. As horrible as this is, does this change the reality of Jesus(mat 19:9,5:32,5:28)? No. BUT! BUT! BUT! This does mean that we approach the situation with more kindness and gentleness. When a child tries to steal a piece of gum from the store you can just punish him and that's the end. For a woman who has been sexually abused her whole life and turns to a life of prostitution, that won't work. We have to love her(John 8:3-11).Sometimes we like to excuse sin from our life for one reason or another. As large or small as the reason, we cannot excuse it.

Its very easy to pick on those scape goat sins. Homosexuality, adultery, and abortion are all easy to pick on. How about war. I had a conversation with someone I love and respect. In this conversation, we discussed moral relativism. He said it was a bad thing happening to our country when we don't have clear christian morals as the foundation. Of course he was talking about the "pick on sins". I asked if he thought that our country was founded on Christian morals. Like slavery, rape, and racism. His responce surprised me. He said what equated to, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. We moved from that subject to war. this included WWII and Iraq. He often quoted Edmund Burke,"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." I said, doesn't the bible say to love your enemy( mat 5:43-44,Romans12:20-21,Romans10:13)? He replied that one has to balance the bible with the real world. That sometimes a christian has to go to war in spite of the words of Jesus.

Greed and Adultery

The current subject in a discussion group I attend has been on pulling out of the "world"(Rom 12:2). Last Wednesday the sub-subject was money. I have a hard time with this subject. This is the sin in my life I have to die to on a daily basis. Aside from that, this discussion frustrates me. It seems that the sin of greed gets special treatment. Murder and adultery seem to be very black and white but greed is the fuzzy one. I would like to list a few things I hear about greed that I don't seem to hear about the others.

1."You can have money but be ready to give it up in case the Holy Spirit asks."
-Why doesn't the holy spirit have to be consulted for adultery or polygamy? Why doesn't anyone say, "I'm going to marry 100 women and be ready for a monogamist relationship if the holy spirit asks it of me."

2.Scripture quotes.
-Gen 2:24 - Two shall be one. Let me start by saying that I agree. Marriage is one man and one woman. This is not a political statement. America can do what it wants. I'm talking about Christians. Don't flame me. There are so many assumptions that get thrown around in the first three chapters of Genesis. Mostly I hear this in the battle of gender roles and creation. So I will throw one in too. Only the two can be one because there were only two in existence. Hahahaha, that was dumb. Also, God never said you CAN'T have more than one wife.

-1Tim 3:2. In context hes talking about bishops and higher ups. What about the lay person. These are the types of arguments that are thrown at greed. Some say,"other people in the bible had money." True. Other people in the bible had MANY wives. King David was the king after gods own heart. He had 700. The reason he couldn't build the temple was because he had blood on his hands. Aside from Bathsheba I can not recall anything being said about his polygamy. Solomon build the temple of God. 700 wives and 300 concubines. Solomon was chastised for marrying non Jews and idolatry. What if he stuck with just Jewish women and never worshiped another god. Do we follow those who had money or the Christ who said give it all up? I am not formally educated in theology but from what I have seen there seems to be more about greed, gluttony, and covetousness then polygamy.
- Matt 5:28. If you even look at her its adultery. Isn't that what coveting is? Thinking greed?

Here is some scripture about money.
-1 Tim 6:10 I have heard people say "well it's the LOVE of money not actually the money." Ok. If we don't love it then why do we spend so much time trying to acquire it? Why do we read self help books by Richard Paul Evans? I only bring this author up because a friend of mine is reading one of his books. In this book he says something to the effect of how could the good Samaritan rent the Jew a place to stay if he had no money. Ok. So what your saying is that your 401k and you IRA are to help other people? The world economy is crashing and we are all flipping out because we can't buy lodging for other people? Maybe I'm wrong but I thought this passage was about race relations and Judgment. To quote my pastor,"the good Samaritan then is the same as saying the good Palestinian now."
-Luke 12:16-34 This one is hard for me. It defies all worldly logic. I have heard that some pastors say that the reason the man died was because he tore down the other barn. He should have just kept them both. Waste. I don't agree. If you carry on the scripture makes a list of things that you should not store up. I don't believe God wants us to sit on a street corner naked,waiting for some food. 1 Tim 5:8 says that you are worse than an unbeliever if you do not provide for your family. At the same time I think there is a difference between providing for your family and the gluttony this passage speaks on.
-Luke 16:19-31 I'm afraid of this passage. The guy goes to hell for not taking care of the poor. Scary. I have heard it said that some of the poor of our day are just lazy and taking advantage. I agree. This is why the old throw the 10% at the church is not enough. To truly help people in need and weed out the "bums" we have to enter into relationship. This will require us to get to know people. I am very politically minded but not politically driven. I have friends who say,"these bums are taking advantage of the welfare system." Again, I agree. What ever the body of Christ drops a government will pick up and ruin.

3. Legalism!!!!
-This is a word that you only have to say and it makes people rethink their stand on issues. I'm starting to hate this word. Joyce Meyer said in a broadcast," If I told you Jesus was coming back tomorrow I'm sure most of you would change some things." I agree legalism has become a heavy yoke. At the same time, I only hear the "L" word thrown around when its a subject people don't like. Gender roles and money come to mind. Nobody wants to be the legalism police officer making sure we are not being to legalistic about polygamy.
-Mat 25:1-13 In this parable both sets of brides are expecting the groom. Only one is ready. One has the oil and the other does not. This seems to be a black line? Legalism? Last Wednesday I felt point blanked on a question. The question was, "What is our purpose on this earth. My answer was, "To glorify God by alleviating suffering where ever we go. To bring the good news of the resurrection to all people." Are we doing this? Are we like one set of brides or the other.

4. Money is something you need to survive and god understands. Sex is different.
-I have been married for 13 years...if I go without "it" for to long I feel like I'm going to die.
-that was to break the tension.

As I said before, this is something I struggle with A LOT!!! This post should be read as a huge question. I currently own two cars, a 50 in plasma, and am buying a house. I hold subscriptions to x box live, high speed internet, and Netflix. With all of my other bills, I feel like I'm at the end of my rope. If I continue to be at the end of my rope, how can I spare rope for others? I guess what I am saying is I'm a hypocrite. Yes, I'm sure that there are a few now that are saying bad things about me and use that to discredit the message. I think God is really trying to reach us right now. Life is not something we are supposed to do alone. We need each other to be support and sometimes to hold us accountable. I'm looking for that. I hear so often about support groups or accountability partners for people struggling with porn addiction or drugs. I have only heard of one group that holds each other accountable for finance. His name is Greg Boyd(http://www.gregboyd.org). I'm sure others exist. Greg has moved into a neighborhood with his small group and they meet regularly to live life together. This includes accountability. I yearn for this. To be honest I so badly want a close group of friends to say,"Dude, I love you and I want to say that this video game purchase is a bad idea right now." I want a group who is not trying to be right but truly loves me and is running toward the same Christ I am. I feel it will be very hard for American Christians to accomplish this. We are fused with this world. How do we pull out? I don't think we can do it alone.