Mat 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be
gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as
a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep
on his right and the goats on his left.
In the Newsweek magazine, the blogger
Andrew Sullivan declared "Christianity in Crisis" - "Christianity has been
destroyed by politics, priests, and get-rich evangelists. Ignore them,
writes Andrew Sullivan, and embrace Him." It is a challenge to all
Christians to re-examine their faith and duty as Christians when the
church seems to have been influenced by the world culture and attitudes.
The Rev Rick Warren, in response called the article "insulting." "Is
that the best you can do??" in his tweeter response. Clearly Andrew
Sullivan's notion of Christianity is narrow based on Social Justice and
freedom from oppression, and gave little weight to the expansion of the
Kingdom of God in the preaching of the Gospel message over the last 2000
years, and especially in the last 200 years. What else can one expect
from a gay liberal christian? The greatest oppression is not of power or
wealth but religious oppression by people of faith. Jesus greatest angst
was against the Pharisees, the keepers of faith.
Andrew Sullivan was particularly impressed by Thomas Jefferson whom he
admired as proclaiming a separation of religion and the state, and based
on mere humanity without any supernatural claims, ie Jesus did not rise
again. However, without Jesus rising again, there would not be the
church. It would not have started beyond a small Jewish sect. Without
the supernatural experiences of Paul in the Road of Damascus, again the
church would not have gone further than Israel. It was the
supernatural power of God that led to the spread of Christianity through
the acts of powerful miracles to give credence to the Gospel message.
Thomas Jefferson was a Freemason, who deems enlightenment through
religious freedom - freedom not to abide by the love commandments per
say as Sullivan alleged, but religious freedom, for the Freemasons were
in conflict with the church as it was a sect deep in religious and
supernatural rituals. To associate Jefferson with "embracing Jesus" is a
corruption of history and as Rick Warren said rather insulting.
Andrew claimed that the "crisis of Christianity" led to Secularism
and atheism - to have religious space. This is again a strange
assertion, for prosperity theology for example didn't lead to
secularism, rather it is the church embracing a common secular concern
of "not enough money" within the wider community. The church entry into
politics is to reclaim its influence which it had since the 4th century
AD. How is the country "secular", when most have a religious faith.
Jesus was not praticularly "secular". He said that those who did not
believed in Him was already condemned because the basis of judgement was
not on compliance of religious laws, or how much more moral we are over
gays, but of faith in Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom
within our hearts, because there in lies in whom we have faith in. It is
not ourselves or our humanity but Christ that we might transcend our
humanity into a "new creation" and one day, a new heaven. He lived
simply, to emphasise the point that His kingdom is supernatural and not
of this world, but in heaven.
What is the church anyway? The Catholic Faith is 1.2 billion strong and
the "other Christians" just 1 billion. Therefore, Catholics are the
substantial majority and the idea by Andrew that the entry into politics
and the get rich evangelist by the evangelical right is destructive is
not entirely true in respect to the entire church which is much bigger.
A few Catholic priests also ain't gonna undermine the church.
The Great Commandment of Jesus is for us to go to the nations to preach
the Gospel of redemption concerning Christ, His death and resurrection
for our sins. It is clearly not enough to be aligned with Jesus in the
general notion of love and kindom relationships, or to see Christianity
as a blessing of wealth for the greatest blessing is eternal life. Jesus
said that the poor is blessed not that they were poor rather in their
humility and nothingness, they are able to see God incarnate in Christ.
Jesus didn't promised them freedom from the Romans either or a get rich
scheme.
It is ironic that the most religiously polarised nation on Earth is
Nigeria with equal adherants of Christians and Muslims, yet their
largest export is "theft" through schemes to cheat people through the
email initiated plots of get rich schemes. Christianity is not about the
faith you were born in, nor one of the many faiths leading to God.
Rather Christianity is about our heart, and not pious religious actions
per say. Is our heart of faith in God's grace? and the hope that one day
we will be in heaven because of Jesus Christ. We have either focused on
the Love commandments or on the other end, prosperity rather than
extending the Kingdom of God in the hearts of many that Christ may reign
in their lives. We are too concerned with the Kingdom and the
Kindom on earth.
Andrew was clearly wrong to generalise that the Christianity has been
destroyed by the entry into politics, the sexual abuse by priests and
the prosperity theology. Rather Christianity was already no longer a
bilbical Christ based faith since the 4th century AD when it was
consumed into the Roman State. Hence, the consideration of power,
wealth, and control became paramount rather than the Gospel. The Kingdom
of God became the Kingdom of God on earth rather than in heaven. It is
not as if the notion of the separation of the State and the Religion is
the answer, because the Roman State was highly religious and the Ceaser
the bridgehead between God and man with the title Pontifus Maximus. When
Christianity took over, they just changed the head, and the Pope became
the head.
Mat 6:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Yet, the the bible promises that the Kingdom of darkness shall never
overcome the church because although the church may be built on Peter a
carnal man, but within the church hierachal, God will raise up a people
whom Christ is the rock rather than Peter who was the head of the
church.
Mat 13:24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is
like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was
sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also
appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t
you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want
us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you
are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both
grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the
harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be
burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
Even though there is darkness, a mixing between the goats and the sheep,
it may be what God intended. The truth was that Christianity based on a
commnual sharing in the bible never laster too long. Modern attempts by
the Charismatic Jesus people also failed despite valiant attempts to be
like Jesus. The Communist approach against Christianity led to a strong
backlash in Poland leading to the rise of the Catholic Right in John
Paul II, and Ratzinger and Opus Dei.
Without the Church in Crisis, without the church being fallen,
Christianity would not have spread. The supremacy of Rome universal, and
later its control of Europe and the colonialist meant Christianity
spread throughout the known world in a natural manners as the Industrial
powers extended their reach.
Satan has planted weeds into the
church. Yet, God let both of it grow because in order to get rid of the
weeds in the church, we will also likely to undermine the faith of many
in Jesus Christ. The root of the weed is not the small branches of
prosperity theology or sexual abuses by priests, or involvement into
politics, but the Church existence has been transformed from the
simplicity of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel into the
maintenance of power and wealth of the hierachal church, ie the church
and its existence is worshipped instead of Jesus. It is based on carnal
man, rather than Jesus.
As a result, we can't just ignore the church as Andrew Sullivan has
suggested, because it is the world's political power and world's most
powerful hierachy with a massive wealth that once owned 2/3 of Europe.
Yet, the church is the way that God has mandated for the Gospel to
spread and with all its faults and ambiguities, surely God didn't
destroy the church but fanned the flames of revival from within the
church in the Protestant Reformation of Salvation alone by faith, and in
the start of the 20th century, the Charismatic revival.
What is the move of God in the 21st century within the church? not to
transform it in its entirety which is rotten in its core, but to bring a
people out who understands His love, grace and mercy and who would
worship Jesus rather than the saints, wealth, or power or even worship
humanity itself where sin is perpetuating power structures rather than
not believing in Christ redemptive purpose. We have created a church
hierachal on earth, but the real power structures is a heavenly one.
God is looking
at our hearts. The kingdom of God is within because it resides within
our hearts when we choose to give it all to Jesus. God is bringing the
church into grace, to see people in His eyes rather than judge others by
religious laws. The debate about gay marriage and gays is ultimately
about changing the church to break its legalistic mindset, and the
powerful hierachal structures. God is doing a change in the church that
our hearts may be turned to God. What is God doing in your heart today?
Jesus is not here today, and so we can't follow Him like the disciples
did even if we wanted to. He left us the Holy Spirit of God which we
have taken for granted since we say He is everywhere like the air. Yet,
the Holy Spirit is like the wind. The Holy Spirit is moving in very
specific areas and places eg gay rights, and like the wind, we would not
know where He will carry us. We are called to be people of faith to step
out of the boat, into the water and the raging storms of life. There, we
will find our life again when we loose it to Christ.