I usually write about a subject that has grabbed my
attention during study but this one has rested in my spirit for a long time and
I have so often been accused of saying offensive and rude things that I have
kept it on the back burner. The problem
has to do with the “that’s not what you said 20 years ago” attitude that
pervades America today. While I don’t
expect the world which God says will wax worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13) to
change for the better; I actually do expect the saints of God to do so.
In my early years I might well have been given a prize for
most likely to remain a jerk or maybe even a fool. Looking back on my life I would say it’s a
toss-up. Even today in the church there
are people who have known me for 30 years who still believe I am who I was and
no amount of change on my part will ever erase that first impression in their
minds. From a world standpoint I can
accept this since in the world people rarely discover a new way of living and
become saintly. As someone who lives and
ministers in the church I find this troubling at best and deadly to the world
at the worst.
I can’t erase my youth; it is what it is. While that might bother me in a far off way,
it fills me with excitement in a much more immediate way. If God has brought me from where I was to
where I am, then how much more might He do in my life given my whole hearted
cooperation.
I have been reading a book by the rabbi Maimonides who
quoted Isaiah 49:3 which says, “And [the
Lord] said to me, You are My servant, Israel [you who strive with God and with
men and prevail], in whom I will be glorified.”
His exegesis on that verse was enlightening.
Maimonides, who lived in a Muslim country serving a Muslim
Vizier as a court physician wrote extensively on the Laws of God and how men
ought to live before God. To paraphrase
Maimonides,
If you are a well-known preacher or teacher or prophet or
minister of God’s word and you begin to act in ways that cause men to speak
badly about you, even if the things you do are not scriptural sins, you
have desecrated the Name of God. If you
purchase an item and then argue with the person who sold it to you when you
have the money in your pocket or bank account to pay for it because you want to
wait a while to pay; or if you behave foolishly or hang around foolish and
ungodly people, laughing at their jokes and stories, you have desecrated the
Name of God. If you speak rudely to
others and treat them with contempt whether they have done something to deserve
it or not, and you treat them with great disrespect, you have desecrated the
Name of God.
He continued to say that the greater the anointing on your
life the more holy and righteous you ought to be. If you strive for a great anointing you may
no longer consider yourself to have the right to be rude or disrespectful to
those who are rude and disrespectful to you.
Remember, a Jew who did not have Matthew chapter 5 to tell you to take
it with a good grace wrote this. He was
allowed an eye for an eye in the Hebrew Scriptures and wanted us to know that
those who aspire for ministry must go beyond the basics of scriptural
requirements to serve God.
He said if the leader is careful in his behavior, speaks
pleasantly with others and receives them with a smiling face and pleasant words
(even if they are not giving him the same courtesy); and if he does not spend a
lot of time hanging around fools, liars and profane persons and is not a
partaker of their attitudes, and if he is always seen doing the work of His God
with love and grace, then that person actually fulfills Isaiah 49:3. God is glorified THROUGH that person and the
common man will honor God through YOU.
God is not honored by pastors who scribble an insult on a
receipt over the amount of a tip and self-righteously say, “God only gets 10%,
you don’t deserve 18%.” God is not
honored by those who insult the parents of homosexual children at their
funerals and claim to be doing so in the name of God. This dishonors God’s name. God is hurting for those people; for their
loss and for the fact that their son or daughter were not serving Him. Those who do such things have literally added
insult to injury with their Pharisaical conduct.
Doesn’t the scripture say that who we forgive on Earth are
forgiven in Heaven and whose sins we keep in mind are kept in Heaven (John
20:23)? Is it our job as Christians to
do Satan’s work and be the great accusers or is it our job to do Christ’s work
and try to be the comforters, healers and redeemers?
I know that these things are done in fear. We have the Book and know the end from the
beginning. I can see the signs and know
that we are in the beginning of the end.
This country like all others will one day forsake Israel and our period
of national grace will end. Homosexuality
is a sin but where does it say we should treat these human beings with hatred
and contempt simply because they sin. Do
you hate yourself when you sin? Do you
hate me when I sin? I have no illusions
about my life. I am fully and completely
imperfect and the only hope I have is in the sacrifice of Christ Jesus my
Lord.
Beloved, if you get angry with the liars and mockers, the
fools and stealers it isn’t them; it’s you.
You’re afraid. God said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians
10:4). Where in that verse does it say
we are supposed to fight the homosexual or cuss out the criminal? Those are carnal actions and our weapons are
not carnal. When you do these things you
are trying to fight Satan in his own forum.
Gay marriage will likely be the law in all 50 states. Why?
Because we live in a fallen society and they will call good evil and
evil good. My problem with this isn’t
that they might marry; my problem is that saints of God will throw up our hands
and surrender when the fight hasn’t even been joined yet.
These actions are strongholds. Satan will not give them up without a fight
and we as God’s people are not fighting.
We are wringing our hands and rearing back in disgust while calling them
names we should have been delivered from ever using again. You can’t get these people saved by cursing
them. They are already cursed, already
dead. You can only win them by loving
them and praying for them and asking God to save their souls.
When you read about what some preacher did in the news and
the responses are all virulently hostile and angry, it’s because we aren’t
fighting correctly. Satan hates you and
you just entered his domain by acting in the flesh. He can get his people to hate Israel or
Christians at the drop of a hat because he appeals to their flesh. You claim to be holy and then act badly and
they shout HYPOCRITE!! Nobody will care
that you lost a loved one that week or just lost your job. I’m sorry but that’s no excuse; not for me or
for you. You are required to be gracious
at all times because THAT is what honors the name of God.
You don’t have to believe me. Study the scriptures yourself and you will
see I’m right. God didn’t call us to be
pub-crawlers and backroom brawlers. He
called us to be ministers of light who swing a powerful spiritual sword that
will separate these lost souls from their sin.
That sword may be sharp but it is made out of love and mercy, not
hate. Understand that now. We are to cut sin out by love and grace, not
anger and frustration.
I used to hate sinners.
They made me angry. I used to
begrudge a waiter or waitress their tip.
I used to do a lot of things that made my name stink to those around
me. I used to do these things in the
church. These days I like to think I
have changed a bit and am beginning to become that example of the kingdom of
God that Isaiah was alluding to. When I
see a saint tearing into someone else or lying or cheating or partying or
playing the fool I used to get upset and angry but now I just pray that God
might help that person along the road that I have begun to travel on; the road
of mercy and grace.
My late Apostle, Joseph Sims was once a street fighter. He loved to mix it up with others. Somewhere along the line he got saved,
started a church and invited Blacks, Mexicans, and until I showed up even a few
white people. This black man from Blythe
California called me son and meant it.
He yelled at me and sent me home when I acted a fool just like he did
all his other kids. That was okay
because he still called me son.
He once told me after I in love and with much prayer used a harsh
racial comment in a message, “Son, you can use shock words or do shocking
things but at most you have these people’s attention for a limited period of
time. It took most of them ten minutes
to decide that you didn’t insult anyone, made a valid point and get back with
your message. That’s ten minutes of
influence for the Lord you will never get back.” I’ve never forgotten those words. God doesn’t need my strength because I have
none. He doesn’t need my holiness because
I don’t have that in abundance either.
God needs me to be His ambassador in Jesus’ name speaking
the words that Jesus spoke. It’s not
easy to love the unlovable but since God was kind enough to start the process
in my own life I guess I should just put on my big boy pants and man up. Who knew that being a man meant being a lover
and not a brawler.
Blessings,
Bishop J
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