Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone
who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear
are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
John 14:22-24
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
John 15:12
My Facebook newsfeed has been filling up lately with links to a plethora of articles regarding various religious and political leaders around the country speaking out against marriage equality. What is so disconcerting about these statements is just how vitriolic and hateful they have become. It seems that it is no longer sufficient to just claim that they oppose same-sex marriage (as if anyone really cares what they think). But now, seeing that the tide of public opinion has shifted toward marriage equality, and the seemingly imminent decision by the Supreme Court to make it the law of the land appears to be looming in the very near future (June, to be exact), they have dug in their heels and escalated their tirades to apocalyptic levels.
These are the blood-curdling screams of creatures facing extinction.
Sadly, these so-called "Christians" have resorted to fear-mongering, lying and political machinations to try to suppress anything that they disagree with, all in the name of God. Some recent examples:
In response to same-sex marriage, Mike Huckabee last week said, “Christian convictions are under attack as never before. Not just in our lifetime, but ever before in the history of this great
republic. We are moving rapidly toward the criminalization of
Christianity.”
This week, End Times broadcaster Rick Wiles said, “I believe I am speaking under the unction of the Holy Spirit. I’m telling you there will be swift, sudden and devastating
consequences for the United States of America. America will be
brought to its knees, there will be pain and suffering at a level we’ve
never seen in this country. The word that I hear in my spirit is ‘fire.’
I do not know if it refers to riots or looting or war on American soil
or a fireball from space. I simply know that a sweeping,
consuming fire will come across the United States of America and this
country will be charred and burned.”
Political activist Alan Keyes has gone so far to say that marriage equality is grounds for a civil war: "The United States Supreme Court may presently make a decision discarding
marriage as an unalienable (natural) right. By defect of reason and
respect for the Constitution, the decision will return the people of
this country to the condition of constantly impending war characteristic
of the human condition when and wherever the just premises of
government are abandoned."
Bill Johnson of the American Decency Association stated, "If the Supreme Court announces that it will approve same sex marriage
when it makes its historic announcement sometime in June, be ready for
an assault on the Freedom of Religion that will surely come. Pastors and non-profit Christian organizations as American Decency will
be targeted for merely preaching and teaching the counsel of God - what
God’s word has to say about many things including homosexuality."
On Thursday, Pat Robertson warned that the U.S. will face divine punishment if gay marriage becomes legal nationwide.
I could go on. There are volumes of such alarmist speeches and broadcasts readily available across the internet.
The one glaring omission in all of this is Jesus. He is nowhere to be found among all of the anti-gay, anti-marriage equality rhetoric. It strikes me as rather odd that the very people who call themselves Christians aren't doing and saying the things Jesus did and said. My understanding of the term "Christian" is that it signifies one who follows Christ. A person who follows Christ naturally will emulate their Master. In contrast to the multitude of laws embedded in the Old Testament, Jesus handed down so few "rules" that they can be counted on one hand: 1) Love God, 2) Love your neighbor as yourself, and 3) Obey my teaching (see 1 and 2 above).
In Matthew 25, Jesus told the parable about the sheep and the goats. He said that whatever we do to the least of society's outcasts, downtrodden, and marginalized people (the "least" of these), we do to him. Good or bad. The people who are blatantly fighting to ensure that an entire class of Americans are kept sitting in the back of the bus are fighting against Jesus.
Jesus never screened the people He ministered to. He didn't withhold love, compassion and mercy from people unless they met specific criteria. He lavished these things on people indiscriminately. He gladly fed thousands of people without first making sure that there were no "undesirables" in the crowd. He healed Gentiles and Jews alike. He sat and talked with a Samaritan woman and hung out in her village for a couple of days ministering to the hated half-breeds. The only people Jesus criticized were the self-righteous religious and political leaders of His day.
I do not believe that you can love Jesus and not do the things he did. If you are actively engaged in doing the exact opposite of what He did, and the opposite of love is hate, then do you not hate Jesus? I would never call into question a person's salvation - that is between them and God. But don't call yourself a Christian if you are doing and saying things diametrically opposed to the teachings of Christ.
Jesus was all about love. And that's what He wants us to be all about. My prayer is that love will prevail against those who seem to have forgotten what love is.
Have a blessed week!
Pastor David
