8-10-15<\/p>\n
It has been said that Jesus, by the evidence of Bible accounts, displayed more mercy and forgiveness, certainly more compassion, to sinners He encountered, than to Pharisees, Scribes, and members of the religious establishment of the time.<\/p>\n
Post-modernists often run with that scorecard and flame the embers of anti-clericism still glowing from at least the glory days of the French Revolution. But the angels are in the details. Just as Christ called the love of money, not money itself, the root of all evil, so must we notice that Jesus scorned the corrupt and empty religionists in His midst \u2013 the whited sepulchers. Their corruption, not their robes.<\/p>\n
A tendency in the church since the start has been pick-and-choose Christianity. Believers and skeptics alike often are readier to say \u201cAha!\u201d than \u201cAmen.\u201d Quick to say, \u201cGotcha!\u201d and slow to pray, \u201cGod bless\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The post-modern church, if a church it be, and the \u201cemergent\u201d movement, tend to seize upon half of Jesus\u2019s teachings\u2026 indeed half of His messages, parables, and even simple sentences. I quickly confess that traditionalists like I am, and orthodox friends, are often guilty of these sins too. We all must constantly check our thoughts, words, and deeds against scripture.<\/p>\n
But the contemporary church, and many theological writers amongst us, often discard the traditional views of sin, of heaven and hell, of the need for forgiveness, of the efficacy of evangelism\u2026 even personal salvation, Absolute Truth, and the Divinity of Christ. We don\u2019t sin, we humans, they say: we make bad choices. These people are Enablers, but call themselves Christians. <\/p>\n
Actually, many of them insist on identifying themselves instead as \u201cChrist followers.\u201d Whatever. They play more words games than you\u2019d find at a Scrabble convention, intoning about \u201crelational truth\u201d and claiming to know that if Jesus returned to earth now, He would be more concerned with \u201ccommunity\u201d and being \u201cwelcoming\u201d than about those old biblical injunctions to believe in Him and seek eternal life.<\/p>\n
These folks stick their thumbs in Jesus\u2019s eye, no more \u2013 and no less \u2013 than their ancestors, the heretics of the ages. In the Apostolic Days and the first centuries of the Church, disciples and bishops were obliged to combat error and heretics. Seeking to adhere to Jesus\u2019s teachings, and the inspired texts, delivered by and tested against the invocation of the Holy Spirit, Christian leaders convened Councils and wrote the basic creeds that define our faith (and often preemptively answer false doctrines). We need the guidance of the Holy Ghost, and the truths of the orthodox creeds, no less today than in past crises in church history.<\/p>\n
Those who would distort the gospel \u2013 and the very lessons inherent in the gospel accounts \u2013 point to the criticism, Jesus\u2019s visceral anger, with the religious leaders. So should we all be vigilant against corruption in the church, not just those attacking from outside. Of course. More so, in fact, than against secular leaders and the laity. Leaders must be held to higher standards.<\/p>\n
But I have sat with, discussed, and hotly debated contemporary \u201cChristian\u201d writers and celebrities who insist that Jesus\u2019s mercy, His frequent lack of condemnation, toward sinners, adulterers, prostitutes, meant that He \u201cmet people where they lived.\u201d Indeed He did. He did not avoid, and often sought, their company. And as He did not condemn, neither should we, these new popes say.<\/p>\n
But there we have the Half-Gospel that is overtaking the church in America.<\/p>\n
Jesus usually did not condemn sinners in these Bible accounts. But He never endorsed anyone\u2019s sin. In fact He would always tell the person to \u201cgo and sin no more.\u201d He loved sinners so much that He desired that they turn from sin. Today? Jesus might go to a biker bar, say, or a gay rights parade. And I don\u2019t believe He would overturn tables or bring out the lash. But He WOULD discern their sinful ways, and He would lovingly forgive, coupled with His invariable injunction to \u201csin no more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus came to be the Savior of sinful humankind, not its Holy Enabler. Otherwise Bible prophecy, His ministry, His suffering and sacrificial death, the Atonement, His resurrection, is insulted \u2013 a useless charade designed by God Almighty. Heaven forbid.<\/p>\n
A friend of mine, Harvey Corbitt, recently shared the thought: If Jesus DID return right now and preached the messages that many of our pastors and priests preach, He likely would not be perceived as an opponent of the corrupt world system\u2026 nor seized, nor put to death. Sad. True. <\/p>\n
Enablers do not save people. But the Savior enables people to know forgiveness, to be redeemed, and to have the hope of eternal life. <\/p>\n
+ + +<\/p>\n
Kris Kristofferson tells the story behind his salvation experience and the writing of the iconic \u201cWhy Me, Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n