Reflections on Sunday…
Posted in: UncategorizedThis past week I continued my series on Luke. I was in chapter 20 verses 20-26 (if you want to check it out).
I said some things that are not very popular with our American christian culture. And I wanted to reflect a little on that, and clarify some things.
One of the comments I said was that America is just another man-made empire… just like Egypt, Rome, or any other empire. I’m sure that did not sit well with most people. Americans are very proud of our nation (as we should be), and we don’t like it when we are told that we might be wrong or we might be evil. Here’s the deal… I get that we are “better” than Hitler’s Germany, or Hussain’s Iraq. No arguement there. But that really isn’t my point. My point is that we as Christians and Church people should be willing to go beyond our patriotism and recognize we have a single citzenship – in Heaven, not a dual citizenship- Heaven and America.
In Luke 20 it describes Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. He immediately went to the Temple and cleaned up! Literally! He brought the serious smack and told them “You have turned a house of prayer into a house of profit!”
My question is this.
Where did the cheif priests and leaders of the Jewish nation learn to “turn a profit”? Where did they learn how to weasel people out of their money? Was it from the Scriptures? Was it from the law of Moses? NO! They learned it from the Romans! In fact, the Jewish leaders of Jesus day were in bed with Caesar and Rome MUCH more than they would care to admit.
So, this is my point… the religious leaders of that day LOOKED more like Rome than Heaven. They acted more like Caesar than God. They had allowed the culture to dictate their behavior. They had dual allegiances. They were not set apart anymore. There was nothing distinguishing them from the world.
That is our problem in America. Our churches are run just like an American business. Our church government looks like the American government. Our values and actions are much more American than Christian. When the church begins to look like the society in which it is found, then we are lost! If we are honest – and I’m not stupid enough to think we will be- we will notice that our churches are a reflection of America and not of Heaven. Where has the church learned to behave the way it behaves? From watching the American way of life! We are saturated with the culture. We are called to be IN the world but not OF it. I fear we have failed miserably.
America might be great. You may think America is the greatest nation in history. But we are not called to be American. We are called to be the Holy Nation, set apart, set aside, for the purposes of God and Heaven! IN the world not OF it!
So let’s quit defending the American way of life and start having only ONE allegiance… to GOD and GOD alone!
peace.out.
Good stuff Izz!
If we are honest- and I’m not stupid enough to believe we will be. HAH, keep it up brother! Can’t wait to share my latest “project” with you. It’s a little in this vein.
Can’t wait to hear about it man.
Thanks man.
Great thoughts Israel!
Thanks Joe… good to hear from you.
Israel,
The challenge is not out there, it is right here, we are both the problem and the solution. Jesus did not come to change the world, He came to change the spirit of those conscious in the world. Because the world is consciousness, we are the church and the temple is us consciously active. We cannot fix the church or temple from the outside in, because we are it from the inside out. The splinter in your brothers eye cannot be removed until you remove the log in your own.
American culture is not corrupt or a failure without us, we are corrupt and a failure in believing these challenges are not our own doing. The American Culture is not someone else, it is conceptually, us. As you spoke today in church I realized that God was not on one end and culture on the end of the spectrum. Actually, it is religion on one end and culture on the other and God is the fulcrum. Going in either direction is going away from God and losing His focal point or focus to create our own. Isn’t that really what the fall of mankind means?
A balanced approach is to take ourselves out of the equation, to let God be the point of focus and not let ourselves be the point of our own focus. Service, real service, is not focusing on yourself, rather it is focusing on the greater good, that is being this without our own needs and desires leading the way.
Religion, as well as culture cannot satisfy our inner need to be relevant. Going in to the extreme in either direction is bound to be empty, because it is furthest away from the truth of our true nature. Service is our original nature, it is to be in service and of service. In this we find we are the basis of love and the creation of all good springs from this, in and of this the Kingdom of God is present.
Lots of good stuff there man. Thanks for your input.
I know some may not see the world is consciousness, but there are scientific theories which support this claim. I believe these concepts give us a true glimpse of God and connect the interaction of the Holy Trinity in a very meaningful way. Father (source of light) Son (consciousness) Holy Ghost (activity). The following link might give some a better understanding of what I am proposing. http://www.crystalinks.com/holographicuniverse.html
Lelandsmall, very interesting. I’m not sure i agree with that stuff, but I think everyone is entitled to their opinion. We’ll see if anyone else has some input to this one.
I see the world as Spiritual in nature. Everything is Spiritual. God is the thing that holds the creation together, so we are all connected (whether we want to be or not) back to God for our existence. I hope people will dive into God for answers rather than themselves or any other thing.
Dude, gnarly stuff. There needs to be more “Men of God” stepping up at their churches and saying these things.
America rocks, we have helped hundreds of millions we’ve also dropped the ball probably the same ammount of times. There is no way we should be anti-America but just as you said, “we as Christians and Church people should be willing to go beyond our patriotism and recognize we have a single citzenship – in Heaven, not a dual citizenship- Heaven and America.”
Great post!
As for Lelandsmall, hmmmm. Interesting? I disagree but that is a real nice picture!
Thanks beardman. I appreciate the words.
I appreciate the kindness of your feedback and I am not bent on making you believe this….”However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thought of God except the Spirit of God.” Corinthians 2:9-11
“The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” Corinthians 2:15-16
I think what Paul is saying here is that man alone is not capable of knowing or being conscious without the Spirit of God moving through them. Through this awareness man has choices or duality, which is the possibility of being with God and not God or the creation of good and evil. The way to the Father is through Christ and away from God is to deny that Christ lives through us. When we act with the Spirit of Christ we serve God and when we act denying Christ we serve ourselves.
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