Barney Wiget's Blog, page 22

Jesus’ Scary Authority

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (Matthew 7:28-29)

Every time Jesus opened his mouth people reacted. This crowd was stunned by an inherent “authority,” which had nothing to do with the beauty of his oratory or the tone of his delivery. It wasn’t bravado or privileged breeding that he brought to the table.

While the teachers of the Jews had lost their authority by selling out for security and prosperity, he resisted the temptation to derive power through complicity with the empire. Israel’s teachers submitted unwaveringly to the empire to earn its favors; Jesus fearlessly preached a subversive message earning Rome’s disfavor, so they said of him:

“We have found this man subverting our nation… He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” (Luke 23:2, 5)

These are excerpts from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

The book cover at the top is a book I highly recommend. Craig Greenfield of “Alongsiders International” is the real deal and his book is too!

Irresponsible and Dangerous “Christianity”

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I love Jesus with all my heart and I love worshipping him. I don’t care if it’s in a church building, in a living room, or out in public. Worshipping God is high on my list of favorites. I’ve led worship in all those places many hundreds of times, including out in the streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin where we bring food, clothes, and preach the good news. I really miss it since we’ve not been able to do it during COVID. I’ve been tempted to reject science and prudence and go anyway, but then I remember what Jesus said to Satan who tempted him to jump off the Temple’s pinnacle: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”

Worshipping with music cleanses the emotional pallet and lifts us up to the heavenly realm. I don’t worship worship or the music of worship. That is, I’m not in love with worship (or its music), but am deeply in love with the God I worship.

Southern Californian worship leader Sean Feucht has been “on tour” doing large outdoor worship gatherings around the country in the last few months. His crowds are predominantly mask-less and standing in New York subway car proximity to one another.

He bills the events differently in each city, usually as a push back against state laws forbidding Christians from attending in-person indoor worship services during COVID-19 or as what he calls, “Riots to Revival” in cities that are in the midst of racial justice protests.

In my opinion, in both cases the approach is irresponsible, inconsiderate, and impertinent. Taking over the spaces where people are crying out for justice to sing loud happy songs of victory where there is no social victory (not yet), seems dismissive to me. Solomon knew this, “Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound” (Proverbs 25:20).

Feucht, preaches a nationalistic “gospel” conflating his idea of politics, which is unashamedly hyper-nationalistic, with worshipping God. Raise the flag and pass the communion wafers! Since God is on his side, and decidedly not the side of whoever is on the other side, they turn up the music to drown out their painful cries for justice.

In my view, this is no way to bring peace or project the good news of the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace. Worship is meant to be the ultimate expression of humility before God. There is no room for pride or performance in it. It seems to me that Feucht’s version of worship is a performance fueled by swagger and superiority, and is neither “in spirit” or “in truth.” (John 4:23)

No, I don’t know for certain what is in his heart, but Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them.” The aftertaste his fruit leaves in my mouth is bitter. No stranger to worship events, Hillsong UNITED’s Joel Houston calls Feucht’s approach, “offensive.”

It feels like he and his followers are thumbing their noses at good sense, science, and the actual needs of each community on which they descend as outsiders. How is that an expression of the blessed attitudes listed in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecuted”?

I’ve observed ministries with a vision to “bring the Kingdom of God” to cities not their own, to confront its demons, and convert the lost. Thankfully the word “crusade” is no longer used for such ventures. That said, some of these (not all) outreach efforts feel more like a hostile invasion than a mission of love.

Mightn’t it have been more effective if Feucht and his team went to Portland or Minneapolis or Las Vegas or D.C. ahead of time and asked the people on the ground in those cities what their needs were? How can we serve alongside you? What are you already doing to advance the Kingdom here? How can we serve you and your community?

Even Jesus asked for water from a local before going into Samaritan territory to share the news of his Kingdom. Oh, and that local was a foreigner, a member of a cult, a woman who went through men like a tornado.

Many ministries not unlike Feucht’s barge in when not invited and presume to know what’s best for a community and the best way to tell them what’s best for them. They’re like “missionaries” who attempt to Americanize rather than Christianize the countries where they land. A Seattle pastor wrote after one of “worship protests”: “I’m connected to 200+ pastors and to my knowledge he reached out to none of us. Cruising into a city you have ZERO investment in and causing a scene is not helpful to those of us who are committed to long-haul Gospel work.”

All that said, Feucht’s most obvious and criminally dangerous violation of the way of Jesus is his disregard for the health and safety of his followers and the citizens of the cities they leave in their wake. If they want to prove their great faith, why not stage a worship concert on the precipice of the Grand Canyon or at the base of an active volcano?

Even Rolling Stone magazine published an article about Feucht’s feats called, “Jesus Christ, Superspreader.“

If their worship harms people it’s not God they’re worshipping. Jesus came to heal the sick, not make them sicker!

The very least Feucht and his crew could do is require social distancing and masks. But he boasts about God being on their side and eschews sensible safety measures.  

A young pastor asked an older mentor for advice on how to launch out in the ministry. The sagely man of God boiled his counsel down to one sentence: “Don’t do anything stupid!” I wish Feucht and friends had someone in their lives to say the same.

Jesus summarized our purpose to loving God and our neighbor. So how can Feucht claim to worship God at the expense of his neighbor’s health? It’s not just the audience themselves. Many of them are young and healthy. They might contract an asymptomatic case of COVID but spread it around the city to others more vulnerable. My son, his wife, and child live in Nashville, which is one of the places Feucht gathered a huge crowd of maskless worshippers. Now they have to be even more careful than they’ve already been for months!

Speaking of Feucht’s Nashville gig, a local pastor tweeted: “Nashville area Pastor here @seanfeucht. That our city was concerned about crowds gathering does not mean the city governments in the area are resisting the church. They’re not. You do not speak for the Church here & your post slanders our civic leaders.”

Most agree that the protests that turn violent and damage property are morally indefensible, not to mention against the law. I propose that what Feucht and his team are doing is equally culpable. They don’t burn buildings down and shoot at people, but they disregard public health requirements and may well spread a deadly disease in communities across the nation. 

Someone with some clout and a relationship with him needs to do a Nathan (David’s prophet friend) on him. This isn’t about politics, but biblical Christianity where someone goes alone to rebuke a brother. If he isn’t receptive, he brings another. And if it still doesn’t register, they tell it to the Church (Matthew 18).

In the meantime, if Feucht comes to your city, I urge you stay home and worship God with all your heart in your living room.

Myths, Speculations, and Conspiracy Theories

Someone said: “Debating with some people about the absurdity of some of the most outlandish conspiracy theories these days is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how good you are, the pigeon will knock over the pieces, defecate on the board, and dance around thinking it won!”

I find it particularly disturbing that many who identify as Christ followers these days seem to be unaffected by the truth decay instigated by pervasive political bunk wrapped in spiritual language. Their willingness to rationalize the behavior of preachers, pundits, and politicians is a mystery to me especially after they’re caught in lie upon lie. Of all people, shouldn’t we who claim to follow the One who identifies himself as “The Truth” be first in line to tell the truth about lies? Shouldn’t we be less susceptible to post-truth religion and politics, and the moral danger that tears into the fabric of our culture? Shouldn’t we be those least likely to buy what the conspiracy merchants are selling?

Previously I wrote a number of posts about conspiracy theories, speculations of hidden cabals pulling the strings behind the scenes of national or global events. But since then a plethora of new and “improved” fairytales have fallen off the assembly lines from a variety of myth machines. Not the least of which is conspiracy theory central called “QAnon.”

QAnon’s claim to fame is their outlandish claim that an elite cabal of child-trafficking pedophiles comprised of Hollywood big wigs, wealthy philanthropists, Jewish financiers, and Democrat politicians, covertly rule the world. Oh, and the best part is that only President Trump can bring them to justice with his secret plan called “The Storm” or “The Great Awakening.”

It pains me to say that this bizarre string of baseless balderdashes garners thousands, if not millions of American devotees. It’s no surprise then, even though President Trump claims to know nothing about them, he has retweeted QAnon tweeters at least 90 times since the pandemic began.

Polaris is a reputable anti-human trafficking organization that I have referenced a number of times in my own talks to groups over the years about trafficking debunks QAnon’s misinformation regarding the earmarks of child sex trafficking. What a waste of time for a dependable abolitionist movement to have to take their precious minutes away from their work to debunk QAnon’s red herrings.  

Here are a few other bizarre claims of the conspiracy factory, some of which the president (yes of the U.S.!) has retweeted:

“The Covid-19 crisis is a plandemic scamdemic. It’s the new Auschwitz.”

“There’s a Blood Libel in the elites, where a secret cabal kidnaps children, drains their blood and cannibalises them to gain mystical power.”

“Biden and Obama directly participated in a plot to have Seal Team 6 murdered to cover up the fact that Osama Bin Ladin is alive and well in Iran.”

I could go on and on, but let’s not. Instead, let’s tap into some of what Paul wrote to his protégés, Timothy and Titus regarding myths, speculations, and conspiracy theories:

“[They] devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.” 1 Timothy 1:4

“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.” 1 Timothy 4:7

“They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:4

“Pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.” Titus 1:14

According to Paul those who promote conspiracy theory nonsense, whether spiritual, political, or otherwise; “devote themselves” to it. They’re obsessed with their answers to the world’s biggest questions, at least the questions they wish the world asked.

The reason they produce “endless genealogies” is to prove their superiority over everyone who doesn’t carry their pedigree or know their secret handshake. They’re proud of their bloodlines and the hue of their skin. Sound familiar?

They traffic in “controversial speculations,” which stand in the way of “advancing God’s work.”

Promoters of conspiracies often do it under the auspices of “asking the question” that others aren’t willing to ask. It’s one thing to have a healthy sense of curiosity regarding new possibilities, and quite another to traffic in speculations that lead nowhere.

The best way to relate to “godless myths” is to have “nothing to do with them.” He calls them “old wives’ tales,” by which I assume doesn’t refer to tales told by “old wives,” but rather to rusty old legends that wives tell each other over coffee.

Fixation on conspiracy theories doesn’t happen by accident. In order to be conspiracists in good standing with others of their ilk they must “turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Either they don’t know the truth or they know it but it somehow doesn’t explain the universe in the way they want it to, so they make a detour around it with a blindfold on in order to maintain “plausible” deniability.

My friends, let us not be like Israel who at many points was “without sense” or “discernment.” “If only,” God says, “they were wise and would discern what their end would be.” (Deuteronomy 32:28-29)

I implore you to think critically, biblically, and wisely. Instead of turning toward myths, make a u-turn and go the other way. Rather than turning away from the truth, pursue it.

Job asked his rumormonger friends: “Is it not the task of the ear to discriminate between [wise and unwise] words, just as the mouth distinguishes [between desirable and undesirable] food?” (Job 12:11)

When you’re offered some untested morsel, before wolfing it down, if you’re smart you’ll take a small bite first. You’ll give it a taste test. If it seems worthy of consumption, you chew it and swallow. If it’s not, you fake a cough and spit it out into your napkin. (I’ve had some experience along these lines in restaurants and at peoples’ houses.) Before gobbling up every bite of news, we should apply the same strategy. Take a tiny bite first to see if it is edible; i.e., use a little discernment.

The Extra Mile

“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” (Matthew 5:41)

Roman law entitled its soldiers to force any Jew into carrying his heavy military gear for a mile. Imagine how that made the Jews feel, being treated with all the respect of a pack mule. It wasn’t just the physical strain or the inconvenience of being conscripted on their way to the mall to buy shoes, but the humiliation of it all! Why then would Jesus tell them to go two miles?

Remember, the surpassing righteousness that befits true Kingdom people is a theme throughout the Sermon. In this case it surpasses it by a “mile”! If it were me, it would be all I could do to refrain from spitting on it before handing it back!

But the extra mile is another example of the morally daring act of resisting an oppressor without emulating him, neutralizing his inhumanity without mirroring it. You are saying to him: I’m not serving you because I fear your authority or even your ability to kill me. I do it freely because I choose to. I do it to imitate Jesus’ higher standard.

For the first mile you’re under the soldier’s control. The second mile you’re walking in the freedom of your own choice. While the first mile might be considered passive resistance, the second voluntary mile, which requires the strength of a meek spirit, is active nonviolent resistance.

This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

The Bully’s Backhand

Backhand a friend (just pretend!) in slow motion. Notice that their natural reaction to being backhanded on the right cheek is that their face recoils to their left.

So when Jesus says, “Turn the other cheek,” he seems to be saying, turn your face back toward your attacker and look him in the eye. Don’t fight back, but don’t let him take away your dignity either.

The Amplified Bible corroborates this: “…turn the other cheek and maintain your dignity, your self-respect, your poise.” It’s not about putting up with the insult as much as it shows a fearless and peaceful insistence on equal dignity with an oppressor.

Mahatma Gandhi, of whom it is said that he read from the Sermon on the Mount twice a day for the last forty years of his life (and he did not profess to be a Christian!) said: “I won’t hate you when you are wrong, nor will I obey you. Do what you like, I will match my capacity to suffer against your capacity to inflict that suffering, and I will wear you down with goodwill.” This is the essence of nonviolent noncooperation.

This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

With Whom Do You March––Pilate or Jesus?

In my last post (“STAND DOWN, CHRISTIAN!”) I brought a correction to anyone who would even consider taking up arms, joining a militia alongside crazy so-called “patriots,” poised to violently overthrow fellow Americans whose politics are different than theirs. I called out at least one “false prophet” who preaches violence and calls for an American civil war. I consider this blasphemous. Let me tell you why.

“When God wants to change the world,” says theologian N.T. Wright, “God doesn’t send in the tanks. He sends in the meek.” And in the tradition of Jesus (not to mention other nonviolent activists such as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Bishop Tutu), Brian Zahnd says, “Ultimately we cannot eliminate enemies through violence—violence only multiplies enemies. The only way to eliminate enemies is to love them, forgive them.”

Speaking of Zahnd, I highly recommend his book called, “Postcards From Babylon,” in which he demonstrates a stark contrast of agendas and modus oprandi between Jesus and Pilate during their coinciding entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. It’s such an excellent picture of the Jesus way versus arming ourselves for war against our own citizens. Please allow me to share some excerpts of the book along with some of my own observations.

Zahnd points out that on that first day of Passion Week we see two parades arriving in Jerusalem, one from the west and the other from the east. One featured Caesar’s intimidating Governor atop a proud and snorting warhorse and the other was God’s humble Servant King, riding a juvenile donkey.

“One is a military parade projecting the power of empire — the Roman Empire. The other is a prophetic parade announcing the arrival of an alternative empire — the kingdom of God. One parade derives its power from a willingness to crucify its enemies. The other derives its power by embracing the cross and forgiving its enemies.”

We’re told that Jesus’ posse, an assortment of fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots were afraid as he led them toward Jerusalem. Who could blame them? They were outnumbered and out gunned with only two swords among them. This was a showdown between unequal parties. Pilate had armed soldiers dressed for battle and the disciples had two swords and a Savior. They were marching into the teeth of the capital city following their Galilean prophet who was about to announce his kingship. All but Jesus were shaking in their sandals.

It was Passover and faithful Jews came from all over the place to celebrate their forefathers’ liberation from a foreign empire. As patriotism was at a high peak and revolts were commonplace, the Romans were poised to put down any uprising. “If America was occupied by a foreign power,” suggests Zahnd, “we could assume that the Fourth of July would be a day when civil unrest would be expected.”

As a show of force the governor arrived in military parade from his palace in the west riding his steed, thereby intimidating anyone intending to revolt. “Military parades, then and now, are used by empires to demonstrate that they rule the world through their superior capacity to wage war.”

That same day, Jesus arrived from the east with his twelve apprentices and a crowd of unarmed Passover pilgrims––not the army one would choose to take down an empire.

The contrast was striking. Coming from opposite directions in the opposite spirit, one riding an imposing warhorse, with a silver studded saddle, the other on a donkey’s colt, not an even full-grown donkey. “We can picture the ridiculous sight as Jesus rides a donkey so small that his feet drag the ground!”

What was Jesus thinking? Why would he set up such a contrast between him and Pilate? Were his ride and his parade all he could afford or was he trying to say something about the difference between his heavenly kingdom come to earth and an earthly kingdom posing as a heavenly one?

By this prophetic performance he demonstrated how his was a kingship of humility, an anti-intimidating, anti-violent, anti-empire kingship. In a way he was mocking Pilate’s intimidating show of power. “Imagine a mock military parade where peace protestors are riding tricycles instead of tanks and you get the idea.”

Many Christians today are drawn to dominance and power. They’re impressed by leaders who promise to protect them from their enemies. “They’re looking for a general on a warhorse who holds the reins in one hand and a sword in the other. Jesus is not that. Jesus is riding a donkey and the only weapons his disciples have are palm branches.”

He’s spelling it out for us. Join a militia to protect what’s yours? Are you joking? Take up a sword to fight against your own brothers and sisters for fear that they’ll eventually take what’s yours? If you do that, you pledge allegiance to Pilate’s parade. You can’t be in both Jesus’ and Pilate’s parade at the same time.

Jesus said on that very occasion, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes!” (Luke 19:42)  If peace is what you want, he’s saying, you’ll only find it marching alongside the Son of God on a too-small donkey. Get a gun and join a militia and you’re marching in the parade that will never end in peace. And worst of all like most of the Jerusalemites, you’ll miss the Messiah who rides in on a donkey.

So, which entourage will you join––the one that features an earthly show of power and trusts in violence to advance its agenda or the other that celebrates the Prince of Peace and trusts in his way to actually improve the world?

Heads up: If you choose the humble, non-violent way of Jesus those marching in Pilate’s parade will make mock you as they pass by going the other way. After all, they have their horses, uniforms, and weapons to your diminutive donkey and a motley assortment of palm branch-waving pilgrims. Beware of requiring their approval, for then you’ll be susceptible to compromise to their way of protecting what you think is yours. “Bless are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.”

—————–

Something colossal happened when our King chose a donkey over a warhorse for his coronation parade and offers us an alternative to the use of force to advance his agenda. Our prayers no longer plead for him to join our side, bless our sniper rifles, and help us to win the battle with opposing forces using any means necessary.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God!” (Psalm 20:7)

Will you be in step with Pilate or Jesus?

Make no mistake, if you march with Pilate you will surely sacrifice slice after slice of your soul. If you choose even the threat of violence you march with Pilate and against Jesus. If you select an arsenal that harms humans over spiritual weapons that liberate them, you fall for Satan’s scheme––you’re a pawn and no patriot.

With whom will you march?

STAND DOWN, CHRISTIAN!

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Three years ago, the polling firm YouGov asked Americans whether they thought it could ever be justified for their political party to use violence to advance its goals. The overwhelming response was no. Only 8 percent of people said anything other than “never.” This year, YouGov asked the same question — and the share of respondents saying that political violence could be somewhat justified roughly doubled.

It’s important to note that the problem of violence for political purposes is bipartisan, but that it is not equally bad on both sides as the president has indicated. The American right today has a far bigger violence problem than the American left. Of the 42 killings by political extremists last year, right-wing extremists committed 38.

Just last week thirteen men from two militia groups were charged with a violent plot that included storming the Michigan State Capitol, kidnapping Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and taking over the state government.

President Trump was no help the week before during the debates when he refused to denounce violent white supremacy and groups that perpetuate it. Instead of “Stand down!” as he was prompted to say by the moderator he said, “Stand back. Stand by,” and then was quick to claim that most of the violence he sees is from the left. Right wing hate groups heard the president’s words as a rallying cry, a call to action: “We’re STANDING BY, Mr. President,” they said.

So, if he won’t, I will say it, and direct my exhortation to my Christian brothers and sisters: STAND DOWN!

I say that because calls to violent action are now coming from another source, so-called Christian preachers! For instance, the well-known Pentecostal author and self-proclaimed “prophet,” Rick Joyner, who has recently been urging Americans to take up arms and join right-wing militia groups in a “civil war” against the Marxist tyranny of the radical left! I all but fell off my chair as I watched a video of him claiming to have had a dream and a “prophetic word” from God that Christians should arm themselves and get in the fight for the sake of the Gospel!

If you know me, you know that I don’t blithely throw out accusations like “false prophet,” but in this case the label fits like a glove. I’m not saying that Joyner has always been or always will be a false prophet. I read a book or two of his back in the day and found his writing to be edifying and helpful. But in this case what he’s “prophesying” is unbiblical and highly perilous, if not to human life in some sort of militia-driven violence, at least to the reputation of the Church of Jesus Christ.

For the record, I believe in the gift of prophecy and I understand there is a “spiritual battle” in which we’re engaged (Ephesians 6). But Joyner (and probably others I don’t know about) are talking about something altogether different, a battle with weapons that kill humans.

Paul wrote, “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said” (1 Corinthians 14:29). I assume I’m one of “the others” and am therefore qualified to weigh the value of Joyner’s prophecy. The Apostle also wrote, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). In putting this one to the test I find nothing good in it and reject the evil of it in hopes that my readers will do the same.

Joyner went on to say that God has “seeded” the U.S. with veterans of recent wars who “know how to fight in urban warfare.” He said that these “patriots” would “be a part of the leadership of these militias and help us in what’s about to unfold in our own country.” This has to be called out for what it is, a crazy and toxic concoction of extreme right-wing nationalism coupled with a wacky form of so-called “Christianity”!

Whatever your politics––right, left, or center––let’s agree that violent attacks on other Americans with whom we disagree is insane and not anywhere in the universe of a Christ-honoring faith!

This goes beyond crazy; it’s anti-Christ. On top of that, it’s shameful that any preacher of the Gospel would promote such drivel and shocking that any Christian would swallow it. Joyner holds regular conferences that people attend and he writes blogs and books that they read. Apparently there’s a critical mass of such undiscerning folk to go around.

He should be ashamed of himself for inciting violence on our own citizens. I hope that other prominent Christian leaders will have the courage to call him to repent and publicly retract his false prophecy. If I had his ear, I can only hope I’d have the audacity to do just that.

Here’s what God says of the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day:

“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD… I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.

“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?.

“They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least, declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 25:16, 21, 25, 26, 32 

As for the call to a violent civil war, have we no memory of the Church’s pockmarked history of violence? From Constantine to the Crusades, the Inquisition to the Counter-Reformation, so-called Christians on a quest to torture and kill others. We’ve been trying to live these down ever since. Why would we vote for a repeat performance?

“Violent revolutionaries are involved in a contradiction that jeopardizes the very order they wish to establish,” says Theologian Walter Wink. “They plan to gain power by the very means that they will declare illegal when they gain power.”

Does Jesus have an opinion about taking up arms to wage war against our fellow citizens with whom we disagree? You bet your AR-15 he does.

In place of retributive eye-stabbing or tooth-pulling he prohibited violent* resistance to attack He promoted a creative non-violent alternative, the cheek-turning, enemy-loving third way. (Matthew 5) *The term he uses in verse 39 for “resistance” speaks of an armed revolution.

“My kingdom is not of this world,” he said to flummoxed Pilate. “If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36).

He said “Take up your cross,” not “Take out your sword.” In fact, he vetoed violence when he told Peter to “put away his sword” (Matthew 26:52) after he sliced off a guy’s ear who had come to take Jesus away. He went on to say that if he felt the need he could call “twelve legions of angels” to do what one lone sword couldn’t. (Make a brief perusal of the Hebrew Bible and you’ll se what even one lone angel can do if called upon by God.) But that wasn’t the Jesus way.

He required neither swords nor angels to accomplish his purposes. His was a plan that employed love as a “weapon” to overcome evil. “The cross is shock therapy for a world addicted to solving its problems through violence,” says Brian Zahnd.

So, don’t listen to false prophets or fuming politicians who call for violence between Americans. Go ahead and have your debates with others, Lord knows I have mine. Lobby your lobbyists.  But if you’re going to follow Jesus’ example you must categorically reject and denounce the violence that Rick Joyner or anyone else espouses.

STAND DOWN, CHRISTIAN!

Next time we’ll take a look at one of Jesus’ prophetic performances that informs our imagination about how he confronts power and how, as his followers we are to do the same.  

“The Danger of Donald Trump” (Part 6 of 6)

We’ve finally made it to the last post in this series. I set out to be brief in my assessment of Donald Trump’s danger to Americans. I thought I could reduce my thoughts down to one post, which soon proved to be impossible.

By way of review, I’ve proposed that Mr. Trump lies with impunity, still has no idea how to govern, has grossly mismanaged the pandemic, cares nothing for those below his socioeconomic bracket, tried to bribe a foreign power, fails the test of a consistent pro-life ethic, supports white nationalism, has no real foreign policy, denies of the science of climate change, resists common sense gun laws, is despicable in his treatment of women, treats immigrants inhumanely, and foments division and violence among our citizens.

If that weren’t enough to make the case he’s the most dangerous man in America, let me conclude with three final thoughts: he’s petulant, narcissistic, and toxic to the Christian testimony in America.

• His petulant and juvenile temperament is terribly unsuited for the office of the president.

“Trump exhibits malignant narcissism. His worsening hypomania is making him increasingly more irrational, grandiose, paranoid, aggressive, irritable, and impulsive. He evinces the most destructive and dangerous collection of psychiatric symptoms possible for a leader.” Psychologist John Gartner

Before being elected to office he wrote in his book, Think Big, “My motto is: Always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.” Someone said of him, “His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.” He mocks poor countries as “shithole countries” and leads chants in his rallies “Lock her up!” and “Send them back!”

We have always expected presidents to set the national tone, yet he’s like a reckless ship captain, endangering everyone onboard. Resembling an adolescent he denigrates his opponents and childishly calls anyone who opposes him pejorative names. He’s vindictive, impulsive, petty, callous, shameless and lacks any evidence of empathy.

He reminds me of King Ahab who, when Naboth wouldn’t sell him his land, he “went home sullen and angry” and “lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.” (1 Kings 21:4)

“Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.” Proverbs 17:5

“When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.” Proverbs 28:2

• His bearing and behavior are profoundly, if not pathologically narcissistic.

 “I know more about courts than any human being on earth.”“I know more about drones than anybody.”“I think nobody knows more about campaign finance than I do.”“I understand politicians better than anybody.”“Nobody knows more about trade than me.”“I know more about renewables than any human being on Earth.”“I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world.”“Sorry, losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest —and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault” (Donald Trump)

It’s painful to watch his self-adulation at press briefings and campaign rallies. His incessant boasting about his intelligence, the size of his sexual organ, and the beautiful women that love him is nauseating. He never takes responsibility for failures and steals the credit that belongs to someone else. He called himself “a very stable genius,” “the chosen one,” and once said of the country’s ills, “I alone can fix it!”

Everyone in the country should all have seen red when he said he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue in Manhattan and shoot someone and not lose one vote! Whoever follows him in the Oval Office will have a lot of toxic waste left behind to clean up and it will be a long time before the rest of the world can imagine America being “great.”

Peter Wehner said, “Asking Donald Trump to understand morality is like asking a person who was born colorblind to understand color.”

“Show me a conceited person and I will show you someone who is arrogant, proud, and inconsiderate.” Proverbs 21:24

“The proud and arrogant person—“Mocker” is his name—behaves with insolent fury.” Proverbs 21:24

• Lastly, I believe that he is a danger to the testimony of the true Christian Church.

Shane Claiborne says that it “unveils an idolatry that has intoxicated many of our fellow Christians,” when the vast majority of the white Christian Church runs interference for him as God’s man for the hour. Some versions of the American Church feature a Trumpified Christianity, which hardly resembles God’s Kingdom and acts as a repellent, rather than as an attractive force to bring people to Christ.

In 2016 Evangelical leaders form Asia, Africa, and Latin America formed the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation and issued a call for biblical faithfulness to the radical implications of the gospel. In it they wrote: “We grieve the part that evangelicals played in electing a person whose character, values, and actions are antithetical to the Gospel. Furthermore, we find it inadmissible that some high-profile evangelical leaders have hailed the President-elect as a Christian and a prophet. It does not surprise us that many people, especially from the younger generation, are abandoning the evangelical world altogether.” 

They went on to declare: “As representative members of the global evangelical community, we stand with all who oppose violence, racism, misogyny, and religious, sexual and political discrimination by resisting the leadership of a person whose life, deeds and words have normalized and even glorified these postures.”

These are not people ensconced in American partisan politics. With the advantage of physical distance and their biblical vantage point, it is clear to them that Donald Trump is not only unfit for the presidency but is a danger to the Christian testimony.

I’ve spoken to dozens of non-Christians who view Christian Trump supporters as a bunch of naïve dolts being taken for a ride. Not exactly the testimony we were hoping for!

One Church leader from Burkina Faso said: “President Trump is like a mirror. He is a reflection of the society that voted him into power.” She went on to explain that he gives evangelical America an opportunity to see itself for what it really is; and that, it seems we haven’t yet come to terms with the danger of that narrative. 

When Evangelicals run interference for the president, they associate themselves unwittingly with his rampant immorality, greed, divisiveness, and race-baiting, not to mention his cruelty and hostility to immigrants. They don’t see how being in league with him damages our collective testimony. The gospel itself is an offense to those who refuse to believe. We needn’t add to the offense by getting into bed with the likes of Donald Trump.

Many of the same preachers and supposed Christian pundits who preached sweaty sermons about the infidelities of Bill Clinton just 30 years ago have given this president mulligan after mulligan for his illicit lifestyle choices, not to mention inhumane policies. It’s hypocritical and everyone knows it! Well, everyone but those who don’t. 

How can we expect anyone to take our Christ seriously while we dismiss, minimize, or make excuses for this president’s ineptitude and immorality? Many unbelievers I speak with are driven away from trusting a Church that trusts Donald Trump. They can see him for what he is and can’t see how we can’t see the same. 

“Giving honor to a foolish person is like tying a stone in a slingshot.” Proverbs 26:8

“A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich.” Proverbs 22:1 (The Message)

CONCLUSION 

The way Donald Trump acts and reacts and talks and thinks not only puts his soul in danger, but puts the soul of the nation in peril. We simply cannot support or allow another four years of this!

I’ve suggested 17 reasons why I believe he is a danger to American idea and to its citizens. There are many more, but I’m tired of listing them and you’re probably tired of reading them. Though it’s unlikely that you agree with all 17, but since no one has egged my house yet (don’t get any ideas!), we must still be friends––at least on speaking terms.

I’ll conclude by suggesting a number of books for further reading:

The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump: 30 Evangelical Christians on Justice, Truth, and Moral Integrity, Edited by Ronald SiderChrist in Crisis by Jim WallisThe Death of Politics: How To Heal Our Frey Republic After Trump by Peter WehnerBelieve Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump by John Fea How Would Jesus Vote: Do Your Political Positions Really Align with the Bible? By Darrell L. Block

Unlimited Love

Limited-love people limit their love to people who love them. They draw a boundary around their own kind. The boundary typically contains people of similar race, socioeconomics, or culture. The line drawn around their love spawns a spirit of superiority over those outside the line.

The white landlord who rents only to people born with his same hue breaks God’s heart, not to mention a few laws. Why? Because those otherwise hued are the “neighbors” Jesus told us to love. He might not want them as neighbors, but what he doesn’t realize is that, by token of our universally shared humanity, they already are!

Jesus knew that his fellow Jews loved their own kind over all non-Jews and had verses and traditions to support their prejudices. Mostly they hated their occupying Roman oppressors. Some might say for good reason. Reasons notwithstanding, he refused to let his brethren off the hook even if the soldiers treated them like slaves––slapping them around, suing them for their pennies, and forcing them to carry their loads. It’s one thing to succumb to oppression and another to love your oppressors. Jesus demands the latter––love without limits.

If they were required to love beyond all that, what does that say about us?

This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

“The Danger of Donald Trump” (Part 5 of 6)

“When a man unprincipled in private life, desperate in his fortune … despotic in his ordinary demeanor, known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty — which when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity to join in the cry of danger to liberty to take every opportunity of embarrassing the general government and bringing it under suspicion, to flatter and fall in with all of the nonsense of the zealots of the day, it may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.” Alexander Hamilton in 1792

We’ve been talking for four posts now on how catastrophic President Trump is to America and, in my opinion should receive a sound defeat this November.

I believe that those who have hitched their wagons to him are making a grave mistake. Donald Trump is a man who is pretty much the human embodiment of the question “What would Jesus not do?”

We’ve identified that he is deceitful, ignorant of the workings of government, has grossly mismanaged the pandemic, has no concern for those outside his tax bracket, tried to bribe a foreign power, has a flimsy if not faux pro-life ethic, defends white nationalism, is incompetent on foreign policy, denies of the science of climate change, resists common sense gun laws, treats women as objects for his own pleasure.

What a mouth full! Could it be worse than all this? Regrettably, yes. Let’s look at how he shows contempt for immigrants, denigrates the media, and foments vitriol and violence between our citizens.

• His policies regarding, immigrants, and asylum seekers fleeing horrific conditions in their home countries is inhumane and dangerous.

In order to create a Fortress America he has slashed the number of refugees admitted to our country to the lowest point in many decades. Some 85,000 refugees were admitted in the last year Obama was in office. Donald Trump has drastically cut that number to 18,000 per year.

He has tried to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans and subject “dreamers” raised in this country to deportation. His policies have separated thousands of children from their parents at the border, some of which have still not been reunited. And at the same time he has reduced aid to the very Central American countries from which people are fleeing for their lives by the thousands and coming to our border.

He calls them “an infestation, criminals and rapists” from “shithole countries.” Though completely untrue he claims that immigrants bring malaria and leprosy as well as flood the country with gangs and depletes our economy. He uses DACA recipients as pawns to get money for the monument to his name, his southern border wall.

Asylum seekers flee poverty, violence, and hunger in their countries. Building a wall and narrowing the window of safe passage into America is like padlocking people inside a burning building.

With all the boasting he does about creating the best economy in the history of the U.S. (which isn’t true) and the lowest unemployment (also untrue), he still finds it easy to justify the nation’s most stringent immigration policies and refuse to share some of that great wealth with suffering people.

A LifeWay Research poll found that 90 percent of all evangelicals say that “the Scripture has no impact on their views toward immigration reform.” Though the Bible appears to hold little sway for them, here is a tiny fragment of what it says on the subject:

“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow” Deuteronomy 27:19

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:33-34

“I was a stranger and you invited me in. … Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” Matthew 25:35, 40

• Rather than foster calm and unity, he foments division, anger, and violence.

Peter Wehner said, “We’ve never had anybody as president who seems to take a psychic delight in dividing the public, who so intentionally does it, and who is purposeful and intentional in it. Now as long as that happens, we’re not going to make very much progress. At whatever point he ceases to be president, then I think the healing can begin.”

A Ugandan Evangelical Bishop observed that the central feature of Donald Trump’s M.O. is to engender fear in our citizens. “Fear is the story he embodies, projects, and presents. Fear is what he hopes will shape the present and the future of America and the world.”  Bishop D Zac Niringiye went on to say, “It did not surprise me when Yoweri Museveni, the military dictator, who this year is entering his thirty-fifth year as president of Uganda, praised Trump as ‘one of the best presidents ever’ for America.”

In a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa he told the crowd to “knock the crap out of” a protestor. In another rally, in reference to a detractor he said, “Maybe he should have been roughed up!” In yet another he said he’d like to punch a protestor in the face. And in one notorious incident, he promised to pay the legal bills of anyone who physically attacked a protester at one of his rallies.

He traffics in violent innuendo and threats. During the protests in Portland he said, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” which is a not-so-veiled threat to send in federal troops locked and loaded, which he did.

At least once he has told audiences of law enforcement officers: “When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice.’’

Under the guise of being the “law and order president” he closes the border airtight, sends federal law enforcement to protests, and tear gasses peaceful protestors ahead of his entourage. During his first debate with Biden, Chris Wallace asked him, pleaded with him really, to tell white supremacist groups to “Stand down.” Instead he hummed and hawed and finally said, “Stand back. Stand by.” Even if he misspoke, as he claimed the next day, the violent militia group he addressed took it as a call to arms. “Standing by, Mr. President!” they said that very night and immediately printed t-shirts with that as their new logo!

Anger and fear are his stock-in-trade. Contrary to his claim to not want to “cause a panic” in America, it’s how he rolls. It’s what he’s good at, and he knows it.   

“Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.” Titus 3:10

“A perverse person stirs up conflict.” Proverbs 16:28

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Next time we’ll look at his juvenile temperament, his profound narcissism, and his catastrophic damage to our Christian testimony.