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Relating to
the Irreligious
Matthew 5:13-15
It’s Saturday afternoon. You and your neighbor have been working in your
yards all day long, pausing only occasionally to chat across the fence.
You both finish your work about the same time and stand together
admiring how much nicer your corner of the world looks because the two
of you are such responsible neighbors. "This is a good opportunity to
invite Sam to Church," you think. "You know, they've been talking a lot
about evangelism and how we need to be reaching out. Sam and I have been
developing a pretty good relationship. Maybe he really will come if I
ask him."
So you approach the subject carefully. "Hey Sam, let me ask you
something," you say. He says, "Okay, but you know what? What we need are
a couple of cold ones. I got a six pack of Bud in the refrigerator. I'll
be right back and we can sit in the shade and talk about anything you
want to talk about - as long as it don't involve politics or religion. I
can't stand to talk about politics and religion. People always arguing
about stuff that don't matter."
How do you act toward people who don't follow Jesus?
You and one of the parents from your kid's little league team run into
each other at the store, both of you there for the same sale. You've
wanted an opportunity to get to know her better because you really think
she's searching for something. This might be the moment. So you suggest,
"Since we're both here let's just shop together." She agrees and the two
of you set off to find bargains. She finds a bargain alright.
While ringing up her purchase the salesclerk inadvertently fails to
include an expensive blouse. You both see it, but you wait for her to
speak up. She gives you a wink and keeps her mouth shut. Out of the
store she says, "Boy I really stole that outfit, didn't I?"
How do you deal with people who don't follow Jesus?
You have a class project with some kids at school and you all plan to
meet at someone's house. You assumed their parents would be home so you
didn't really think a thing about it. When you arrive you find that the
people in your project group aren't the only ones there and that working
on the project is the last thing anybody wants to do.
Several of the guys and a couple of the girls are huddled around the
computer surfing the net. The comments there making are your first clue
that they aren't visiting the Christianity Today web site. The friend
who lives there comes downstairs with a bottle of pills from his mom's
medicine cabinet and starts passing them around.
How do you deal with people who don't follow Jesus?
That’s an important question to talk about in this setting because we
face it everyday out there in that one. The answer will determine what
kind of relationships we develop. It will dictate what kind of approach
we take to evangelism and relationship building or whether we build
relationships at all. Do we despise them? Fear them? Tolerate them?
Condemn them? Serve them? Freely interact with them? History records
three patterns of response.
The first response we might call separation.
And when you think about separation from the world the one group that
comes to mind has to be the Pharisees. The poor old Pharisees have
gotten a lot of really bad press. The seeds from which Phariseism sprang
were actually good seeds.
Israel had this frustrating pattern going back in the old days. They
would start our pretty good, doing God's will, being holy and pure and
undefiled. They'd win some battles because God blessed them. But then
they'd get comfortable and careless. And they become attracted to the
exciting idol worship of their pagan neighbors. Instead of offering a
Bud light, their neighbors would invite them over for some exotic pagan
feast. Before they knew it they were celebrating some fertility god. So
Jehovah God would give them over to their choices and they'd suffer
captivity in the hands of people like the Babylonians or Assyrians. Then
they'd repent, God would forgive and deliver and for awhile they'd be
holy again. But only for awhile. Then the whole ugly cycle would begin
again.
It was during the time of Nehemiah and Ezra that a group of them started
trying to turn up the conviction. They called themselves Pharisees, or
separated ones. They became very strict about associating with anyone
who wasn't a Jew. But it was some centuries later when the Pharisees
became known as a distinct group within Judaism.
But they didn't just separate from non-Jews. They drew the line on
everyone who didn't see things they way they did, Jew and Gentile alike.
Anybody who didn't hold the line on holy living was contaminated and
therefore had to be avoided.
A pharisaical answer to the question, "How do you deal with your
neighbors who aren't believers?" would be, "You don't." You don't sit
down with them in the yard, with or without a cold one, you don't shop
with them, you don't go over to their houses to work on school projects
whether their parents are home or not. You just don't develop
relationships period. They have a disease called sin. It is infectious
and you need to avoid all contact. You practice safe spirituality or
you'll get what they've got and then its over.
So along comes Jesus, eating with sinners, openly fellowshipping
Gentiles, and basically doing everything the Pharisees thought was
wrong. Let’s look at an example of what I am talking about, in Matthew
9:9-¬13 (read).
Jesus didn't opt for separation. So is there another alternative?
Through the centuries some Christians have tried the option of control.
The clearest example of control as an option is from Church history. In
1198 Pope Innocent III led the Roman church to the height of its power.
Listen to what he wrote;
“As God the creator of the universe established two great lights in the
heavens, the greater to preside over the day, and the smaller to preside
over the night, thus did he also establish two great authorities in the
heaven of the universal church ... The greater, that it might preside
above souls as if they were days, and the lesser, that it might preside
over bodies as if they were nights. These are the pontifical authority
and royal power. On the other hand, just as the Moon receives its light
from the Sun ... so does the royal power receive the splendor of dignity
from pontifical authority.”
In other words, there are two powers; the church and government. But the
government is under the church. Pope Innocent, and don't let his name
fool you, used two tools to be sure the church kept the government in
check.
The first was called interdict.
When a king would attempt to oppose the church by refusing to pay taxes
or by disobeying a direct order from the Pope, Innocent would impose
interdict. He would permit no church services such as marriage,
funerals, baptisms, Lords Supper. The people under the king would then
pressure the king to give in, which he almost always did.
The second tool was called inquisition.
People suspected of heresy, which was believing anything the church
didn't authorize, were subjected to torture until they either confessed
or recanted. Either way they were usually executed.
Obviously control was not a feature in the ministry of Jesus. And as we
think about the way our own nation is governed we do well to remember
what happens when the church has control. Jesus carried out his mission
and the early church continued that mission under the authority of an
atheistic government so steeped in corruption and evil that it literally
crumbled under the weight of its own sin. We don't need a theocracy in
order to be effective. Jesus never forced anyone to do anything against
their will. He allowed people the freedom to choose his way or not at
all.
So if it isn't separation or control, how do we respond to people who
don't follow Jesus?
Another option is what we might call critical involvement.
Jesus expresses the precept in Matthew 5:13 - 15. Let’s read that
together. (Read).
Christianity is, by its very nature, a public religion. God never
intended for us to live -lives of religious seclusion. Like salt and
light our presence in the world must be unmistakably obvious. People
need to see who we are and what we are about and that we are very much
involved. Christianity is loud, bright, and spectacular.
To illustrate that thought, Jesus offered three parables in Luke 15.
When the Pharisees, the separatists, complained about Jesus' critical
involvement he told three stories about how God feels about the
outsiders. Not only does God care, but God gets intimately involved in
bringing what is lost back to a place and a relationship of safety. God
is willing not only to receive back what was lost, but goes looking
himself. If God is willing to get involved, so should we.
One other passage offers a take on this option of critical involvement.
In Matthew 5 we find the precept. In Luke 15 we find the parable. In
John 17: 14 ¬- 19 we hear the prayer. (Read)
Jesus said we in the world, but not of the world. Paul described our
critical involvement with the phrase, "ambassadors of Christ."
I think the image of ambassadors is useful for Christians. What do
ambassadors do? They travel to a country which is foreign to theirs in
location, language and custom. As much as they can without compromising
their country's interests, they exude a non-condemning attitude toward
the customs of their host country. They eat the food, speak the language
if they know it, appreciate the customs and participate in its life. But
they remain non-citizens. When the interests of their home country are
challenged they take a strong, uncompromising stand. If things get
dangerous they retreat to the safety of their embassy. In our case that
would be the congregation. And if things get absolutely intolerable they
leave the country altogether. In our situation that would mean the
termination of the relationship.
Let me offer some ideas about how we can be critically involved with
unbelievers without trying to control them, without retreating into some
kind of monastic isolation that does neither us nor them any good.
1. Be sure you are ready to be an ambassador.
Do you have a network of Christian relationships to help keep you
faithful and grounded in the Lord? Are you regular in worship and
private devotion? Do you understand the culture and basic teachings of
the Kingdom of God?
The United States doesn't send new citizens to be ambassadors to foreign
countries. We send people who are well versed in our own government and
way of life. Some of us are simply not ready yet to be in the world
because we don't know enough about what it means to be a Christian. Now
may be a time of separation for you. Now may be the time for you to gain
the tools and experience necessary to be a credible witness to the world
one day. Be sure you are ready.
2. Be sure of where your loyalties lie.
The name Benedict Arnold brings up all sorts of negative emotions for
Americans. His name is famous ¬or I should say -- infamous, because he
betrayed his country. He was trusted, but his loyalties turned out to be
at least questionable and at most misplaced.
Sometimes Christians behave like secret agents for the enemy. I don't
mean that we betray secrets which make us vulnerable. The church doesn't
have any secrets. I mean that some Christians pretend to be loyal to the
cause when they are with a person for whom that is a value, but in
reality are no more committed to the cause than someone who doesn't
believe in God.
Do you feel more at home around non-Christians than you do with
Christians? Now if you are new Christian, it is understandable that all
this church stuff would be new and maybe even a little uncomfortable to
you. Hang in there with it. It will begin to feel like home after
awhile.
But if you've grown up in the church with every opportunity to acclimate
to Christian culture and you feel some animosity to church things and
church people, that's not okay. I don't mean to say the problem is with
you. It may be. It may not be. What you need first is some honesty. It's
okay to say, "I don't like church and I don't like church people." What
I'm saying is that it's time for you to stop pretending. Be honest.
Honesty is always the first and most painful step in learning to live an
authentic life.
3. Develop relationships with unbelievers.
The longer you've been a Christian, the harder it is to develop and
maintain relationships with people who aren't. We have to do it on
purpose. It is one of the odd riddles of life that those who know the
most non-Christians may be the least prepared to lead them out of the
world and into the light.
Our new Christians are our connection to a host of people who don't know
the Lord. But we must warn you that many of the relationships you have
are dangerous for you. They are just as likely to pull you into the
darkness as you are to pull them into the light.
So the best thing our new brothers and sisters can do is introduce your
old friends to your Christian friends. Invite them to attend worship and
other church related functions with you. And when they come, we
old-timers have to be nice and welcoming and basically, everything Jesus
calls us to be.
And it wouldn't hurt us old-timers to be less put off by worldly people
and more willing to reach out to them.
We in the church are sometimes more offended by an unredeemed person's
lifestyle than we are by the fact that they are going to a Christ less
eternity if someone doesn't do something.
Do you remember the three things I asked you to remember last week? God,
Good News, and People. That’s what was important to Jesus Christ and if
we are going to be true to our sign out front, as well as the name we
wear they must be important to us.
How involved are you in the lives of hurting people?
How involved are you in the lives of those who have lost their way?
Interestingly enough if Jesus is not critically involved in your life
then you can’t be involved in the lives of others. Today do you know
Him?
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