What Jesus Never Taught
“Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other!”
Luke 12:51 NLT
Jesus never taught his disciples to retreat from the conflict in front of them. That they should not dirty themselves with battles that were not directly religious. He didn’t teach them to retire from the cultural or political battles that they would find themselves in because they preached the gospel. You might say, “Nuh huh, who says that anyone says that?”
I say that the conventional advice in church right now is, “We need to all calm down, retreat from the cultural wars, and pray for revival, for peace, and for unity.” And I say, “If Jesus’ actually lived that way, and that his disciples followed him in that way, there would be no church at all.” Blessed are the peacemakers doesn’t mean passivity. Some of the greatest peacemakers in history were the great generals that made peace possible through war. Eisenhower, Patton, McArthur, Ridgeway, and Schwarzkopf. George Patton, “ole blood and guts”, was profane, temperamental, and grandiose. He was just what was needed to bring peace to the earth during the second world war.
And cutting right to the chase, after Jesus had offered the olive branch to Israel, and through his sacrifice on the cross, he was rejected by his own and his ways by much of the world. In the final analysis, the Prince of Peace himself will use violence to bring peace to the earth. He will destroy the armies of the world; he will kill millions and throw the fiery angel Lucifer into a pit along with all his cohorts. And I might add, along with all those who refuse God’s love and mercy. It’s hard to tell the truth. I wish it were not true, but if it or something close to it isn’t true, then why should we care about any of this? Sell the church building, divide the cash, and have a nice day.
If the wisdom you are getting is that the world will like Jesus more if they like Christians more, then you have ignored history and the current reality. And how does Christians being nicer and more compliant actually work? I just read a comment by a Christian leader that proposed that the problem is Christian celebrity leaders failing morally because they bring discredit to the church. Yes it does, always has and always will. The author also equated Christians leaders who believed in Donald Trump with those who had fallen morally. Proof of a twisted mind is to first to believe that a political difference is a moral failure. Secondly is to blame that difference of opinion to be a major barrier to evangelism. Then, of course, the writer called for Evangelicals to come together, to practice peace and humility. That is possible as soon as you accept the premise that you are morally flawed for holding the wrong opinion and if you confess your sins. Then we can come together and show a unity to the world that will cause them to fall on their knees and ask, “What must we do to be saved?” The whole idea is ridiculous.
The more cultural decline we experience, the more of it we will produce. I suppose then the answer is for the Christian culture to stop making celebrities. That is akin to proposing that men stop looking at women because it creates problems. If men didn’t like to look at women it would create bigger problems, trust me. People become celebrities because some people are more talented than others. And the more rare a talent is, the more famous they will become. It is as fundamental to humanity as is the reality of hierarchy in every society, from orangutans to Harvard professors.
Our country has a newly crowned royalty who controls the culture. At least it seems they do. I think we could describe them briefly as Big Tech, Big Media, Big Money, Big Corp, Big Entertainment, and Big Government. They are led by smart and somewhat lucky leaders who either by singular strokes of genius or by genetic blessing such as good looks, great athletic ability or extraordinary ambition, and networking capabilities have been able to claw their way to the top of the heap. They have developed what I might call McTruth, truth that is fast served to the public with the nuance strained out. Its wisdom is not wise, and its truth is a diminution of the First Amendment. In other words, it is not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me [my definition of a] god. This is no way to run a country, a democracy, or a republic, or create a well-informed free thinking society.
Big Tech such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube et al determine what truth they want you to hear by censoring truth they don’t like. Big Media, major television networks, and the majority of cable news is in full alignment. Big Money supplements it through grants to think tanks, political PACs and advertisements. Add to this Big Corporations such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and ESPN who supplement the narrative. And, finally, Big Government attempts to make policy and law that will codify McTruth and install it as the new order. They will tell their lies but the population will not have it forced down their throats. No, it will be assimilated through their pores via a mental and emotional osmosis that will feel good, will be pleasant to the eye, and even seem like an elevation of humanity. And it is doomed to fail, because it isn’t true.
Reality has its own voice - women and men are different. Women can’t be men and men can’t be women. Men are stronger than women, they run faster, they can jump higher, and are rougher and tougher. It is immoral for a man to pretend he is a woman and then take a trophy from a woman because he beat her in a race. A child should not be able to identify as the other sex or some new form of being just because the culture around them is lying to them daily and telling them they can. Teaching people that equality is more than an opportunity to be disciplined, and to work hard to achieve, is a lie. Equality of opportunity is a God given right, so is living with the result. Equality of result cannot be achieved without tyranny, a prison to put away violators, and a way to punish high performers who won’t share. Soviet history alone teaches us this reality.
Socialism violates every human impulse to improve and to voluntarily help society around you by choice. Equality of results is a scourge on humanity, liberty is the opportunity to be free to make your own choices, work as hard or as little as you like and then live with the results. Hate speech is protected speech, the most heinous statements a person can make are constitutional and must be allowed in order to protect liberty and human flourishing. I won’t go on, the Big Lie Industrial Complex is upon us. So, what are we Christians supposed to do?
Jesus taught us that telling the truth is hard and it has never been harder for Christians than it is right now. Jesus told the truth and he was executed. His disciples told the truth and they were killed.
As Jesus told those who believed in him. “ You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31,32 NLT
We must make different disciples for this difficult age. We are called to tell the truth to those around us. Some of us have a large megaphone and are positioned to speak directly into the ruling class and elite. With that comes great opportunity, great impact, and great risk. One only need survey what has befallen celebrities who have been cancelled, and attacked for stating a biblical worldview such as being pro-life, pro-family, and for traditional values as sexual purity and responsibility.
Jesus taught us to step up and speak up. But what did they speak up about? There is no record that Jesus attempted to join the Pharisees, or the Herodians, or Zealots or looked for a hiding place with the Essenes. Paul didn’t run for office, he already was properly positioned as a leading Pharisee prior to his encounter with Christ on his Damascus journey. Why did they both find themselves in trouble and have politicians trying to get rid of them? Because they told the truth and the truth challenges authority. They did not aspire to political power, but their message threatened political power. Thus they were thrown right into the middle of politics.
There was no separation between church and state in Israel, it was a blend of state and religion in a former, but still desired, theocracy. Israel was ruled by the most powerful nation state on earth at the time, the Roman Empire. Jesus and Paul were a threat to the religious structure of Israel and to the Roman Empire and its local leaders in particular. But how does this inform 21st century Christians in the United States?
When biblical morality collides with the prevailing cultural narrative championed by Big Media, Big Tech, Big Money, Big Corp, and Big Government, the fur will fly. You will find yourself tangled up with one of these forces who are selling McTruth. The only thing to remember is to tell the truth, it will be hard, sometimes so hard you may not be able to do it. You may fade away or melt down, but be of good courage, God will reshape you and give you grace to tell the truth the next time.
