06 September 2024
Some short items:
1. The biggest compromise, the single greatest threat, to serving Christ today is our instinctive dependence on funding. I’ve lived in poverty, to the point I wondered if I was going to eat. It didn’t hinder my sense of mission calling. If anything, that brought my convictions into greater prominence. The fear of losing funding is the prison of Satan, binding you under his agenda. Whatever you are doing in your religious activities, if it requires money, you are doing something very wrong.
If you worry about how the things you say can hurt you financially, then you’ll never say what God wants you to say. You’ll never speak His truth to a world locked in sin. Instead, you’ll compromise your message to cultivate the funding. The reason this is the biggest threat is because the American economy is starting to break down and an awful lot of people won't know how to stay on mission when that happens.
2. By any common definition of the term, Jesus was "racist". That is, He distinguished between how people of different ethnic backgrounds were to be treated under the Covenant. He flatly rejected the notion of racial equality, and so did Paul. Jews have advantages in Christ that Gentiles do not. Jews outside of Christ are therefore even more accursed than any other non-Christian.
I've said it before: Only the Holy Spirit can breach the racial barrier on this earth. Nonbelievers have no clue how God wants us to handle this issue; they have no business holding forth expectations of any sort for us. The Covenant is highly contextual on this issue. There are times and places when you should make no distinction; there are times and places when you rightly exclude someone of a different ethnic background primarily for their ethnic identity.
Like it or not, a great many things we do in the Covenant must accommodate the limitations of the flesh. We don't get to fly, men don't have babies, and women can't lead men. And sometimes cultural differences will get people killed. The myth of human equality is a lie from Hell; humans are not interchangeable. Democracy was Satan's rebellion against God's judgment on his sin. God's Creation is inherently feudal.
3. Concrete example: Today I bought cold drinks for the Hispanic groundskeepers for the apartment complex where I live. I don't hate them by any means. However, I don't want them moving in next door to me, because they don't enjoy the kind of peace and quiet I prefer when working at my computer most of the day. I don't hate their music; I don't want to hear it at volumes comfortable for them. I also don't care for how comfortable they are with inviting extra kinfolks to stay with them in a tiny cramped apartment. I also don't want neighbors keeping pets who howl at odd hours and scratch at their cramped cages due to separation anxiety.
I'm not saying what they do is evil or wrong, but it won't work to have them doing what they do next door or above me. They need housing where that culture is more prevalent. Same with blacks and their peculiar noises, or folks from India and their cooking smells. They all need housing with people who don't gripe about their way of life.
And I need mine. If anyone of any ethic background moves in and adapts to my quiet habits and stop stealing the handicapped parking spaces, then I could care less what they look like. I like neighbors who understand why I keep guns in my apartment, and why I ride a bike most days, and why I want it fairly quiet. I want neighbors who stick together and watch out for each other, not prey on each other. I want neighbors who won't let their kids play "ding-dong-ditch" or stomp around in rough play at 2AM over my bed, but are grateful when we share holiday treats with them.
All of these things have been issues at one time or another.
4. Over and over again: Never listen when people nag about false morals. Know that it's coming; let them rant, but don't answer unless you feel moved. Church folks will often be the worst about it. This is part of knowing covenant boundaries; Jesus is our covenant. They don't really know the Lord, so take pity, but don't let their pressure just roll off your back. Keep doing what God has told you to do.
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