8/19/21
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
As a campus pastor, I see it all the time. There's been a fundamental misunderstanding of the very nature of Christianity, growing in the West, now for over 170 years. Sadly, there have been instances in church history (relatively few and always pushed back by corrective force) to reinforce this misunderstanding. We shouldn't be surprised to find that Jesus' 12 disciples fell into the same trap and were corrected by Jesus.
What is this misunderstanding? At its core, it says that the Christian faith is like any institution created and sustained by people who want to gain in power, authority, and wealth. Especially since the revolutionary ideas of Marx were published, some forces would like to tear down Christianity because overthrow of power strucrures is a force for good. And the cultural progressives who take this point of view will seek out instances of power-hungry people within Christian history to strengthen their view that Christianity is a move for dominion and oppression.
What did Jesus tell his discipoles in Luke 22:24-30? They are not to pursue dominion, but service. He will give them a position in his eternal kingdom but for now their job is to love and serve others.
Thankfully, most of the time, and in most places, Christians have remembered their role as servants and caretakers of a fallen, crushed, and hurting world. Yet, they are often accused of, and even confess to, having mixed motives. Yes, I have mixed motives. I want to help others and I would also like to be thought well of and taken care of. I get to repent of my self-serving attitudes all the time. Meanwhile, whatever my world as a whole might say about it, I'm going to busy myself by loving and serving my neighbor.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
As a campus pastor, I see it all the time. There's been a fundamental misunderstanding of the very nature of Christianity, growing in the West, now for over 170 years. Sadly, there have been instances in church history (relatively few and always pushed back by corrective force) to reinforce this misunderstanding. We shouldn't be surprised to find that Jesus' 12 disciples fell into the same trap and were corrected by Jesus.
What is this misunderstanding? At its core, it says that the Christian faith is like any institution created and sustained by people who want to gain in power, authority, and wealth. Especially since the revolutionary ideas of Marx were published, some forces would like to tear down Christianity because overthrow of power strucrures is a force for good. And the cultural progressives who take this point of view will seek out instances of power-hungry people within Christian history to strengthen their view that Christianity is a move for dominion and oppression.
What did Jesus tell his discipoles in Luke 22:24-30? They are not to pursue dominion, but service. He will give them a position in his eternal kingdom but for now their job is to love and serve others.
Thankfully, most of the time, and in most places, Christians have remembered their role as servants and caretakers of a fallen, crushed, and hurting world. Yet, they are often accused of, and even confess to, having mixed motives. Yes, I have mixed motives. I want to help others and I would also like to be thought well of and taken care of. I get to repent of my self-serving attitudes all the time. Meanwhile, whatever my world as a whole might say about it, I'm going to busy myself by loving and serving my neighbor.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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