Author: pensandpicks

Thoughts on Matthew 10:1-4

In the previous passage, Jesus told his disciples to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest,” and here, Jesus sends out his Disciples to begin that work. But, Jesus does not send them out to labor in their own strength and power; rather, Jesus gives them special authority to cast out demons and heal “every disease and every affliction.” This was a unique anointing given to these particular men at that particular time. This power, though not stated explicitly to be the Holy Spirit, was likely an outpouring of the third person of the Trinity such as we read about in various Old Testament passages and in the Gospels.

Here in Matthew, the author takes this opportunity to name the Twelve Disciples – Jesus’ inner circle, and says it was they who were given this pre-Pentecost Holy Spirit power. In the parallel passage in Luke, we are told there were 72 disciples who were commissioned for this special task. For the record, there’s no contradiction here as “The Twelve” of whom Matthew writes easily fit within the 72 of whom Luke writes. Matthew simply chose to limit his description to the 12 men, keeping the focus on the dozen whom Jesus especially set apart.

What is most significant in this passage is this: that someone who was called by Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit (for a limited time and a specific purpose, like King Saul and Samson), likely performed miracles in Jesus’ name, and sat under the direct authoritative teaching of Jesus for nearly three years, could then turn and betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

When I was a boy, there was a super cheesy song that was an attempt (I won’t call it more than that) at Christian rap. I don’t recall who the artist was or what the song was called, but some of the lyrics were along the lines of, “Just because you [sic] in a church doesn’t make you a Christian, just like being in a coop doesn’t make you a chicken.” It went on to use other analogies such as how being in a garage doesn’t make someone a car. As cringy as those lyrics are, the point is valid and even confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23. He says in verse 21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” I can’t help but think he looked at Judas as he said these words. This is a dire warning to do as Paul the Apostle encourages us to do in 2 Corinthians 13:5 where he says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.”

There are many people who identify as “Christians” for a variety of reasons – they were raised in church; they recited the “sinner’s prayer” at some point in their lives; or they were baptized, whether as an infant or not, into some denomination. However, Jesus makes it clear that following him is much more than a mental assent to the truth of the Gospel or the completion of some religious rite. Rather, he says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23)

This means being “in the faith” is a daily dying to self and following Jesus no matter the cost. This is not a comfortable, accessorized Christianity that we can pull out of our pocket and use when it’s convenient or we fall on hard times. Judas was, by all external appearances, a follower of Jesus Christ – called, empowered, taught, and included in the list of Disciples. However, when the time of testing came, he was shown to be false. Let us examine and test ourselves today and live lives of humble repentance and dependence on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ so that when the final fire of testing comes we will be found “in the faith.”

I’ve been conflicted about dreams. Not the unconscious kind we have while sleeping, but the conscious, intentional kind that might also be called goals, visions or aspirations. Here’s what I been wrestling with: are dreams good to have, or does having them more often than not end up in disappointment, disillusionment, discontentment and even despair?

I think most kids have some kind of dream(s) at various points as they grow up. Most of them are fanciful and unattainable. For example, I wanted to be a professional bass fisherman and/or a country artist. Twenty-ish years later, I am neither. I still love to fish for bass and pluck a country song on my guitar, but I know those childhood dreams were just that – dreams.

There are certainly those select people who “dreamed of doing (fill-in-the-blank) since I was a kid” and managed to achieve their goal. But, let’s be honest, that’s not the case for most of us. Regardless of what culture teaches, we cannot do anything we put our minds to. That’s a lie, plain and simple. Why didn’t I achieve my dreams? Because I lacked the resources (money, equipment, etc.), the location, and, frankly, the talent. Yes, there are stories of people who overcame many of those obstacles to finally attain their dreams, and that’s why I am conflicted about this.

On one hand, as a parent, I want to cultivate my children and help them reach their full potential. I want them to do the things they enjoy, and “dream big” about the things at which they excel. I want to give them the opportunities and resources necessary to pursue their dreams. Could my youngest daughter be an Olympic gymnast? Maybe, if we commit to years of extensive training. Could my son design rockets? Maybe, if we get him into the right schools (and all the cost and logistics that go with it). Do I want their dreams to come true? Honestly, that’s also a “maybe.”

Why would I not wholeheartedly champion my children’s dreams to the fullest extent possible? Because being a gymnast or rocket scientist or country artist or football player or President or whatever might not be what’s best for them eternally. It seems so many of the people who do work hard and make their dreams come true find that the level of their success is matched only by their level of emptiness because all their toil was in pursuit of temporal things.

I’ve not lived relatively long (36 years), but I’ve lived a lot – enough to know that what really matters in life are relationships and finding joy no matter where you are or what you’re doing. The most important relationship, of course, is with Jesus Christ, for it’s that relationship that gives true meaning to all others. The joy that I speak of also flows out of that relationship with God because it’s the hope of heaven (living in the eternal presence of the Lord) that enables joy in all circumstances.

I have found that dreams and aspirations are not compatible with contentment and joy in the present. If we’re always looking ahead to something else, something bigger, something better, then we miss seeing the good of the now, and, subsequently, fail to be grateful, content and joyful. It may be that fixing our vision on some goal way off in the distance will cause us to be blind to opportunities that God places right under our noses.

I may not be a Nashville star or making money hauling bass out of lakes from coast to coast, but I’m very content – to the point of being overwhelmed – by where God has brought me. I have a family, a job, a home, college degrees, and more “stuff” and “things” than I need or ever thought I’d have. Is it because I had some childhood dream of being a military officer and living an exotic life (a pinch of sarcasm) of living/traveling all over the world? No. That never even crossed my young mind. It’s because early on in life I got to the place where I had no plan or ambition other than to walk each day in the way I believed the Lord was leading – and seeking to find joy and contentment as I did. Have I been content and joyful every day since? Emphatically “no”! I am weak and struggle like anyone else to be content and joyful when life is hard. Here’s the point: God gets the glory when we can say it was he who brought us to where we are, rather than us saying that by believing in ourselves and pursuing our dreams we got to where we are.

So, to those people who dream and aspire to something great, and to those who live in the now, I believe God says the same things:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment.” 1 Timothy 6:6

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

There’s a lot of work to be done. That’s what we see in this passage where Jesus is traveling all over Judea, teaching, preaching, healing and leading the people of Israel who were “like sheep without a shepherd.” He was both pursued by, and a pursuer of, these lost sheep. He had great compassion on the people, seeing that they were harassed both from without – by an oppressive and violent pagan government – and from within – by “shepherds” who used and abused the flock for their own glory and gain.

Jesus certainly could have chosen to do all the work himself. After all, he was (and is) the Messiah – the deliverer and savior of his people. Being God himself, Jesus could have leaned into his divinity and continued indefinitely on a solo mission to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom; but, he didn’t. Rather, he chose to involve his Disciples – and every Christian since – in laboring to continue the work he began. He charged his Disciples to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest” after likening the lost people to a ripe harvest ready to be gathered in.

Imagine Jesus walking down the streets in modern-day Tokyo, Delhi, New York city, Los Angeles, Seoul, Mexico City, Shanghai or any other city, town or village (just the top ten most populous cities in the world have more than 225 million people combined!). Now, imagine Jesus seeing not paved roads and walkways covered in cars, buses and shoulder-to-shoulder people, but rather seeing millions of wheat stalks spread across millions of acres of fields, all ready to be harvested.

The whole world is a field, ripe for harvest. However, that does not necessarily mean every Christian is called to go to some foreign land to spread the Gospel. In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells his Disciples they would be his witnesses “in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In other words, they were to go into the fields near and far. Some of the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem, while others, like Paul and Thomas, traveled to the far reaches of the known world at that time to preach the Gospel.

Just like the Apostles, we are all called to be Jesus’ witnesses to people near and far. Those who are not called to fields at the “ends of the earth” are implicitly called to fields nearby. Imagine one more time, this time it’s your neighborhood, workplace, city, or even your own home. Can you see each one as a field, and each person there who doesn’t yet know and believe in Jesus as a stalk of wheat? The two questions for each of us are these: have we acknowledged the field to which we’ve been called, and are we laboring with and for Jesus to bring in the harvest?

This isn’t just about obedience so we can feel good about ourselves or swelling church membership rolls to boast about numbers of converts. This is about the very eternal soul of each person standing ripe in the fields waiting to be harvested and brought into the storehouse of God, thereby avoiding the fire that’s coming to consume what remains in the fields at the end of the age.

Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.” Let’s make our feet beautiful … and dirty … by covering them in the soil of the fields that are ripe for harvest.

Thoughts on Matthew 9: 27-31

The Bible is full of juxtapositions, and the story of the two blind men is certainly one of them. No matter where Jesus was or what he was doing, there were always the Jewish religious elite – Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, etc. – mingled in the crowds acting as the antagonists in the Gospel narratives. While they don’t show up explicitly in this particular story, there are contrasts between them and the blind men that cannot be ignored.

Blindness is used throughout the Bible as metaphor for those who don’t understand the truth of the Gospel, especially the Pharisees (the blind leading the blind – Matthew 15:14). The contrast of this story is that two blind men demonstrate great faith in Jesus as the Messiah, going so far as to follow him an unspecified distance crying out, begging to be healed. Their pleas were not simply, “Heal us, Jesus!” Rather, they begged for mercy from the “Son of David,” which is a phrase used only by the author and an angel up to this point in the Gospel of Matthew. The Jews were awaiting “Mashiach ben David” – the Messiah, Son of David. Though blind, these two men knew and proclaimed to all listening that Jesus was in fact the long-awaited Messiah. Before he healed them, Jesus asked them to confirm their belief that he could do as they hoped. They responded, “Yes, Lord,” and Jesus healed them “according to [their] faith.”

This is another difficult passage to deal with because it seems to place the burden on us to have the requisite amount of faith to believe God can and will do something. So many times when people ask for things – healing in particular – and don’t get it, the common reason for their prayers not being answered they way they want is chalked up to a lack of faith. If you believe faith is internal to and originates with you, then the response is to muster up more faith and try harder. If you believe faith is a gift from God and that he has given each of us a “measure of faith” (Romans 12:3), then response might be to say, “Well, God just needs to give me more faith before I try again.” Let’s be honest. Neither option is very satisfying.

So, what do we do with all the passages, especially in the Gospels, where an action by Jesus seems predicated on the level of faith of the requestor? What do we do when it seems our faith is too little to spur God into action? Do we pray more? Read our Bibles more? Summon up all our positive thoughts? Read about other people whose prayers were miraculously answered?

I don’t have “the” answer. There’s a lot I still don’t understand the whole interplay of prayer, faith and God’s will. There’s an awful lot I don’t know. But…

What I do know is that God gives faith as a gift (Ephesians 2:8, Romans 12:3) and that He can increase my faith by whatever means he sees fit and whenever he deems necessary (and usually by bringing me through hardships and trials that make me rely on him). I know that Jesus raises the dead, who clearly cannot not exercise faith. I know that God cannot be manipulated or coerced into doing anything. I know that Jesus still performed miracles even when faith was admittedly lacking (Mark 9:24 – one of my favorite verses in the Bible). I know that God is loving and good and will act according to his will and for my good (Romans 8:28-30).

Finally, God doesn’t owe me anything – not an answered prayer, not health, not wealth, not prosperity, not faith, and certainly not salvation from my sins. Apart from Christ, I was a totally depraved sinner who daily and even enthusiastically chose rebellion against God. I deserved nothing but eternal punishment. If I start from the position of remembering, “All of us like sheep have gone astray,” and that, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God,” then the fact there are even moments where I don’t experience suffering proves God is loving and gracious. Moreover, the fact Jesus came to make a way for people who are “dead in trespasses and sins” to be “made alive together with Christ” and have the hope of spending eternity with him should be enough to make all the suffering and pain we could ever experience in this life as nothing compared to what awaits those who trust in Jesus Christ, the Mashiach ben David.

Thoughts on Matthew 9:18-26

“I was close, but I was still the same … I was close, but nothing changed.” Those lyrics from a song by a summer camp band (Everybodyduck) I listened to as a young man resonate in my mind every time I read this passage. The song is from the perspective of one of the many people thronging around Jesus. This man saw the woman come up and touch Jesus and receive healing. The man then asks himself why nothing changed in him even though he was bumping into Jesus, making contact with him; but yet, he was still the same. As the song progresses, he recounts the scene in detail, including the woman’s fearful admission she had intentionally touched Jesus, and then Jesus’ response that her faith had made her well. His obvious conclusion was that he must have faith and that simply being near Jesus was not enough (a clear message to kids like me who had grown up surrounded by all things Jesus, but didn’t believe unto saving faith).

Of course, the healing of the woman with the flow of blood is only one part of this short, but complicated narrative. Of note, it’s one of the few narratives that made its way into all three of the Synoptic Gospels. Luke’s is most helpful to read in parallel because it includes much more of the conversation between Jesus and the other characters.

In Luke, we learn the Jewish ruler who came to Jesus to plead for him to heal his daughter is named Jarius. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to make haste to his house before his child died of her illness. It was on this journey, surrounded by great crowds of people, the bleeding woman pushed her way through the multitudes, disregarding all propriety and even rules of purification, and touched Jesus in faith and received the healing she had sought for twelve years through great cost and pain. Jarius must have already been impatient with the slow pace caused by the large crowd, and then to be held up by this unclean woman must have been exasperating.

What Jesus was doing though was using this delay to build Jarius’ faith enough to carry him through what was about to happen. No sooner had Jesus pronounced his favorable verdict on the woman than Jarius’ servants came and said it was no longer worth “troubling” Jesus because the girl was dead. Jesus replied, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.”

Imagine if Jarius had not just witnessed the healing of the woman. What a devastating blow it was to hear his daughter was dead – a blow that was blunted because of his recent experience combined with Jesus’ statement to believe. Jesus followed through by going to Jarius’ house, putting out all except a select few Disciples and the girl’s parents, and raised her up.

What can we learn from all of this? That there’s a contrast being presented between the believing woman and the unbelieving servants and the people who actually “laughed [Jesus] to scorn” because they knew the girl was dead. More than the clear call to have faith in Jesus, we’re being told that Jesus can do more than we think possible. The implication from the servants and the mourners at Jarius’ house (and also echoed by Martha when Jesus’ intentional delay resulted in Lazarus dying) that death meant Jesus would be unable to do anything. Of course, death cannot defeat Jesus.

Another aspect of this passage I have already alluded to is the combining of experience with faith. There’s a reason God instructed His people to remember the miraculous deliverance from Egypt (the Passover) and other mighty victories He won for them. There’s a reason the Psalmists recount many amazing things God had done for Israel. There’s a reason Paul tells us in Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” There’s a reason Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” The reason – to build our faith by hearing the experiences of God’s people throughout the ages from the Bible to Church history to the present day, and by recalling God’s working in our own lives.

To sum all this up: God uses our collective experiences – both good and bad – combined with the faith he gives us, to build us up and grow us in holiness and righteousness. Don’t be like the man from the song who was close to Jesus, but lacked the faith necessary to have it make a real difference in his life. Be like the woman who exercised faith and was willing to do whatever it took to encounter Jesus in a life-changing way.

Thoughts on Matthew 9:14-17

At this point in history, there were a number of sects and factions within Judaism. There were, of course, the Pharisees (the most prominent) and Sadducees (who denied the resurrection and supernatural), the Essenes (ascetics who separated themselves), as well as the Sicarii and Zealots (revolutionaries). Then there were the upstarts – the disciples of John the Baptist (so, the first Baptists?), and the ragtag group of fishermen and tax collectors who followed Jesus of Nazareth. Eventually, Christians would become, for a short time, viewed by the Empire as just another Jewish sect.

Matthew 9:14 reveals a question – or rather, an accusation of impiety – from John’s disciples who wanted to know why Jesus and his followers didn’t fast like they and the Pharisees did. Jesus taught about fasting in his Sermon on the Mount and that it’s something his disciples should do (see this post). However, rather than reiterate the benefits of this spiritual discipline, Jesus challenges his inquirers to change their perspective on both him and his teaching.

Jesus begins his response with one of his favorite analogies – a wedding. He asks a rhetorical question about whether it’s proper for wedding guests to mourn during the ceremony and associated events, especially when the bridegroom was present. The culturally corrects answer, as they well knew, was “no.” Jesus’ question begs another: who is the bridegroom, and who are the guests? Jesus proceeds, seemingly assuming the listeners had at least begun to connect the dots, by using another analogy that was sure to be understood.

Jesus’ comparison about new cloth being sewn on old cloth doesn’t resonate much these days in our culture because we simply drive over to some clothing store and buy a new shirt or pair of pants if one we own is damaged. Back in Jesus’ day, garments were mended and worn until they could not longer adequately serve their purpose. However, Jesus wasn’t interested in a debate about textiles. Likewise, Jesus’ discussion on the art of wine making was not about the process of making wine. He presumed his audiences would understand his reference to the malpractice of putting new wine into old wineskins that cannot withstand the pressures of the fermentation process. Why would anyone do such a foolish thing? Not only would a good wineskin be ruined, something even worse would happen – wine would be lost.

Here’s a quick side note before this post concludes…

Reading a passage in context – meaning within the immediately surrounding verses, sections, and the whole book – is probably the single most important consideration with studying the Bible, and this passage is no exception. When it comes to the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), it’s also crucial to study parallel passages. When we do this, we gain a better understanding of Jesus and what he’s saying or what’s being said about him.

In the passage at hand, Jesus was taking a jab at the “old” religion – the “old” way of thinking that could not withstand the application of the new paradigm Jesus was bringing (such as he laid out during the Sermon on the Mount). What the listeners didn’t know was that Jesus was about to allow himself to be touched by an unclean woman (the woman with the flow of blood) and respond with compassion, and then raise up a little girl whom everyone presumed to be dead.

The people of Israel had not seen or heard of such miraculous acts happening since the time of Elijah and Elisha; however, this was not just a resurgence of supernatural activity and a call to turn again to the Law and Yahweh. When they put everything together – the teachings, the healings/miracles, the rejection by the religious elite, and, eventually, the execution on the cross – the Jews should have begun to see something new was at hand. It was nothing short of the New Covenant spoken of by Jeremiah (31:31) and inaugurated by Jesus at the Last Supper (Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25 and most of Hebrews).

Up to this point in Matthew’s narrative, Jesus has already stated he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. Why is that so important for them and for us? Because not one of us is capable of perfectly fulfilling God’s Law or meeting his righteous standard (sinless perfection). But, “thanks be to God,” Jesus did it for us. The Gospel is certainly about Jesus dying on the cross to bear our punishment in himself so we could be declared innocent and be reconciled to God (penal substitutionary atonement), but it’s also about the fact Jesus lived a perfect life in our place. Jesus’ righteousness is imputed to us so God sees us as righteous. This is the “new cloth” that covers us. The “new” wine is the wine that represented Jesus’ blood that he shared with the Disciples during the last supper – the very thing we remember every time we take the sacrament of communion. Let us do as Paul admonishes us to do and “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” with joy and boldness.

Today is a sad day. A day to reflect. A day to fear. A day to remember our frailty and need for God’s grace.

Over the past couple of years, I have seen, one after another, people I revered and respected come unhinged from orthodoxy. While these people were/are public figures, and the shipwrecking of their faith, to use Paul’s words, has been visible to many, for some of us the shock and pain has been more acute. While I will not name names for the people I have in mind who have fallen away in the past, I will mention one person whose apostasy I learned about just this morning.

Joshua Harris gained notoriety back in the late 1990’s with his book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I was one of the thousands who read that book and decided to eschew dating as it was defined by our culture. Right, partially right or wrong, that book influenced my decisions as a young man in positive ways and helped restrain me from more folly and heartache than I already endured.

Fast-forward a decade. I visited Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, while I was attending training for three months, and then periodically for a month or two at a time for a few follow-on training courses over the next few years. There was Josh again. His teaching influenced me greatly during those cumulative few months and have undoubtedly helped shape my theology and praxis ever since. In fact, I gave him a shout out in my novel, Love Unconditional, that I wrote largely during the first time I was there sitting under his teaching.

Fast-forward another decade. Josh Harris just publicly announced not only his divorce from his wife, he also essentially announced his divorce from Jesus Christ. He said, “By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian” and used biblical language to make clear he has “fallen away.”

Today is a sad day because yet another Church leader has gone “out from us” (1 John 2:19) in a very public way, providing critics and mockers more fuel for their fire of unbelief and hostility against the Church. Yet, what’s sadder is a now ex-wife and three children are left without a husband and father. And what’s even sadder is what will happen after this life is over if the Prodigal does not return to his Father from the distant land to which he has traveled.

Today is a day to reflect because of this verse (1 Corinthians 10:12): “Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” There are no such things as an infallible person or an infallible church. As such, we should take heed when we see supposed giants of the faith fall, or when we learn about the sins of the “greats” – such as Martin Luther’s anti-Semitism or John Calvin’s over-zealous burning of heretics. When we read headlines about another pastor caught cheating on his wife or busted in a child porn sting, we should look to ourselves rather than point fingers of judgment. If we’re honest with ourselves, we all have sins that, if exposed publicly, would stain or ruin our reputations and sully the name of Jesus Christ. We need to focus on our own repentance and holiness.

Today is a day to fear because of this verse (Philippians 2:12): “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation in fear and trembling.” This passage provides the counterbalance to the idea that we can live as we please because God is gracious and merciful. There’s definitely a tension in the Bible between “once saved always saved” and “…if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…” We should rest in the security of the Father’s hand, but also preach the Gospel to ourselves daily to remind us of both our sin and our Savior.

We must, as I just alluded to, consider well our frailty and utter dependence upon God’s grace for all things. The Bible teaches that apart from Jesus Christ we are totally depraved and dead in our trespasses and sin. We are all born God-hating rebels destined for the just punishment of hell unless and until God rips out our stone hearts and gives us a new heart that beats with spiritual life, love for God, and hope for an eternity with him.

Finally, this day is a reminder that we are to look to only one man – Jesus Christ – as our perfect, infallible teacher and example. People will fail, and if our faith is built upon them rather than Jesus Christ, our faith will fail with them. Our hearts are prone to idolatry, even of Christian figures, dead or alive. This is not a new thing. Paul addressed this in 1 Corinthians where there were sects of the church who followed Apollos or Peter or Paul rather than the Christ those three men preached. Today, it’s Calvin or Arminius, Baptist or Assemblies of God, Complementarian or egalitarian, etc.

May this recent falling away (which I pray will lead to a place of repentance and deeper relationship with Jesus and restoration of his family) remind us of Hebrews 12:1-2, which says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

This is the fifth article in the the series, How to be a Biblically “woke” Christian

It’s very evident there’s a wage gap issue that needs to be addressed immediately. There’s been disparity amongst wage earners, well, since people were paid (or not) for their labor. Women’s soccer players are in the headlines right now decrying the fact they earn less than their male counterparts, so there’s obviously a problem that needs fixing. And what better source of solutions is there to which we can turn than the Bible?

You might ask, “Does the Bible really discuss wage gaps? Does God really care about justice for the oppressed?” Absolutely. Are you ready to get woke about what the Bible has to say about the wage-gap problem?

The clearest declaration of worker’s rights and anti-discrimination is in Deuteronomy 24:14-15 where it says, “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.” Right here God says to do right by your employees no matter their race or social status. Equality, right there.

Wise King Solomon said in Proverbs 20:23, “Unequal weights are an abomination to the Lord, and false scales are not good.” This clearly teaches us that the “scales” of business are to be correct so that the right amount of money is given, and that withholding money unjustly by fraud or deceit is reprehensible. Again, equality in your face.

From what we can see in the Old Testament, God evidently cares a lot about people getting what they deserve and not being cheated or mistreated. In fact, God punished Israel multiple times for disobeying him in these ways. God cares for the oppressed, no matter how you look at it. But, what do we see in the New Testament?

Jesus Christ, God himself, offers a parable in Matthew, chapter 20, that deals with the theme of wages. He tells a story about a property owner who hires people to work in his vineyards for a “denarius,” or what amounted to a days’ wage. The landowner, upon visiting the marketplace after having hired the first group of workers, sees some unemployed people and hires them, and they agree to his terms: “Whatever is right I will give you.” Two more times this vineyard owner goes out and hires more workers all the way up until the last hour of the day.

After the workday is done, the foreman is directed to pay all the laborers a denarius each, starting with those who only worked an hour. “Surely, we’ll get more since we worked all day,” those who were hired in the morning thought. But, no. They got the same wage as those who only worked for a fraction of the time. Obviously, the people who were fatigued and sunburned from toiling twelve hours were pretty upset. How was the landowner being just? That’s not Capitalism! That’s Communism! But, wait. Isn’t that a great example of closing the wage gap? Isn’t that like raising the minimum wage? They all got paid the same even though they didn’t work commensurate amounts.

Wait a second. Was the landowner Jesus described unjust or not? It matters because Jesus started the parable with, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” What kind of a kingdom does Jesus rule where people who work very little get paid as much as those who work hard? It sounds almost like welfare in America.

There are two truths to take away from this. The first is that God absolutely cares for those who are truly oppressed (not just someone or some group who applies their own victim status). God demands his people care for widows, orphans, sojourners, foreigners, and the downcast. The second truth is that the landowner in the parable did nothing wrong in his decision to pay all the laborers the same wage. In fact, the parable has nothing to do with how much people should be paid for their work.

The point is that some of Jesus’ followers will work very hard and suffer greatly in this life, and others will live comfortable, mostly trouble free lives; or that some people will become Christians younger in life and therefore endure more hardship and give up more worldly living for the sake of Christ, while others will live as they please and then have “deathbed conversions.” In both instances, all who enter the kingdom of heaven after their “day” of laboring in this life all receive the same “payment” (note this is NOT a passage supporting the idea of doing good works to earn salvation).

If you’re concerned about a wage gap, look to the kingdom of heaven where there will be no disparity or inequality in what God’s people will receive – living in the very presence of Jesus Christ who died for them and provided the means of entrance into the eternal kingdom.

Thoughts on Matthew 9:9-13 and the fourth article in the series, How to be a Biblically “woke” Christian

There are many who believe universal healthcare should be a fundamental right for all people. The Bible does in fact teach us that not only do all people need healthcare, it also teaches it should be free for all people regardless of nationality or social status. It’s time for Christians to get woke to this fact. Matthew’s account of his calling by Jesus includes the clearest mandate in Scripture for Christians to support free healthcare for all.

Matthew’s calling was not that much different than how Jesus called his other disciples, or how he calls us today. “Follow me” are the imperative words that carry so much more weight than two words seem like they could. The implications of obeying that phrase are massive – being identified with Jesus, for better or for worse, for life and for death, for persecution and salvation. Matthew says that at those words, “he rose and followed [Jesus].”

The very next thing Matthew does is invite his friends to his house to meet Jesus to receive the free healthcare they so desperately needed. It’s important to note two things here. The first is that Matthew didn’t wait until he had read through a systematic theology book or attended an evangelism course. Rather, he simply called his friends to come and meet Jesus. Let that be an encouragement to any Christian who thinks they are unqualified to share the Gospel with others. Over and over what we see in the Bible are people who encounter Jesus and immediately go and share with others “how much Jesus had done for [them].”

The second thing to note, which flows into the final point, is that Matthew didn’t immediately and completely disassociate himself with all the people he knew from his “before Christ” life. Granted, I know from personal experience there are certain people who are such negative influences in our lives that we must cut ties in our process of repentance. However, that does not mean we jump into the life boat and drift off in safety while ignoring the plight and peril of the very people we know need to also be saved. Matthew knew his fellow tax collectors and “sinner” friends needed to hear from Jesus as well, so he invited them to where they could encounter Jesus and his offer of healing from what ailed them the most – sin and death.

When it comes to sharing the Gospel of Jesus with unsaved people, Christians are their own worst enemies. Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, many of us are content associating with other people who look, act and talk just like we do – and refuse to sully ourselves, figuratively and sometimes literally, by being close to the very people who need to know the love of God. We, myself included, need to repent of this pride and laziness and be intentional about maintaining/building relationships with the “sick” of this world who need to know the “Great Physician,” too.

We need to step outside our comfort zones and be among people who don’t look like us, talk like us, see the world like us, vote like us, or believe like us. Christians need to stop being social media warriors hiding behind the anonymity of cyberspace who point fingers and digitally “yell” at unsaved people for acting like unsaved people and get their hands dirty. We need to get to know people and their struggles. We need to actually be the hands and feet of Jesus. As our pastor says, they need to “experience the love of God through the love of his people.” They need to experience what it is to receive mercy, ultimately from God, but also, and sometimes first, from those who claim to carry God’s name. I don’t think God is pleased when his people try to offer the “sacrifices” of their self-righteousness and assumed holiness when they, like the Pharisees, despise the very people to whom Christ came to offer universal, eternal healthcare.

Author’s note: This is the third article in the series, How to be a Biblically “woke” Christian

I don’t know about you, but I have a sin problem. Every day I need to confess to the Lord because of what I have done and what I have left undone. I have truly not loved the Lord with my whole heart, nor my neighbor as myself.

Oftentimes I buy into the lie that my standing with God is based on my performance (works) rather than the reality that I have been adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ and that I have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing.” Furthermore, Christ’s perfect righteousness has been imputed to me, making me clean before God and able to boldly approach Him in prayer. However…

In spite of all the truths I may know, I believe the lie that my sin and apathy render me unlovable and far from the Father. Like the Prodigal Son, I wallow in the muck of my despair and convince myself of my unworthiness. Have you ever felt like this? Maybe that’s where you’re at right now. Don’t despair. You need to get Biblically “woke” and find a “safe space” as soon as you can.

In the book of 1 Samuel, the people of Israel finally reached a point where they acknowledged they had sinned against God and asked the prophet Samuel to pray that the Lord would not kill them. Samuel’s response in chapter 12 is such an encouragement for anyone struggling with sin and fear of God’s rejection. He described the safe space Israel needed to get to, and it doesn’t look much different than the one we can run to post-cross.

The major difference between the safe spaces of modern America and Biblical safe spaces is that hearing hard things that will trigger negative emotions is one of the first things that must happen. Samuel begins with, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.” His assurance to the people, which is only possible because “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” is coupled with unmitigated confirmation of their sinfulness. There’s no attempt to call their sin anything other than what it is. The same should be true for us. We should not try to quibble, deflect, deny, defend or attempt to lessen the ugliness and reality of our sin. We are terrible sinners (or rather, great sinners) who have offended a holy God, but that place of contrition and sorrow is not where we have to remain.

The next thing Samuel does is tell the people to not “turn aside from following the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.” Essentially, he’s telling them not to let their sin prevent them from repenting and following the Lord. Paul the Apostle says something very similar in 2 Corinthians 7:10, which says, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” Furthermore, John the Apostle says in 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But, if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Don’t despair. Get Biblically woke and rejoice that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who was punished in our place so we could be reconciled to God. Rejoice that we, undeserving, God-hating rebels, were brought near to God, not because of anything we have done or would do, but because of God’s great love for us. As Samuel reminded the Israelites, God has redeemed his people for their good and, ultimately, for his glory. “For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.”