4 Minute Devotions: In God's Name

Religious fanaticism needs to be confronted and denounced no matter where it originates or operates. Christ is the Prince of Peace and we, as Christians, have a holy calling and distinct obligation to seek reconciliation and promote His peaceable Kingdom throughout the world.

Podcast version here

Proverbs 20:22 Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.

Yesterday, I read an article about a Muslim cleric in Britain who is calling for Sharia laws to be upheld by British courts. He preaches vehemently and insists that thieves, male or female, should have their hands cut off, and that unmarried couples who have sex should be publicly flogged.

Meanwhile, over here in Oklahoma, a Baptist Church is giving away a semi-automatic assault rifle as a door prize at a YOUTH Conference.

What on earth is going on? And why isn’t God doing something about these fanatics?

We live in troubled times. I know that I can be ornery and stubborn when it comes to faith matters, but I would never dream of calling for punishing amputations or giving teenagers a machine gun. These people, pastors, and clerics are crazy and no matter how zealous they are for Allah or the Second Amendment, this is not faith as Jesus would have described it; this is religious fanaticism at its worst and we should all denounce it as an evil under the sun.

No wonder so many people get turned off by religion these days. If worshipping God turns us into limb-hacking, gun-toting devotees, then we should avoid it at all costs. Human history is littered with enough corpses attributed to religious fanaticism. We don’t need another Holy War, genocidal jihad, or holocaustic crusade to glorify God. I’m sure He’s just as sick as we are with those who use His Name to maim or murder infidels and sinners. After all, the world painfully tortured and unjustly killed His Son on a cross – no more blood needs to be shed to reconcile, redeem, and restore humanity to God’s holiness.

The challenge for us today is to stand up to these belligerent bullies and misguided maniacs by promoting the peace of Christ in our lives. After all, if the world does not see the Jesus within us through our outward acts of mercy and grace, then fanaticism will contaminate our communities and put this planet in peril for generations to come.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to find the high ground and empower us to effectively confront religious fanaticism without ourselves becoming vitriolic vigilantes or malicious messengers. Keep us on Your path to peace and reconciliation, without becoming appeasers or enablers to those who would forcefully oppress us with their fanaticisms. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Offering Gifts

Audio version here ... or here

Matthew 5:23, 24 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (NIV)

Years ago, our church put on a production of the musical “Godspell.” It’s an exciting Broadway show and it tells the story of Jesus through some wonderful songs and very clever skits. It’s largely based upon passages from the Gospel of Matthew and to this day, when I read some of Matthew’s verses, it takes me back to that production.

In my mind’s eye, I can see how we performed today’s verses in the show. We used comical gestures and facial expressions to convey our disapproval of the actor who was trying to present an altar gift, after having an altercation with one of the cast members. It was choreographed and the timing had to be exact in order to get the message across. It worked perfectly each night and we all enjoyed the funny side of the story.

But the real Gospel message isn’t funny. Jesus is being serious here. He wants people to understand that God cares for everyone and that when we have a conflict, disagreement or dispute with family, friends, or other church members, He wants us to sort those things out before we come to church with our gifts, our prayers, and our praises.

It’s a hard thing to do and something that we often set aside. When we go to church, we want God to be on our side, instead of us being on His side. We want Him to address our complaints, instead of having God question our motives. In other words, we don’t want to believe that God won’t accept prayers that are tainted with bitterness or praises that are insincere. However, if we say that we accept the Gospel of Jesus, then we have to live according to His standards and not our own.

So, I guess the challenge for myself and for all of us who are reading or hearing this devotional is this: is there a conflict going on in my life that I need to resolve? Is there something happening now that is causing a division in my home, my heart, my work, my school, or my church that needs to be healed? If there is, then I need to sort it before I come to God.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, following You is never easy and accepting Your Gospel is always going to interfere with our lives. You challenge us to reconsider our ways and to review our deeds. You call upon us to heal our divisions and to restore our broken relationships. Grant us the courage to do something about this today. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Real Reconciliators

2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. (NIV)

I used to hate a guy called Graeme who lived about 500 yards from my home. I don’t what started the rivalry, but his house was in a different street, so that automatically put him in the category of “enemy.” We used to shout and call names at each other, throw stones in the summer, and snowballs in the winter. It went on for years and to this day, I can’t remember what caused such hatred.

I do, however, remember what stopped it. We grew weary of fighting one another and decided to become friends. Instead of shouting at him, I asked Graeme if he collected postage stamps. To my surprise, he did and we arranged to meet after school to swap our doublers – stamps that we had more than one of. From that moment on, we became the best of friends and were constantly in each other’s company throughout our teenage years. We had discovered similar interests and given up on our fighting. We had buried the hatchet and reconciled our differences.

I guess that’s what God does when He sends Jesus into the world. He takes on our similarities and gives up on our enmity. God gives us a wonderful opportunity to be reconciled to Him and restored to His Kingdom. Without Jesus, we would be at war with God forever. Without Christ, we would have no hope of returning to God’s love.

This is why it’s important that we as Christians become ambassadors of God’s peace. Sadly, that’s hard to do in a world which is bent on war. However, if we want hatred to end and enmity to cease, then we have to become agents of reconciliation and servants of goodwill. Without Christ, our world will be at war forever. Without Jesus, the earth will have no hope of experiencing love.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, some people say that the hope of peace is mere pie in the sky and cannot ever be accomplished. Sometimes we fail miserably at keeping peace with one another, and Your church seems to be in the midst of all the fighting that’s going on. Remind us that our faith is not meant for fighting, but for reconciling. Help us to remember that You call us to be ambassadors of God’s unity, and not agents of the devil’s divisions. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.