As Jesus was
led away to be crucified the soldiers forced Simon from Cyrene to carry His
cross. It occurs to me that we believers sometimes put our own spiritual
expectations on others and in essence try to force them to carry a cross that
is not theirs to carry. Jesus said to
his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24 NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Putting one’s own spiritual expectations upon others is a fault of human nature. It is so prevalent that the proposition of someone else’s spiritual expectations being placed upon the self is a known hazard of socializing. The Tower of Babel was made by such social errancy. Governments are made of it. Cults, gangs, and mobs are made of it.
-----Last year served up a lot of debate in the news over exactly what is American exceptionalism. The general meaning of “exceptionalism” is being different from the norm. America was founded differently from the normal government. Historically, governments owned their citizenries for as much cultural shaping as they could get away with. It is a “Tower of Babel” fault wherein a few arrogant types cast a power structure over everyone else by which everyone else is forced to express the ambitions and beliefs of the arrogant few. (Gee. Reminds me of a church I once knew.) There was a reason America’s “discovery” was marked by the four total lunar eclipses on Jewish holy days. God does not put groups and individuals into power so they can force their own ambitions and convictions to be expressed by everyone else.
-----There are only two categories of mentality about this matter. One is described above. The other is what was exceptional about America. America was founded by men of Christian conviction (their behavior was often another matter.) They had fled such arrogant treatment. The Revolution pried America from England’s arrogant clutches. The Constitution assured the citizens ownership of themselves and of their own expressions. It set them upon creative courses of defining their own ambitions and convictions, very similar to what the Bible portrays life in the church should be (emphasis on “should“.) Granted, Hebrews 13:17 commands obedience and submission to leaders. Most error and deceit extends from shorting the mind of concepts rather than twisting concepts for it. Ephesians 5:21 commands everyone, including leaders, to “be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Furthermore, Romans 15:2 defines the leaders’ purpose amongst everyone as pleasing those they serve to edify them, since leaders are no less one of the “each” as is anyone else. Philippians 2 commands this mind that holds others interests to be equally as important as one’s own. So Peter commands elders to rule by example, and Paul bids his readers to be imitators and followers of leaders rather than to be subjects of theirs. All of this is the mind of Christ. Though badly tarnished by generations of social misbehavior, it was the mind of America’s founders (of the ones who won most of the debates, anyway.)
-----The mind of the anti-Christ is that which constructs towers like Babel’s. It counts itself so highly that not only should others imitate it, there must be forced subjection to it. Even our toilets are now subject to it -low flush- (ie, no flush.) And our showers. They’ve even planted control over your soda-size in New York, hoping it will choke the heartland, too. With control over your healthcare, what exactly will you be willing to think or do in order to see a doctor? At one time Scalia was there to battle this anti-Christ mentality of squeezing one’s own ambitions and convictions out of whomever one could overpower, although within a slowly losing battle. Now the onslaught of the mind of the anti-Christ will consume American exceptionalism without hindrance, and build yet another Tower of Babel for choking and destroying more godliness.
-----Only Jesus can fix this fault of human nature. And now that Scalia‘s death has drawn America to the dusk of darkness where its restraining forces against political evil will flicker out, the whole world draws into that dusk with it. The lights must go off before cockroaches come to the bait. When the light next comes on, it will be Christ’s light -unfortunately toasting for cockroaches, everything joyful for us.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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