Today’s Scripture Reading (December
30, 2014): Romans 2
We don’t
want to admit it, but we (especially those of us who live in North America) are
a major stumbling block to the spread of the gospel in other world areas. The problem
is that our culture is seen as Christian, therefore everything that our culture
does is assumed to be in accordance with the Christian faith. As a result, in
the other world areas, for example areas dominated by our Islamic friends,
Christianity is seen as a religion which endorses pornography, espouses the
indiscriminate use of violence, and is weak on family issues. The last one is
actually the nail in our coffin. In cultures where the family is seen as the
most important priority of the people, there is absolutely no attraction to a culture
which is dominated by divorce and sins against the family. And when a faith
becomes connected with that culture, that faith shares the same negative evaluation
as the culture receives.
Admittedly,
much of the problem is with our culture; a culture that many Christians also struggle
with. But in many of the family stats, there is precious little difference in
North America between the church and the culture in which the church exists.
And that is not just something that we need to be aware of, it is something
that we need to work to change.
Paul, speaking
to the church in Rome, seems to have identified some of the same issues within
the Roman Church. The church was advocating what seems to have been a strict
Jewish interpretation of the faith, but Paul wonders if even they are living up
to their expectations. Or is it possible that while they are advocating a high
Jewish spirituality, but they have been infiltrated by the culture in which
they live to the point where they are unable to live up to their own
expectations. And it is for this reason that “God’s name is blasphemed among the
Gentiles because of you.”
The actual passage the Paul is to be referring to is found in Isaiah 52:5.
And the passage in Isaiah is referring directly to the Babylonian Captivity.
Isaiah wants his readers to understand that their sin, sin that caused the captivity,
also made those watching outside of Israel question the power of Israel’s God
to save them. In this way, dirt was caused to fall on the name of God (and this
is the real definition of the idea of “taking the Lord’s name in vain”) and,
therefore, no one was compelled to give worth to the God of Israel. For Paul,
the Roman church was in position to do the exact same thing by espousing a law
that they refused to keep. The Roman church needed to understand that their sin
was causing the same reaction as the sin of Israel had at the time of the
Babylonian Captivity. And as a result of their sin, the nations saw no reason
to believe in their God.
Our sin is causing the same thing to happen in many areas of the world.
The biggest barrier to the spread of the Gospel is still us and our sin. It is
a situation that God takes seriously – and so should we.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Romans
3
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