Today’s Scripture Reading (June 15, 2017):
Ezekiel 48
Ron Reagan is “Not afraid of burning in hell.” One of
America’s leading atheists makes his plea for the separation of church and state and finishes his request with that simple statement. I am not offended by most of
what Reagan says. What does bother me is that the Christian Church in the era
in which I live has been diluted to the
point that Reagan seems to plausibly be able,
to sum up, his thoughts on atheism by
intimating that “avoiding hell” is the main talking point and emphasis of the
Christian Church. It is as if this is the only message that the Christian
Church can preach - Come and believe in Jesus so that you don’t go to hell.
But that has never been the
focus of the Church. At best, avoiding hell is a fringe benefit. Jesus himself
declares our purpose. “You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the
world” (Matthew 5:13-14). We are charged to make a positive difference in the
world. And we are failing. I wish our testimony were
such that Ron Reagan would have to end his television advertisement on behalf
of Atheism by concluding that he was “Ron Reagan. Lifelong Atheist. Not afraid to
reject the immigrant or let the poor go hungry.” Or maybe “not willing to be a positive
influence in the world,” because this is the effect
that the Christian Church should be having on the world in which we live.
There is no room for xenophobia within Christianity. We are the ones who are
charged to march out into the world and do something “for the least of these.”
There
is an expectation on the Christian Church. We are supposed to be the dwelling
place of God. I am not sure that the description fits us. I mean it should –
but does it really? Does the world
recognize God in us?
Ezekiel’s
vision comes to a conclusion with a discussion of the division of the new
Territory and a new city. The name of this new city is “The Lord is There.” It
was a comforting thought to a people that
felt that felt that God had left them and they had no place to belong. In the future, there would a place where God could be found.
At
the rate that our society is changing, it is a question that people are asking.
Is there a place where I can find God?
And there is. He resides in his people. I believe that, as Christians, we are
supposed to embody that city – not just to our nations, but crossing borders
into the world. There is no difference in nationality in the Kingdom of God. We
have to find a testimony that says more about us being the place that embodies
Ezekiel’s name “The Lord is There” instead of just trying to fulfill Ron Reagan’s
image of the church as a place that only “avoids
hell.” The world is in desperate need of us. It is time for the church to
become “salt and light.”
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40
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