Today's Scripture Reading (March 11, 2021): Romans 9
"Not everything is as it seems, and not everything that
seems is." Portuguese writer and Nobel Prize winner in literature, Jose
Saramago, made the argument describing what seems and is as two inclined planes
that are inclined in such a way that they are destined to meet at some point in
the future. It is a nice idea, but I am not sure that it is always a reality.
Sometimes, what seems and what is are parallel planes that never meet, with one
being just a shadow of the other. What seems often retains the form of what is
but exists without the real thing's substance or texture.
I have a
friend who is usually quite hostile against the Christian Church. Sometimes he
seems to blame Christians for everything that is wrong with the world. And,
once in a while, I get frustrated. But the truth is that he is not totally
wrong. The Christian Church is responsible for at least some of the world's evil.
Sometimes, what should be the most accepting place in the world seems to work
hard to find new and original ways to exclude people.
But not
everything is as it seems, and not everything that seems is. Let's start with
the Christians in the Church. We might have placed the label on ourselves, but
not everyone who attends, and not even every Christian leader, is truly a
Christian. This is a direct result of three conditions inside the Church.
First, many in the Church are merely exploring the faith. They have made no
commitments to the Christian faith and often don't even know what Christ really
demands of them. They are present and welcome in the Christian Church, but they
aren't yet truly Christian.
The second
condition is that there are actors inside the Church or chronic hypocrites.
These people have been there for a long time, but they are just going through the
motions, often perverting the gospel message in the process. It was these "Christians"
that Jesus spoke to in his closing of the "Sermon on the Mount."
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven. Many will say
to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in
your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers' (Matthew 7:21-23)!
Third, of course, there are the
rest of us—people who try to follow the dictates of our Christian beliefs but
who fall short. We genuinely want to follow Christ, but also understand Paul's words;
"I do
not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I
do" (Romans 7:15). The result is that what we see is a church that is
broken. But not everything that seems is because I am convinced that underneath
the Christian Church's broken façade is a genuinely accepting and loving place
that I wish was revealed to the world more often.
Paul is making a similar argument here. One meaning of Israel
is "Governed by God." But Paul argues that not everyone who is from
Israel by ancestry is Israel or "Governed by God." There are
pretenders in our midst. There always have been, and there always will be.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Romans 10
Personal Note: Happy Birthday, Dad.
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