A Consistent Mission

When my wife and I were taking our mandated CPS parenting classes to adopt our two kids, we heard over and over how important consistency would be for our children. All children who have been placed into the Foster system have had their lives upended, and many of them experience one major change after another. Over these last three years, we’ve been doing our best to be as consistent as possible with our kiddos, and it’s clear that the instructors knew what they were talking about. 

Consistency isn’t just important at home; it’s a vital component for success in most aspects of life, and especially for the Church.

In many of my evangelistic conversations with nonchristians, one of the main reasons they give for rejecting Jesus is that His followers don’t display consistency in adhering to His commands. “Buddhists follow Buddha. Muslims follow Muhammad,” they say, “so why don’t Christians follow Jesus?”

I usually jump on this question, seeing it as an opportunity to tell them how the earliest Christians did follow the simple words of Christ with great consistency. And the Holy Spirit often uses that mini-history lesson to begin opening the minds and hearts of the folks I’m conversing with.

However, I can’t deny the obvious inconsistencies we see these days. For instance, shortly after the recent London terrorist attacks, Congressman Clay Higgins took to Facebook to galvanize Christians all around the world. Exclaiming that all Christians are at war with Islam, Higgins called us to give no quarter to anyone suspected of being a radical Islamist. He then urged us to hunt them down and kill them all.

When I see purported Christians talking like this, one particular question immediately comes to my mind. Who did Jesus suffer and die to save?

To answer that question, let’s think about how Jesus is the true atonement slate or mercy seat in the holy of holies.

The writer of Hebrews states that in the holy of holies there was “a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat” (9:4-5). The Greek word translated as “mercy seat” is hilasterion, a derivative of hilaskomai.

There are two Scriptures that shed light on how the mercy seat is fulfilled in Jesus. As you read these, remember the atonement slate (hilasterion) is the place where God intersects humanity to bring them back in relationship with Him.

The first Scripture is Romans 3:23-25, where Paul writes, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” The word “propitiation” in Greek is hilasterion. So, Paul is saying when Jesus was crucified, God displayed Him as a public atonement slate for all to see.

Why would God do this with His true Mercy Seat, when previously only the high priest was able to see the mercy seat in the holy of holies once each year? The second Scripture answers that question.

In 1 John 2:1-2, the apostle writes, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” Once again, the word translated “propitiation” in the Greek is hilasmos, a derivative of hilaskomai. It makes sense God would put His true Atonement Slate on public display outside the city gate, because Jesus came to be the atoning sacrifice for the whole world, not just a select few.

There are many more passages I could cite, but the point is clear: Jesus suffered and died for everyone because He wants everyone to be saved. However, Congressman Higgins seems to believe that in order to save and defend all that is good and righteous, we must kill people that Jesus died for.

I would like to ask Congressman Higgins what he’s calling Christians to defend: America, or the kingdom of God? For, as the early Christians displayed, the goodness and righteousness of God’s kingdom is not defended through worldly methods.

Religion is to be defended – not by putting to death – but by dying. Not by cruelty, but by patient endurance. Not by guilt, but by good faith. For the former belongs to evil, but the latter to the good. … For if you wish to defend religion by bloodshed, tortures, and guilt, it will no longer be defended. Rather, it will be polluted and profaned. … The worship of God, since it belongs to heavenly warfare, requires the greatest devotedness and fidelity. – Lactantius 304-313CE, ANF Volume 7, p. 239 [CD-ROM] 

The early Christians were consistent in their devotion to Christ. They were also consistent in the way the doctrine of redemption affected their approach toward the lost. And because of their love-filled consistency, nearly 1/10^th of the Roman Empire had become disciples of Jesus by the end of the third century.

Now more than ever, with there being so much hostility toward Christianity in our world, we Christians need to be consistent in our mission of discipleship. It’s not enough to only love, serve and forgive the people that we like, that like us or look like us. It’s not enough to only be on mission with Christ when we feel safe.

The mission Jesus invites us to calls for consistency. And if we will trust Him enough to do things His way with consistency, we will see Him turn enemies of the cross into passionate followers of the Way. Our God can do exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine!