Simply Jesus Pt. 19 – “Don’t Fear Those Who Can Kill the Body…”

Every election cycle, we are inundated with a plethora of reasons to be afraid. It this person wins, the economy will collapse. If that person wins, martial law will be enforced. If the other person wins, Christians will be persecuted like never before. It is the last fear, in particular, that is used so skillfully to encourage us to vote for the most “Christian” candidate.

I have to admit, though, fear has been a driving force behind some of the worst decisions of my life.

As a teenager, a fear of rejection led me to play mean tricks on people and get drunk for the first time. A year later, I got high for the first time under the similar circumstances. Eventually, I even lost my virginity due to the same desire to avoid the dreaded sting of rejection.

So, what kind of advice does Jesus give to disciples of His who are tempted to disobey Him in order to avoid being rejected by others?

What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. – Matthew 10:27-31

Evidently, we waste a lot of time and energy worrying about being accepted by people. After all, the worst thing they can do to us is kill us. Instead of fearing people, we should be spending our days doing our very best to please the God who gives us life and breath, and who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

But should a straight forward approach really be taken here? Is Jesus actually warning His disciples to make sure they fear God who can destroy people in hell? If you asked an early Christian, they would say, “Yes.”

How serious is the case of a Christian man, if he, a servant, is unwilling to suffer, when his Master first suffered. … He is to be feared whose anger no one can escape, as He Himself forewarns, and says: “Do not fear those who can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” … 

Let these things, beloved brethren, take hold of our hearts … to revolve in our thoughts and feelings the punishments of the wicked, and the rewards of the righteous. What the Lord threatens by way of punishment against those that deny Him; what, on the other hand, He promises by way of glory to those that confess Him. If, while we think and meditate on these things, there should come to us a day of persecution, the soldier of Christ instructed in His precepts and warnings is not fearful for the battle, but is prepared for the crown. – Cyprian 250CE, Volume 5, p. 619-620 [CD-ROM]

Cyprian was hunted down and put to death for his faith in Jesus during the Valerian persecution. He knew the daily dangers of deciding to live for Christ. He was a marked man when he wrote these words to the Church, so they carried a heavy weight of authenticity and power when they were read.

Like Cyprian, the Apostle Paul (who was every bit the persecuted martyr) calls fearful Christians to take on the mindset of a soldier for Christ.

Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord … but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling … Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. – 2 Timothy 1:8-9, 2:3-4

As Christians, when we give in to the temptation to fear men, I believe we are failing to remember our purpose as soldiers for Jesus. We are forgetting that we are in the midst of a cosmic war, and we have been given a holy calling to please Jesus, a Christian's true Commander in Chief, by suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. We are forgetting that unless people surrender their lives to Jesus and become His disciples, they will be destroyed, soul and body, in the lake of fire.

So may we never forget to seek first God’s kingdom. May we never forget that the most people can do to us is kill us. May we never forget that those who die with Jesus will reign with Him. And may we never forget to fear God. 

Simply Jesus Pt. 18: “Love Your Enemies”

A few Sundays ago, the two house churches I help oversee came together to discuss various ways that Jesus calls us to suffer for His name’s sake. It was both a challenging and edifying conversation.

At one point, someone brought up the issue of self-defense; as in, surely God understands if we do harm to someone when our lives are being threatened, right?

That thought process certainly makes perfect sense in American society, but what did King Jesus say?

Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. – Luke 6:31-36

“But,” one might say, “that passage must be an example of Jesus using hyperbole. I mean, it just isn’t practical. Surely He doesn’t expect His followers to actually put those teachings into practice, right? Christianity would be wiped off the face of the earth!”

I understand why someone would think that way, but those thoughts are most likely coming from someone who has not been taught the history of the earliest believers of the way of Jesus. The earliest Christians viewed Jesus’ command to love our enemies as a powerful method of evangelism.

Christians … live on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. … They love all people and are persecuted by all. Nobody knows them, and yet they are condemned. They are put to death, and just through this, they are brought to life. … They are abused, and yet they bless. They are assaulted, and yet it is they who show respect. Doing good, they are sentenced like evildoers. When punished with death, they rejoice in the certainty of being awakened to life. … In a word: what the soul is in the body, the Christians are in the world. – Letter to Diognetus 125-200CE, Volume 1, p. 47-48 [CD-ROM]

This is not a proof text of the Ante-Nicene Christians. They taught and lived out this command in the face of unimaginable persecution without resorting to retaliation. And by the beginning of the 4^th century, Christianity made up 1/10th of the Roman Empire despite being an illegal religion.

One of the main reasons they chose to love their enemies, in addition to viewing Jesus as Lord, is their belief that He truly died for everyone and desires all to be saved.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. modeled how the power of the gospel is unleashed when we take Jesus at His word. He reflected the courage of our Savior by not seeking to destroy evil with evil, but rather, by overcoming evil with good.

In 1962, as Dr. King was speaking at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a 200lb white man rushed the stage and began to beat King with his fists. Dr. King dropped his hands and began to speak softly to the man, assuring the man that he would not be harmed by anyone there. But the man, a member of the American Nazi Party, kept on beating him.

Eventually, one of the conference leaders intervened, but Dr. King yelled out, “Don’t touch him! Don’t touch him. We have to pray for him.” After the assault, Dr. King and his aides met with the young man in a private room to speak with him, and later King informed the crowd at the convention that he would not be pressing charges against his persecutor.

Who lives like that? It’s like Dr. King was from another world.

Yet, that’s the way the early Christians, the apostles and King Jesus Himself said we are to live. Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world. Paul said our citizenship is in heaven. And now more than ever, we Christians need to demonstrate heavenly courage in loving our enemies so that once again we can be to the world what the soul is to the body. 

Simply Jesus Pt. 17: “… Teaching Them to Observe All That I Commanded…”

Every night it’s the same routine with our daughter. We tell her to take her shower, use the restroom, brush her teeth and put on lotion. Every. Single. Night. Imagine how you, the parent, would react emotionally if this fictional scene unfolded before you…

Dad: Hey Boo, I need you to get ready for bed. So go shower, use the restroom, brush your teeth and put on lotion, please.

Daughter: 15 minutes later bursts out of the bathroom like Simone Biles after sticking a landing. “I did it! I’m finished!”

Dad: You’re all finished?

Daughter: Yes! I’m all done! I’m all clean and ready for bed.

Dad: You’re all done? So you took a bath, brushed, used the toilet and put on lotion?

Daughter: Well, I washed my hands until they were SO clean.

Dad: So let me get this straight. You were in the bathroom for 15 minutes, and all you did was wash your hands?

Daughter: Yeah. Just like you told me. I got clean and ready for bed.

So, if you were the dad in that fictional story, what would your emotional reaction be to your daughter’s actions?

Astonishment? Bewilderment? Frustration? I ask, because I sometimes I wonder how Jesus feels about the way His modern day disciples approach His commands.

After Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, not too long before He ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, King Jesus gave His disciples this solemn charge, also known as the Great Commission:

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. – Matthew 28:18-20

This passage is loaded with spiritual insight, but the main phrase I’d like to highlight is, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”

Look at the simplicity and passion with which the early Christians interpreted this phrase:

The Lord, when, after His resurrection, He sent forth His apostles, charges them, saying, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you.” And the Apostle John, remembering this charge, subsequently lays it down in his epistle: “This is how we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that says he knows Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” … This is to be a confessor of the Lord. – Cyprian 250CE, Volume 5, p. 536 [CD-ROM]

As I wrote in my book, "What Jesus says in the Great Commission is so plain it takes an elementary school education to understand and a seminary degree to confuse. Jesus actually expects His followers to obey all His commands, because that’s what followers of Jesus do."

But, like the daughter in the story above, Christians are frequently found rewriting Jesus' commands on our mission statements and websites, and then we expect rewards in heaven for living out a comfortable version of His words.

For instance, Jesus didn’t just tell us to make disciples. He told us to make disciples of all people groups. Jesus didn’t just tell us to love God and love people. He told us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves.

Jesus said to repent. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do not worry. Follow Him.

Simply Jesus Pt. 16: “Whoever Loves Father or Mother More Than Me…”

In Mark 3, Jesus is in the early stages of His ministry. Large crowds from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon are following after Him. He has just come back home after choosing twelve men to be His personal disciples and apostles, and it’s making His family quite uncomfortable.

Mark describes what happens next in His Gospel:

When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” – Mark 3:21

Verses 21-35 reveal that the people who came to lay hands on Jesus and drag Him away were His own mother and brothers. Though they probably believed they were doing the right thing, Mary, James, Jude and the boys thought Jesus was out of His mind, and came to stop the Messiah from doing God’s will.

One of the most difficult conversations I’ve had as a Christian occurred about a month after I took my first position in full-time ministry. Someone that I was incredibly close to called me, asking me not to become one of those ‘super serious Christians’. You know, one of those Christians that takes Jesus so plainly that it causes him or her to be viewed as weird by society.

You know, one of those Christians who takes Jesus at His word.

That conversation taught me a couple of valuable lessons. First, friends and family can often be the biggest hindrance to one’s walk with God. Second, Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said He came to bring a sword into the lives of His followers.

Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. – Matthew 10:34-39

Despite Jesus speaking so plainly, I used to wonder if Jesus really meant those words. Over the last five years or so, I’ve received a great deal of comfort at the way the earliest Christians interpreted Jesus’ words. The way they didn’t try to skirt around His difficult commands. For instance, look at Cyprian’s comments on this section of Matthew 10:  

He Himself instructs and warns us, saying, “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” … For if we love God with our whole heart, we ought not to prefer either our parents or children to God. – Cyprian 250CE Vol. 5, p. 839 [CD-ROM]

Do you honestly desire Jesus more than anything else in this world?

Because Jesus is Lord God and King, He naturally causes division. Because He is God, He will not be content with there being competition for the throne of your heart. Because Jesus is the King of kings, He will not bow to your mom, your wife, your sister, your daughter, your pastor, your job, football or your country. Jesus must be first.

I’m sure many Christians would be quick to say, “Amen,” to that statement. However, is that the lesson we Christian parents are modeling for our children? Are we actually modeling for our kids that Jesus takes 1^st place in all things?

At every Vacation Bible School I’ve ever attended, served at or brought my kids to (that would be too many to count) all of the opening assemblies have started the same way.

Before anyone learns John 3:16. Before anyone learns the Great Commandment.  Before anyone learns the Great Commission. Before anyone sings any songs of praise to God, you know what everyone must stop and recite as one. After all, we’ve got to get first things first. We must pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America before we can consider giving our lives to Jesus.

Then, once we have sworn our lives over to an earthly country with worldly values, only then do we allow our children to say pledges to the Christian flag and Bible. Only then do we allow children to learn about Jesus. Only after we give ourselves to country to we give ourselves to God. Do you see a problem with that?

We can tell our kids to put Jesus first ‘til we’re blue in the face, but lessons are more caught than taught.

Jesus has come to bring holy division in your life. So, how can you tangibly demonstrate to your family that Jesus is more important to you than anything else? How can you show your coworkers that you love Jesus more than your job? What are some practical, nonviolent ways you can demonstrate to your friends that you are more devoted to the kingdom of God than the earthly country that you live in?

You may seem kind of weird to the rest of the world, but Jesus is more than worth it.