THE POLITICS OF SCRIPTURE TWISTING

 

Scripture can transform us (2 Corinthians 3:17-4:6) and build us up, as Paul had told the Ephesian elders:

·       “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
(Acts 20:32)

It can also tear us down when abused:

·       Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, (2 Timothy 2:14-16)

When we speak correctly of God Word, we receive the approval of God. When we do not, we earn His disapproval:

·       After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
(Job 42:7-8)

However, many do not fear God as they ought, and misuse the Bible for financial and political gain. Here are some examples of how our politicians have twisted and misused the Scriptures to deceive to garnish votes for themselves.

Former presidential contender, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, had stated that the scriptures say life doesn’t begin until a child has its “first breath.” https://thecitizen.com/2019/09/15/fake-verses-democrats-reinterpret-what-bible-teaches/

However, Scripture does not say anything like that. Rather, it attests to the opposite:

·       [Mary] entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1:40-44 (ESV)

Contrary to Buttigieg, it seems that the baby in Elizabeth’s womb had already been alive. However, Buttigieg had a political agenda that guided his misused the Scriptures.

Corey Booker, another presidential contender, justified his support for LGBTQ by also citing the Scriptures:

·       "It said in Micah [6;8], 'What do you want from your Lord, but what is it you want from your people?...Which is to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly -- walk humbly -- and, so for me, I cannot allow, as a leader, that people are going to use religion as a justification for discrimination [against LGBTQs]." https://www.foxnews.com/politics/booker-bible-lgbtq-town-hall

However, Booker conveniently overlooks the fact that there is not a single verse in the Bible that gives any encouragement for LGBTQ lifestyles. Although these anti-Biblical lifestyles are consistently condemned in the Bible, yet we are to treat all people with compassion, without encouraging their lifestyles.

“Virtue-signaling” and shaming have become common ploys in the political arena.

AOC routinely makes use of these ploys to advance her political agenda:

·       “Sometimes, especially in this body, I feel as though if Christ himself walked through these doors and said what he said thousands of years ago ― that we should love our neighbor and our enemy, that we should welcome the stranger, fight for the least of us, that it is easier for a rich man - for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into a kingdom of heaven ― he would be maligned as a radical and rejected from these doors.” https://www.mrctv.org

AOC is correct that “we should love our neighbor and our enemy…and welcome the stranger.” However, she wrongly applies it to accepting and promoting everything about their lifestyles and behaviors. However, she knows that if she succeeds in making Christians feel ashamed, they might reconsider how they vote.

It is no wonder that there are many stories of faith ruined. We are continually charged as “hypocrites” by the universities, Hollywood, and the media if we do not support the new moralities. Therefore, more than ever, we must exalt the Scriptures as the anchor of our souls. To accomplish this, God has given us the Church:

·       And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,  until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:11-14)

Pray that God raise up faithful teachers to equip His people.

Please consider that:

New York School of the Bible courses start September 14 for seven Mondays via Zoom. You don’t need a Zoom account, but you must register for courses at: http://www.cbcnyc.org/nysb :

I will be teaching:

·       6:00 – 7:25   260A   Worldview Apologetics: Defending the Faith

·       7:35 – 9 PM   200    Introduction to Theology

If you are planning to take one or both courses, or if you are seriously considering either, I’d be glad to email you the course notes free-of-charge.

THE BIBLICAL PATH TO RACIAL RECONCILIATION (RR)

Entitlement social welfare programs, affirmative action programs, and balancing governmental agencies – think police - with mostly people-of-color has not worked. Nothing has worked to bridge the racial divide, which seems to be worse today than at any time since Jim Crow.

It is therefore surprising that the Church is abandoning Biblical solutions in favor of more affirmative action. One head of an RR group promoted this solution at our church. He insisted that RR could be attained by placing more blacks into positions of leadership. I argued that racism cannot be healed by more racist policies, by favoring our brethren according to color or class rather than according to Biblical standards.

Biblical equality must govern our Church, and not race, class, or level of education. In Christ, we are one:

·       For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-28 ESV; Colossians 3:11)

Before God, we are one, of equal value, and equally beloved by our Savior. Yes, there are role distinctions, but these distinctions must be based upon the teachings of the Scriptures, like the role distinction between parents and children. Therefore, we cannot give preference based upon status and skin color:

·       My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4)

Nor can the Church show partially in favor of the poor, when it comes to Biblical law:

·       You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. (Exodus 23:2-3)

An important distinction: Any institution must be fair and equally apply its standards to all, if it is to win trust and unity. However, this principle does not pertain to mercy ministries or our personal decisions to extend ourselves to certain groups of people, whether Eskimos, Pygmies, or Poles. We are free to follow the leading of the Spirit in these private matters. Likewise, we are free to start a church parenting or pregnancy group, even though it would not include everyone. Besides, these would not create division and bitterness within the Body of Christ. However, to appoint elders or teachers based upon skin color would! Instead, Biblical principles of fairness should prevail. Accordingly, for the church to start a group based on “Black Pride” would be as divisive and non-biblical as starting a group based on “White Pride.” Instead, the Church must focus on our common pride in our Savior.

Likewise, no one should be excluded from leadership based upon skin color or favored because they have degrees from prestigious universities.

The unity of the Church must be based upon a oneness in love and not upon racial or class considerations. This had been Jesus’ prayer:

·       “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23)

Oneness or RR cannot be achieved by instituting racial preferences. Instead, this strategy has proven to be a prescription for division. Instead, love is the perfect bond of unity:

·       “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

The greatest gift that we can give the world is the demonstration that our Lord is able to bring all peoples together in the bond of love, not through racial quotas and distinctions. The greatest gift that we can give our brother is a love that places their needs above our own comforts.

Racial quotas and distinctions have consistently caused bitterness. How much more when they are instituted in a place where they do not belong. These kinds of distinctions are correctly perceived either as virtue-signaling or condescending. Instead, the greatest respect we can pay another is not to show them preference based upon race or social status, but to regard them as brethren, equal before God. This is the only place where true brotherhood can thrive, and it is also God’s truth.

What about the sins against black people? Of course, this is an extensive issue. However, the Biblical answer is to take responsibility for our own sins, confess them, and make reparations. If a black man has been excluded from eldership because of his skin color, the church must address this charge. If found to be correct, then reparations are necessary – perhaps immediately to make him an elder.

We can Biblically apologize for the past failures of our church. However, this should not mean that we are guilty based upon our skin color. Nevertheless, we do have a responsibility if we see injustices and could have done something about them, but did not speak up:

·       So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:17)

For this, we must apologize, ask for forgiveness, and, if possible, right the wrong. However, we must also know that it is God’s forgiveness that we really need and are guaranteed (1 John 1:9-10). This means that we are free and need not grovel to prove that we are really good people. This only earns the disdain of others. Instead, our lives should be about the courage to speak truth in love and about proving how good our Lord is!

JESUS’ MINISTRY WAS WORD-CENTERED

Preaching had taken precedence over everything else, even over healing and casting out demons. Jesus made this evident in many ways. He insisted that we had to live according to every Word of the Scriptures (Matthew 4:4), which all had to be fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-19).

Early on the morning after He had healed multitudes in Capernaum, Jesus went to a desolate place to pray. Finally, Peter found him and tried to persuade him to return to town where many were waiting for Him, presumably to be healed. However, Jesus answered:

·       “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. (Mark 1:38-39 (ESV)

In His prayer (John 17), Jesus also put His ministry of the Word upon a pinnacle above everything else. Here, we see a different side of Jesus, where He lauds His disciples to the Father:

·       “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” (John 17:6-8)

They had believed the Words Jesus had given them. No greater praise was available! Why such an emphasis on the Words of truth? Because through these Words eternal life would be granted:

·       “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

It had been through these Words that the Jesus labored to offer them eternal life:

·       I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14)

The Word was also transforming them. We would now become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). We might not see this in our continuing struggle against sin. However, the world sees it and hates the children of the light (2 Corinthians 2:14-16; John 15:18-20).

Jesus also prayed that we would be sanctified by the Word of truth:

·       “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:17-19)

Jesus concluded His prayer by acknowledging an extra bonus of the Word of truth:

·       “I have made You known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." (John 17:26 (NIV)

The revelation of God is a doorway to basking in the love of God. If we care about our Lord’s Church and our brethren, we will broadcast the Word.

However, there is a lot of resistance to this idea. Some erroneously claim that the truth cannot be known, but this notion contradicts both reason and Scripture. Jesus claimed that the truth is attainable:

·       "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32 (NIV)

However, many do not want to know God’s truth. Therefore, they claim that spiritual truth is unknowable. However, we know many things, like, “George Washington was our first president and Donald Trump is our present president.”

They may argue, “This is different, because you are talking about historical truth.” However, Jesus historically performed many miracles, and there is a lot of evidence to substantiate this fact, even from the writings of His enemies. The historical case for His resurrection is likewise highly impressive.

There is no objective truth. We must find our own truth – what works for us! This statement is likewise unsupportable. For example, there are many impressive theistic proofs, and those who sincerely come to Jesus find that He is worth all our sacrifices. We are also given the assurance that we will be with Him forever, although I didn’t possess this assurance for many years.

Besides, we cannot consistently reject the existence of moral/spiritual truths. As soon as we have been mugged, we seek for justice, assuming that what had been done to us is wrong.

Truth can transform us. However, many deny this in favor of experiences, even though as soon as the experience is over, so too is the sense of transformation, unless it leads to Godly truth and understanding.

In thousands of ways, Scripture has freed me from so much. For example, we are taught that we no longer have to be self-absorbed, because Christ has bought us. We belong to Him:

·       I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

What a blessing it has been to know Him and to know about Him (Jeremiah 9:23-24)!