ARE GOD’S JUDGMENTS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO US?

 

 

 

God’s Church needs God’s disciplines. I had been troubled by the account of Ananias and Sapphira found in the Book of Acts. Like many of the brethren, they had sold some property and had given the proceeds to the apostles for the blessing of the Church. However, even though the couple had only given half of the money from the sale—no sin in itself—they lied and said that they had given over all of the money. Peter’s response was absolutely chilling:

 

·       “Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? Thou has not lied unto men, but unto God.” And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost: and great fear came upon all that heard it. (Acts 5:3-5, KJV)

 

I was troubled by this. Such a harsh judgment from God and absolutely no expression of remorse from Peter! After all, Ananias did donate half of the proceeds. Besides, this was just a little white lie, right?

 

Then there was the matter of the way in which the apostle had spoken to Ananias’ wife. Peter’s treatment of Sapphira seemed callous to me, especially in view of her great loss:

 

·       “Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yea, for so much.” But Peter said unto her, “How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.” And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost. (Acts 5:8-10)

 

It seemed as if Peter had given only the briefest opportunity for repentance before pronouncing judgment on this unfortunate woman.

 

However, after these dramatic judgments, both of which ended with death, here is the record of Scripture:

 

·       And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all that heard these things. (Acts 5:11)

 

Well, no wonder! No one is above sin. If such a thing could happen to Ananias and Sapphira, perhaps it could happen to anyone! Who then could serve such a wrathful God? Who could continue to rejoice in Him and regard Him as their Savior, knowing that He might snuff them out at any moment? It seems that some did indeed distance themselves from the early Church because of this, according to Acts 5:13. And who could blame them?

 

Who could blame us, as members of Western culture, if we are embarrassed by such a God? Consequently, when we evangelize and share our faith, we tend to soften these harsh aspects of our God. But should we? Perhaps not! Here is the rest of the story:

 

·       The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them.  Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.  As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought… and they were all healed. (Acts 5:12-16; NLT)

 

Oddly, rather than discrediting the Church, God’s judgments were building the Church!

 

We often wonder, “To what extent has the Church been taken captive by the culture of the West and its ideas?” Have judgment and justice gone out of style? Atheist Richard Dawkins, speaking for many of the educated in the West, famously claimed:

·       The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. (The God Delusion, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006, p. 31)

 

Although most Christians wouldn’t go so far, we still find Dawkins’ words stinging and embarrassing. We therefore tend to want to make excuses for His judgments. Some have even gone so far as to proclaim that God will save everyone. Some claim that God has repented of His harsh ways. Finally, some of us would like to be able to say that Ananias and Sapphira died because of a stricken conscience, and not from the judgment of God. But saying this would be misrepresenting God.

 

Understandably, we want others to be attracted to our God, so we do everything we can to massage His image and give Him a face-lift. However, what represents an improved image in our eyes is unacceptable to Him. Instead, His blessings accompany our faithful presentation, within the context of His love, of who He really is.