Notes on a Popular Mistake
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mtf said:
Don't forget that Jesus brought the sword, not peace.
I'm pointing out instruction from Christ unto the faithful, and you're suggesting the prerogative of divine authority for the faithful?
You would seem to be making my point about usurpation:
But that's the thing; in Mt. 7, Jesus warns of false prophets, and while God works in mysterious ways, it is hard to see how usurpers―those who wish to possess, determine, and execute God's judgment and authority in their earthly endeavors―fit the bill. The United States, for instance, is rife with evangelical assertions of Christianity most obviously and deliberately identifying according to their desire for earthly dominion according to their own judgment in lieu of God's.
Trust God's purpose and judgment.
I've actually given you an example. Kim Davis, for instance, will not render unto Caesar,
e.g., the U.S. Constitution; she wishes instead to exercise her judgment against other people, but such judgment is God's and God's alone. She's hardly alone; Christian supremacism as an exclusionary authority has been around pretty much since ... if not the beginning, then perhaps second century. Any time you see someone using Christianity to harm others, you are looking at a usurpation of God's authority.
For that evangelical political bloc I noted, this is why they do it:
Basically, what is happening is that God will reckon with each sinner, and these self-proclaimed Christians simply don't trust His Judgment and Justice to satisfy their aesthetics―so they want it for themselves.
They are, essentialy, faithless.
Here's a petty one: The same bloc of evangelical Christians who will not render unto Caesar also, as part of their political ritual, call Republican candidates to stand before them and demonstrate their piety for the sake of being seen.
Some people really do run around like a Mack Sennett antithesis of Christianity. No amount of unwinding the neuroses driving that behavior will ever make it properly Christian.
The thing is that if you add it all up through the Gospels, Christ makes exercising judgment under the Law that He came to fulfill virtually impossible; in Matthew 25, He seals the fate of the faithful:
"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'
"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
"Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'
"Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?'
"Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
(Matthew 25.31-46 [RSV]↱)
And there you have the key to Christian faith. It's one of the most apparent instructions of His ministry.
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Notes:
Image: Pastor Kevin Swanson calls for genocide against homosexuals in the name of Christ at the National Religious Liberties Conference, 7 November 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa, an event attended by three Republican presidential candidates―Sen. Ted Cruz (TX), Mike Huckabee, and then Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
Weigle, Luther, et al. The Bible: Revised Standard Version. New York: Thomas Nelson, 1971. University of Michigan. 7 August 2016. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/r/rsv/