How, Not to be a Christian IV

If you are asking yourself 'What is Christianity' then you need to know what it isn't:

 The Final Step – BETRAYAL

What makes each instant of betrayal so painful is that someone who knows your heart – someone who knows your longings, desires, dreams, ethics and character – someone who knows the truth, turns from that and chooses to believe you are something else.

When betrayed, your mind freezes as it struggles to grasp how your spouse, your friend, a family member, someone who knew you deeply, intimately, could turn on you and attack you with the intent of doing you great physical, mental, and emotional harm; for their gain.  Betrayal is Evil in its purest form.

On the night of the last supper, Jesus prophesied that one of you will betray me.  The disciples hurriedly looked around, surely not me, is it you?  Judas knew it was himself that Jesus addressed; Judas had to be in shock – ‘How could he know?’  Judas knew, but for a fistful of coins he chose to betray Jesus anyway.  Most if not all ‘Christians’ would agree with my belief that I do not expect to see Judas in heaven, He is after all guilty of the most hideous of crimes……Betrayal of Christ. 

Every Christian knows all about Judas, so the story holds little drama for us; but we only focus on the ending.  We overlook the beginning when Jesus chose Judas after praying all night.  We forget that they spent every day together for three years, talking, eating together and laughing.  When Jesus sent his disciples out to minister, Judas was one of them.  Judas was an intimate actor in the miracle of feeding 5,000 people; along with the rest of the disciples, his rough hands, reeking of fish, took the loaves of barley bread from Jesus, ripping off chunks to give to the mass of hungry people.  He was in the boat when Jesus calmed the sea.  When you read of the disciples questioning Jesus, Judas was there.  Those questions might have been the very question Judas asked.  Judas was there for all of it.  Judas knew the truth, he chose evil nevertheless

What began as an assumption, took root as an offense, growing into anger, finally produced the fruit of Betrayal.  How comfortable we feel, because we are not like Judas.  Betrayal calls good – evil.  We are nothing like that. 

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”  Luke 6:46

“Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.  You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that—and shudder.  “James 2:18-19

God will ask each of us one day, “What did you do to my Son?”  For what we do to one another, we do to Christ.  We cannot have faith in Christ without being faithful to Christ.

Betrayal is the fruit of a thought you decided to act on. 

(Just a short list of betrayals)

Adultery – Betrayal of Christ
Sex outside of marriage - Betrayal of Christ
Incest – Betrayal of Christ
Theft – Betrayal of Christ
Murder – Betrayal of Christ
Slander – Betrayal of Christ
Lust – Betrayal of Christ
Cheating – Betrayal of Christ
Divorce – Betrayal of Christ
Envy – Betrayal of Christ
Self-righteousness – Betrayal of Christ
Gossip – Betrayal of Christ
Greed – Betrayal of Christ
Indifference – Betrayal of Christ
Worship of your own God (Money, self, career, etc.) – Betrayal of Christ
Deliberately sinning once you’ve proclaimed your faith in Jesus – Betrayal of Christ.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’  Matthew 7:20-23

Betrayal is a Mortal Sin – just ask Judas

How Not to be a Christian part 3 

 

How, Not to be a Christian III

If you are asking yourself 'What is Christianity' then you need to know what it isn't:

 Step 3.  Acting on your Anger

You will notice that I did not write simply ‘anger’; far to many Christians have come to the mistaken belief that anger is a sin.  Often they refer back to Jesus’ sermon on the mount “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” ^{Matthew 5:21-22}  But the interpretation that Jesus is saying that anger is a sin would be incorrect.

Paul addresses anger in his typical style – head on- Paul declares, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger” ^{Eph 4:26}.  Paul clearly indicates that it is possible for us to feel angry without sinning. How can this be?  Or consider in the book of Mark when figs were out of season, yet Jesus is hungry and in his very human response as he walked past a fig tree with no figs on it cursed the fig tree.  Some look for deeper meaning in that verse, I find comfort in it, as I sit frustrated in traffic on my way to and from the office.

Jesus’ teaching isn’t that anger is a sinful emotion; rather that it is a dangerous one.  It isn’t anger that is the sin it is what we do with that anger.  Coming to accept that anger is a perfectly normal human response is the first step in eliminating the guilt that so many Christians impose upon themselves when they feel angry. It took me a long, long time to understand the chain reaction that believing anger by and of itself was a sin.  

This point cannot be overstated or overlooked.  If you believe like I once did, that your feelings of anger are sinful; then like me, you will be inclined to judge yourselves unfairly, even harshly whenever you feel angry.  When I felt angry, I assumed that God was displeased with me, which made it that much more difficult to approach him for help. The end result was that I repressed my feelings of anger, with the entire psychological backlash that results.  If you view anger the same, you have made yourself a sitting duck for the sort for just the type of emotional cycle that Satan seeks to use to separate us from God.

Anger when channeled in the right direction can be very beneficial, I doubt much would be done, or accomplished without there first being a seed of anger within someone.  If I write a book because I am angry about how people view a subject or if you decide to start a program to help benefit someone else; because you’re frustrated that certain needs, are not being properly met. Then the anger we experience is the seed that creates and an energizing force that moves us to act.

Anger is not a sinful emotion but a human one. Anger is the most dangerous of all emotions, Anger expressed with hostility, and outrage can and often times is the most destructive of all emotions, destroying relationships, careers, families, friendships, and lives.  Yet anger can be harnessed and directed in a manner and direction that results in reflecting God’s best intentions for us.

So I blog…….

How Not to be a Christian part 4 

How Not to be a Christian part 2