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 II

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

Step 2.  Offense

 “What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin?  Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.”  Matthew 18:7 (offense is a temptation)

Three point to understanding offense

1. To understand offense, one must first understand who or what the offense is against.
2. There are two types of offense, real and perceived.
3. The perpetrator and the victim of the offense are determined by the type of offense

Point 1.  I cannot count the number of things that offend my personal standards of decency, aesthetics or intellectual rigor, but those are offenses against my ideas, they are not an offense against me.  The difference is important, because understanding just that one idea dramatically alters your willingness to take offense.  If you do not like my ideas, my taste in music, art or even my writing style, that’s simply a matter of personal opinion and taste (I have taste and you don’t).  For me to be offended by a difference of opinion is child like and points to me having issues to deal with and not you.

Without question the ‘Good Samaritan’ in Luke 10:25-37 own beliefs had to have been offended by the Jewish ideas, behavior and attitude towards all Samaritans.  Yet when he encountered the badly beaten Jew on his way to Jericho, his own compassion clearly proves that while his ideas were offended, ‘he’ was not.

Point 2.  Is the offensive act real or is it assumed?  Frequently (not always) the offense we take, is an offense that exists in our minds only, a misunderstanding, or a rumor passed down to us by someone who knows someone who knows someone who heard someone. There are however very real occasions where we could, if we choose, to take offense to a very real insult, behavior or situation; when our reputations, our livelihood, and in some cases our very lives are besieged. 

Real or perceived the result is the same; a wall is built, and a relationship is destroyed.  What would happen if you slowed down, asked yourself ‘why am I offended, is it real or only imagined?’  In truth however, regardless of the answer, you will build one of two structures… a wall or a bridge.

Point 3.  Every instant of offense involves two different and distinct individuals or groups, the perpetrator and the victim.  The type of offense involved is what determines who is the perpetrator and whom is the victim.  For example, if you have deliberately spread false rumors and lies to our co-workers about me; you are the perpetrator and I am the victim.  However, if I simply assume/perceive that you have spread these same rumors and lies around in regards to me, when in truth you did not, then I am the perpetrator of my own offense and you are the victim.

To see how all of this plays out scripturally we simply need to go to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

Undoubtedly, long before Judas’ betrayal, Judas planted the seed of offense in his own mind; Judas believed that Jesus had somehow offended him.  But as we know that Jesus lived a sin free life, it is equally obvious that Judas’ offense was perceived, not real.  Thus, Judas was the perpetrator of the offense, and Jesus was the victim.

If you are like me, you have lots of experience at being offended, yet in our near perfectly lived life, we can scarcely recall any incidences where we have offended another; in truth however, we are pretty good at it.  Our Bible is filled with examples of those who offend and those who could have chosen to be offended.  A perfect example would be the story of Joseph in Genesis (how many different people were the perpetrators’ of offense in his life story, including Joseph)

How many times have we retaliated against someone who has offended us, either real or perceived?  How many walls have we built in our life?  Judas built his wall, Jesus certainly had a right to be offended; instead he built a bridge.

“For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago.  But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him.  It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”  Matthew 26:24

Go built a bridge today….

How Not to be a Christian part 1 

How Not to be a Christian part 3