By Marco Jericho
You may have heard the craze about a personality who recently made the news worldwide by their decision to change their body – literally. If you have been on Facebook, this is nothing new or shocking. Society is always pushing the morality standard of people, and celebrating any change to morals as courageous and a human right victory. But where does that leave us as believers, when faced with something as such? Do we go about and fill our Facebook wall with comments about how wrong it is, and quote several verses from Leviticus? Do we start telling people how Jesus is coming back and the world will end soon, and start rambling on about Revelation? The answer might surprise you.
Beware of Division
The truth is, we are not the morality enforcer, nor does God need us as His lawyers.
The enemy will always use confusion, celebrate the controversial, and then stand back and watch how the church responds.
This technique is nothing new; it was used by the Pharisees in order to trap Jesus into reacting or saying something the world can lash back at him. Notice how the Pharisees would always start: “The Law says this, what do you say?” “She was caught doing something wrong, what should we do?” “Is it wrong to pay taxes to Rome? Or what do you think of divorce?”(Matthew 19:3-9, 22:15-22, John 8:1-11)
These were controversial topics back in Israel! If the Jews had Twitter back then, they would be hash tagging away, quoting Jesus and filming the moment with their smart phones. It was a hold your breath moment, when those questions were asked. It looked like a winning situation for the Pharisees, because they knew no matter what response Jesus would give, there would be one group opposed to what He would say. Does the situation sound familiar to you?
Know Their Heart
Have you seen those interviews, where the host is just aiming to bring the worst out of the guest, and trying to put them on the spot? With great cameramen around, you will always have shots of the crowd’s faces, to see if they approve or disapprove of the guest’s comments. This is kind of the same scenario with Jesus. He is pressed with questions, the crowd is looking on to see what side He will pick, and guess what? The Scriptures say, Jesus knew their hearts, knew their thoughts, knew their spirit. (Matthew 9:4, Luke 5:22, John 2:24)
He doesn’t look around unsure about what to respond or measure, what answer the majority of the crowd would want to hear, and side with that opinion. What did Jesus know exactly? He knew the people around Him were broken, He knew they were hurt, scarred by a religious system that set them up for failure. He knew they were people left empty by their choices, and it didn’t matter what side they chose, it was unfulfilling. He knew, that the religious leaders were just about promoting what their views were, and what they stood against. Fast forward to today, and we are surrounded by the same type of people. We’re surrounded by people who are hurt and broken, were surrounded by people who make us face palm (exasperated), by their views and condemnation.
The Bible tells us Jesus knew their hearts. It emphasizes knowing their hearts more than knowing the answer. Do you know the hearts of those you’re addressing, or is it more about knowing the answer? Do people know you more for what you’re against, than what you stand for?
Declare Love and Let God Astonish
The crowd was astonished, marveled and praised God (Matt 9:8, 22:22, 33). Why were they astonished or marveled?
They were astonished by the fact that He didn’t speak condemnation, nor politically nor by a ‘what I feel vibe’. Jesus declared love into areas of controversy, He declared compassion and mercy to people who were broken.
While others beg for a side to be picked, He declares what He stands for, which is His heart, His love. The only ones who walked out missing this love were those who were holding onto their views and opinions, more than showing love. This world will always be looking for a side to be on. Jesus didn’t come to pick a side in the world. He came to bring life and love to both sides that had their share of hurt and brokenness.
Next time the internet breaks out with a story, will you look for ways to minister and draw people from both sides to His love or look to express your opinion?
