A Sword Not Peace

Matthew 10

    There are those who are assuming they know what the message of God is.  At best they misrepresent the teachings of Jesus.  Often it is a complete misunderstanding and scripturally wrong.  Let's not assume that these individuals are not Christian.  I have recently had a number of people who claim to be Christians but yet they have bought a lie from their pastor or just have not looked at the full word of God.  I believe the challenge comes to how often people read the bible let alone study it.  

A study from 2009 conducted by the Center for Bible Engagement titled "Understanding the Bible Engagement Challenge:  Scientific Evidence for the Power of 4" says only six out of ten read the bible on occasion.  Less than two out of five read it once a week.  The rest of the study follows.

Nine out of ten (93%) Americans say that they own a Bible (Robinson, 2002). In fact, the average American household has four Bibles (Harper-Collins San Francisco Book Catalog, May-August 2007) and the Bible still remains the best-selling book of all time (Business Week, 2005). Even in this country that has been described as a land of “religious free-lancers” (Grossman, 2009), most Americans still believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God (Newport, 2007). 

Unfortunately, owning a Bible and believing it’s the inspired word of God typically does not mean that people actually read the Bible.  However, only about six in ten Americans say they read the Bible at least on occasion, down from three-fourths in the 1980s (Gallup & Simmons, 2000). Less than two out of five read the Bible at least once a week. In addition, only one out of four American Christians completely agree with the statement that they regularly study the Bible to find direction of their lives (Gallup, 2003). 

https://bttbfiles.com/web/docs/cbe/Scientific_Evidence_for_the_Power_of_4.pdf

We can garner from this fact that the average Christian let alone the average person as a whole knows little to nothing of the Bible aside from what they receive from the church or maybe podcasts etc.  At the same time my personal knowledge says many of those who are not Christians likely know more about the Bible than the Christian does.  This was evident to me as a young Soldier who was a Christian shared a barracks room with a Wiccan.  We discussed the Bible and I quickly learned that he knew at least as much as I did.  Knowing this I decided I needed to ensure I knew more.

Most people attend church are fed the word from the pastor who they assume is going to teach them truth and they go home.  They don't open their Bible at church because the verses are often on the screen and so we zone out.  We except anything and everything the pastor says and we go home.  We fail to open the Bible again all week.  Yet suddenly we are an authority of what scripture says and what Christ taught.  At best it is a Sunday School version but usually not that close.

What most believe Jesus' message is that we are to simply love everyone, accept them without expecting change.  You live a good life you go to heaven.  That is at best what they believe in its simplest form.

The problem is this is the feel good message.  This is the message that brings them comfort because they don't want to believe a good God would have consequences for sin.  They want to believe a loved one is in heaven because a place of hell is scary and God would not send someone there.

Matthew 10 gives us a concise view of the greater part of what the Gospel message is.  Though Jesus said love your neighbor and he showed love to all he also spoke truth with an expectation that people would not remain in their sin.  There are several areas in scripture where Jesus talks about the fact not all will go to heaven.  That the way to heaven was believing in him and changing the way we think and act.  The message of the Gospel is not just pixy sticks, rainbows and sunshine.

Matthew 10 tells us the message of the Gospel could cause us to lose our life. If it is simply, love everyone and rainbows and sunshine then why would people want to kill us.  The message of the Gospel than is more radical than what people would have you believe.  Verse 34 - 36 are possibly the key verse to give us understanding of Jesus' intent in the gospel message.  

34 “Don’t think that I came to bring peace to earth. I didn’t come to bring peace but conflict. 35 I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A person’s enemies will be the members of his own family.

Some translations say, "I did not come to bring peace but a sword."

This seems to be forgotten or left out in many peoples understanding of Jesus' message.  For these were words are directly from Jesus.  If it is sunshine and rainbows and just love everyone Jesus had no reason to say there was going to be conflict.  This means his message is deeper and will cause division.  So that love your neighbor does not mean you let them sin.  You must call out sin.  Psalms 97:10 tells a Christian to hate evil.  A message of simple rainbows and sunshine would make everyone happy.  A message that says sin is sin and evil is evil is one that will cause conflict.  People do not like to be called out on their sin.  This is the challenge of the gospel it interferes with their sin.

"Many are troubled because the Gospel interferes with their sin!" Charles Spurgeon

When we look to previous verses in Matthew Chapter 10 we get more revelation that the message of Jesus is stronger and it will cause division even to the point of persecution and maybe death.  

21 “Brother will hand over brother to death; a father will hand over his child. Children will rebel against their parents and kill them. 22 Everyone will hate you because you are committed to me. But the person who patiently endures to the end will be saved. 23 So when they persecute you in one city, flee to another. I can guarantee this truth: Before you have gone through every city in Israel, the Son of Man will come.

24 “A student is not better than his teacher. Nor is a slave better than his owner. 25 It is enough for a student to become like his teacher and a slave like his owner. If they have called the owner of the house Beelzebul, they will certainly call the family members the same name. 26 So don’t be afraid of them. Nothing has been covered that will not be exposed. Whatever is secret will be made known. 27 Tell in the daylight what I say to you in the dark. Shout from the housetops what you hear whispered. 28 Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

If the message of Jesus is simply about loving everyone and not deal with their sin there is no reason to be hated. Jesus was hated because he called out sins.  Yes he ate with sinners not because he approved of their lifestyle but because he expected them to change.

The message of Christ's love goes to the point that you will share the truth even when the truth hurts.  People don't want to hear what they are doing is sin.  Do you really love a person if you don't call out their sin and allow them to go to hell without knowledge.  For you to know what is right and true and yet do not call people out for their sin then you are selfish not loving.  For you are keeping the joy of salvation to yourself.

If the gospel was simply rainbows and sunshines there is also no reason for Jesus to mention a Christian being killed for sharing the gospel.  If you are afraid of being killed for sharing the gospel then do you truly have the hope of salvation.  Paul said to live is Christ and to die is gain.  Our fear should not be in dying for sharing the gospel but God killing our soul and body in hell for denying him.

So the message is love and we should be boldly sharing the message of love that requires us to change the way we think and act through the power of Christ.  Hate the evil as Psalm 97:10 says.  Realize that when we share the full gospel of Christ we will be hated, persecuted and we may die.  For me I would rather die physically then lose my salvation because I denied Christ.  For if I deny Christ he will deny me Matthew 10:32.

One final note concerning the gospel.  Matthew 10:11 says, “When you go into a city or village, look for people who will listen to you there. Stay with them until you leave ⌞that place⌟  Another words don't be militant, don't force it. Look for those who are open to the gospel.  If there is none walk away.  You can't force someone to accept the full gospel but they will be held accountable for what they refused.  Don't you be held accountable for not sharing the gospel.

The So What:  Read the Bible regularly.  Study it so you truly know the message of the gospel. Then rise up to share the gospel not because you will be liked but because you love people enough to not let them go to hell.  You may even die.  But our greatest glory is not in living but living in such away we will get to spend eternity with Jesus.  Remember Matthew 10:39 that speaks of losing your life for Jesus.  The cost is worth it.

39 The person who tries to preserve his life will lose it, but the person who loses his life for me will preserve it.