I just heard something that made my blood boil. Surprise, surprise, it was on Christian radio coming from a "Christian" pastor. The message was all about "not being under the law.". Unfortunately, I did not hear the very beginning, so I'm unsure what scriptures he used...but I DO know, it was Paul's letter to the Colossians. Anyway...the exact quote he used (and I'm not naming him) was:
"This law (Old covenant) does not mean anything to us today, unless you're a Jew living in Israel."
Gee, yes...AND?? Your point is WHAT?? What if someone IS a Jew living in Israel today? What then? What if someone is a Jew NOT living in Israel? What if someone claims to have given their heart over a JEWISH Messiah?? What then? Does this pastor realize how many people he has just deemed "exempt" from the freedom of Yeshua in that one sentence? Was this man trying to say that only Non-Jewish believers have the truth because we KNOW that we're not under the law?? Was he trying to say that Jewish folks are "stupid" because they ARE under the law ( He said it only means something if your a Jew living in Israel). What if you're NOT a Jew, living in Israel? So, YOU got it goin' on, while all the Jewish folks in Israel are BOUND by the law, but Christians are not?? What in HELL is going on here?? Listen, those who are Jewish have enough trouble with anti-Semitic finger pointing as it is, don't you think? They do not need more from the CHRISTIAN church of all places, who TEACH that we need to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Does anyone else find anything WRONG with this? Listen, I don't intend to go on for days here, I wanna make this short and sweet; but what about those Jewish folks living in Israel? Could it be that they know something about dedication and devotion that we in the western world don't because we're too busy calling it legalism??
That's exactly what this pastor kept calling it too. Legalism. It is true that all the religious tradition in the world, in and of itself can never cleanse a man of his sins, because God's standard is perfect. None of us are perfect so we've missed the mark, and Yeshua Hammashiach has paid for where we've missed the mark...but do we not have a greater problem when we do not understand that God is really not interested in us picking and choosing what we can and can't "get away with?". Do we not see that Christians claim to worship a JEWISH Messiah? Do we not see that tradition, and the DESIRE to follow God's law, should be what shows Him that we love him? Again, I liken it to being deeply in love with someone, and wanting to do everything you can to please them: Will we do it perfectly? No; but the desire to TRY runs through our veins like blood because we are on FIRE for that person! :) Right? A minister can stand at his pulpit and say that these are matters of the heart all he wants. It is not about what we eat and drink. Okay, but...are you SURE? Don't actions show people that we love them even more than words? Usually. Don't we say that all the time? Don't we seem to chant it like a mantra, even? "Love is a verb"... Remember DC Talk?
I am not telling ANYONE what not to eat, or drink, or ware. (Gosh, I feel like I'm quoting Matthew all the sudden); but is it just possible that this is why God gave us the mandate in the first place? Isn't he saying to us: "Be holy, for I am holy"? Is it possible that the law is instructions for actually carrying out matters of the heart BECAUSE we know we are no longer bound by it? We've been saved, so now we are covered when we fall short AS we're following his instructions...not as we're sifting through them and ridding ourselves of them because we're taking the freedom, but not the responsibility. And anyway, doesn't this argument about "to drink alcohol or not drink alcohol" CREATE the very sort of legalism that the pastor was accusing Jewish folks of having? Is it just possible that the Jews in the book of Colossians were flaunting themselves as being too perfect...and this is NOT what God requires? But we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater, and behave like we are exempt from the law (instruction) of the Original Covenant.
Now this pastor said that we should stay away from certain things as a means of making sure our brother does not stumble. This should be our desire. Sure. Perhaps it's more simplified to do this with a "set of rules" then not. Will we break them? Sure... we broke our parents rules, didn't we? Did our parents not love us anymore? Of course not. Why would we think God would not love us, then? Is it possible that because of Yeshua's death on the cross, we are now SAFE to follow God's law...and screw up? (Because the grace covers that)? I don't mean, on purpose...I mean, even when we do our BEST we make mistakes, right? Of course. But God says, you won't be "burned" for any imperfections now, because Yeshua's death paid for it all. We are SAFE now, to follow the law as best we can. Ladies and gentlemen, may I suggest that we are supposed to run TO that safety and live within His mandate...not away from it. Instead, pastors are preaching this message with an empty beer can sitting on their pulpit, saying it's not about what we eat or drink...these are matters of the heart. Really? Well then, with all due respect sir, I'd get rid of the beer can, and pay more attention to the Jews living in Israel.
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