Arrogant Christianity

The words Jews and Gentiles can be replaced with Christians and unbelievers today. Are we any better? No beloved. There is no one righteous, not even one. So why then do some in the modern church feel compelled to deal in judgment and hellfire without the love of Jesus? The key verse from Deuteronomy gives us some insight.

First of all, our hearts can become proud. Somewhere along the line, we can acquire a sense of being superior as opposed to how the Word says we are to be:

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3: 12-14

Sometimes however, we can start to think that we know better than God. Suddenly Scripture becomes a little less ironclad than it had been in the past and we can use God as an excuse for having a loveless Christianity. The Prophet Jonah is a good example. God gave Jonah an instruction. He was instructed to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Jonah knew that the city of Nineveh was an extremely wicked city that had committed many atrocities against the Jewish people. He concluded that Nineveh did not deserve the opportunity to repent. So, he decided that he would not follow the directive of God and he fled. His pride made him believe that he knew better than God. Remember, God did not ask Jonah's opinion and today, he does not ask us for ours either. He has given us his word and we are expected to follow it. Not debate it with God. Not argue about it. Not think that we know better because of the knowledge we feel we have gained, or because of cultural differences or because of historical nuances.

God eventually got Jonah's attention but he still displayed an arrogant and petulant attitude and actually hoped against the plan of God! Even after Nineveh repented Jonah still sat off at on a distant hill, hoping God would destroy the city. He would get angry with God eventually because He allowed for a vine to grow for shade and then took it away. Finally, God had to remind Jonah that it was not all about him:

But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" Jonah 4: 10-11

We too get concerned about things that we have nothing to do with. We can fall into the trap of confusing the righteousness of God for our own. We forget that there is a lost and dying world with more people than Nineveh who do not know their right hand from their left. God has told us to bring the Gospel to them, not only judgment. He has instructed us to love them, not just condemn their sin. He has demanded humility, not arrogance. Does this mean we avoid the topics of sin and hell? Absolutely not. But there has to be love in the message. The true Gospel message is that Christ died for our sins and because of that we have union again with Almighty God.

The next part of the key verse shows how this is possible we can forget God! Jonah certainly forgot God. So we can today as well. We can come to church on Sundays and raise their hands but on Mondays we can slip back into the judgment business without the love of Jesus. We can walk around with our noses in the air and have a false sense of superiority. You cannot have a heart of pride and remember God at the same time. But some Christians are on a mission to bring the morality of Christianity to an immoral world. They want to break the yoke instead of God. We are supposed to bring the lost to the foot of the cross not hit them over the head with it. Christ breaks the yoke.

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