The Pope created quite a stir by apparently questioning Trump’s Christianity.
Trump supporters say the Pope has no right to judge.
Yet, how often have many of the same people brazenly questioned Obama’s Christian faith to the point that even to this day many believe Obama is not a Christian but a Muslim? And this, despite the fact that Obama as asserted his Christian faith both verbally and in writing.
It would seem that, for many, one’s political views are more important than one’s faith in Christ.
Why did the powers of Imperial Rome have Jesus crucified? Jesus was a perceived threat to the stability and power of Rome, that’s why. Not only was he a perceived threat, he was an actual threat. Jesus was an actual threat because he had followers—people who believed in him and trusted his leadership and thus willingly submitted to his authority, people ready and eager to learn from him, follow him, and put into practice his guiding principles.
Followers of Jesus Christ know Jesus to be superior to any human leader, or magistrate, or judge, politician, king, prince, president, or dictator.
And so, even today Jesus continues to be a threat to the powers that be.
Thus, serious followers of Christ Jesus tend to measure all other followers of Christ by their faithful adherence to Christ’s teachings, values, and practices. Indeed, it was Jesus Himself who said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” (See Luke 6:46.)
Jesus continued this thought by drawing an illustration from construction work: “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation [on sand]. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.” (See Luke 6:47-49.) In short, Jesus says, we must be doers of His Word, not simply hearers or speakers of His Word.
To say I am a follower of Christ while teaching, acting, practicing, or living a life that is at odds with His leadership, guidance, values, practices and/or principles does in fact put into question my so-called status as a TRUE (living, practicing, obedient, submissive) disciple of Christ.
Still, it is also true that Jesus himself will be the judge of that. Note what Jesus says in John 5:22. “The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father who sent him.”
But again, it was Jesus who also said, “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” (See Luke 6:43-45.) Jesus then follows-up this thought with the words I already quoted earlier from Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?”
The trajectory is obvious, isn’t it? It is not enough to say we are Christian. It is not enough to speak kindly of his name or to declare one’s self a believer of his ways. One must do, live, and act in obedience to His Call—in spirit, attitude, character, values, principles, and practices.
To put it even more bluntly I can only yet repeat what Jesus Himself said on this master: “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 in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” (Matthew 7:21-23.)
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