Are you a Sheep or a Goat?

The first thing I want to give you, before we go any further into this, is a way to help. The following list of links are all organizations that are helping with the rescue and rebuilding efforts in Haiti. Some of them already have people on the ground there, some of them are still gathering goods and materials to send, but all of them are good organizations, groups I’ve given to or worked with myself. Even the smallest donation will help.

With that done, having given you the tools with which to express love and mercy, which is my first impulse when faced with disasters of any kind, I want to discuss something that has me so angry, so sad, so worked up that it literally shakes me.

There are those who claim the name of Christ, who call themselves “Christians,” but whose lives and responses are so far from what we see of the Biblical Christ that it boggles my mind. To me, it’s as if someone stood up and screamed “I am an orange!” but bore no resemblance whatsoever to citrus of any sort. Only, see, we’d all know that the person describing himself or herself as an orange was deranged, clearly mentally unbalanced. No one in their right mind would even consider taking advice from this person. No one would consider this person wise, or give him or her a television show, or take him seriously if he ran for president.

The problem is that these people who call themselves Christians but bear no more resemblance to the lifestyle of Christ than they do to an orange… well, it’s harder to tell that they’re crazy. And since this country was founded on freedom of religion, they’re allowed to say whatever crazy nonsense they want under the guise of religion… they have to be able to say their crazy nonsense, or else you can’t say your stuff that sounds crazy to them, and I can’t say my stuff that sounds crazy to you, and those guys over there that we all think are completely nuts aren’t allowed to say their thing. Freedom of religion means everyone has the SAME right to their religion, however weird or wrong it seems to you.

Except, we’ve still got crazy people spouting nonsense and trying to spread a pretty name on top. And that’s not cool. Politically they have that right, sure. But that doesn’t make it morally or ethically right or even religiously responsible. Even by the standards these “christians” (oranges) hold up, they’re in the wrong. They call themselves by the name of Christ, the Jesus of the Bible. OK, so let’s look at what the Jesus of the Bible has to say about their behavior.

I’m going to pick on one of these “christians”. Pat Robertson ran for president of the United States in 1988. He’s host of the 700 Club, and is a christian speaker. He’s known for some of the radical things he’s said in the wake of terrible disasters, such as after the terror attacks on September 11^th, 2001, when he claimed this was the judgement of God on America. His latest outrage is claiming that the earthquake in Haiti is the result of a Satanic pact made to free the people from the French. WHAT?!?

OK, let’s pause for a moment. IF, if we take as a given that Pat Robertson is right (and I am by no means saying he is), what purpose does it serve to declare this “judgment” against the Haitians now? Warning them, perhaps, in advance would have been useful, and even scriptural; God sent prophets to warn nations of coming devastating judgments. But to announce that this is a judgment AFTER the fact? What value does that have? Who can repent and turn from their wickedness now for a sin committed GENERATIONS ago, AFTER the judgment is delivered? How is God glorified by this announcement? HOW?

The truth? He’s not glorified. Pat Robertson ISN’T right. There is no value in passing judgment on people from your high and lofty perch, safe and warm, secure and far from want. Instead, what we have is a hypocrite, more concerned with the law and the appearance that he be seen as blameless, upright, justified and righteous, than he is with mercy, compassion, love, or justice. And how do I know which is more important to the Christ he claims to serve? It’s in the Bible.

Matthew 23:23-28 (Paraphrased) – Woe to you Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. You give a tenth, but you neglect the more important matters of the law: mercy, justice, faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. You are like whitewashed tombs: you look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you are filled with dead men’s bones and decay. In the same way, on the outside, you appear righteous to people, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Or what about the story of the Sheep and the Goats, where Jesus tells them that whatever people do to and for the least of those among them is done to and for Him… and whatever we fail to do, whatever we neglect to do, is an offense against Him. (Matthew 25:31-46)

Beloved, as Pat Robertson, and those like him, are sitting in their comfortable chairs, haughtily pronouncing judgment on people, instead of stepping out and offering the same hand of compassion that Christ Himself offered to sinners, to lepers, to thieves and prostitutes, raising the dead of Jews and Gentiles alike, I invite you to draw the comparison. Jesus was a servant, loving and giving, and while yes, he said some radical and dramatic things to call people out of their sins… when people needed love, Love is what they found, not judgment. Pat Robertson, on the other hand, seems too ready to hand down judgments and condemnation. He’s forgotten the mercy that comes from the one who’s name he claims. He says he’s a christian. Funny, he looks more like citrus than he does a christian… at least, if he called himself an orange, we’d know not to follow him. Sheep & Goat