Radical Christianity

Have you ever noticed how much the people in Hollywood and on television think they know? Do you remember what the patriarch Job said about his so-called "friends": "No doubt but you are the people, and wisdom will die with you" (Job 12:1)? Since Hollywood did not exist when our nation was founded, how did the United States become so great without the advice of the Hollywood crowd? If they knew as much as they want us to believe they do, they are the ones we should unanimously elect to all national and state offices. Sean Penn, Alex Baldwin, Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Rosie O'Donnell and similar self-appointed experts would surely keep us safe from the terrorists, tell our military how to win the war and enable the government to take care of our every need and want. In short, they would turn us into a socialist country. Do they know or do they care that no socialist or communist country in the world has provided so much freedom and so many opportunities for so many people as has the United States of America?

You may have noticed the criticisms Rosie O'Donnell has recently directed against Christianity. She said that "radical Christianity" was dangerous enough to kill people who differ with its teaching. Does that mean that those of us who claim to be Christians should change our beliefs and practices to harmonize with the views of Rose O'Donnell? I would not pay any attention to what Rosie O'Donnell said except for the fact that millions of Americans may not know how utterly foolish she and her ideas are. And if she were alone in making such stupid observations, that would be serious enough. But there are other Hollywood people, college and university professors and politicians who agree with Rosie and deliberately trash Christianity. We cannot afford to remain silent. Our lesson today has the title, "Radical Christianity."

There are people in our country who would love to see Christianity, at least any public display of Christianity, outlawed. If you think I might be exaggerating the situation in our nation, I urge you to read Janet Folger's book, The Criminalization of Christianity (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2005). On the back of the dust cover of the book are these disturbing reports: An employee was fired for displaying Bible verses in his workspace. A judge demanded that a mother not teach her daughter any ideas that might be interpreted as being homophobic. A preacher may have to go to prison for reading from the Bible. These and many other incidents prove that some prominent people are working diligently to make all public expressions of religion, especially Christianity, illegal in the United States.

Have you ever examined the origin of the word "radical?" The word literally means of or relating to the root; proceeding from the root. I am aware that words change their meaning from one generation to the next. If you have studied any language, including English, you know what I am saying. For example, when the King James Version of the Bible first appeared, the word, "prevent," meant to go before (1 Thess. 4:15). In modern English the word means to hinder, to keep from happening. As the word "radical" is used in our day, it means extreme, someone who is on the fringes of civilization. As Rosie used the word of Christians, she unquestionably meant they are as extreme as people who kill others because of different views of God and morality. Are those who claim to be Christians sometimes violent, intolerant and ugly spirited?

Anyone who has studied church history will have to admit that millions of people who claimed to be Christians have committed heinous deeds. The Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition were as evil as the German Holocaust. Historians, especially feminist historians, exaggerate the extent and cruelty of the witch-hunts in this nation and abroad, but the witch-hunts involved some of the most vicious acts anyone can imagine. Many preachers, priests and other religious leaders took an active part in the witch-hunts and in other ferocious and barbarous acts. To deny that is to be ignorant of church history. Even John Calvin approved of the martyrdom of a man with whom he had disagreements. The sad fact is that many who have pretended to be Christians have not acted like Christians. That was true in Bible times; it is also true today.

How are Christians supposed to behave? The best way to answer my question is to examine what Christianity's founder—the Lord Jesus Christ—taught and how he behaved. I urge you to listen to what our Lord said in the Sermon on the Mount. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Mt. 5:9). He also told his disciples: "You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That you resist not one who is evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Mt. 5:38-39). "You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them who curse you, and do good to them who hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends his rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans the same" (Mt. 5:43-47)?

When our Lord delivered his great sermon, his ideas were considered radical. They were so radical they led to his death on the cross. If Jesus were alive today and preached the same message, would we treat him any differently? There is one thing for sure: The preaching on television, on radio and in many American pulpits would not get anyone crucified or even strongly opposed. Much of modern preaching is nothing more than pablum. We do not want to hurt anyone's feelings. We want to fall in with the fleeting fashions of the world (Rom. 12:2). I am not advocating being abrasive or ugly spirited, but compromising the gospel message to curry favor is not imitating Christ and his apostles or the great prophets of the Old Testament.

Jesus sent his disciples on what we preachers often call "the limited commission." He did not allow them at that time to go among the Gentiles or among the Samaritans. He commanded them: "Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." How were the apostles to react if they preached in a city whose people would not listen to their message? Were they commanded to slaughter those who refused to accept the gospel? Our Lord instructed his apostles: "And into whatever city you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till you go hence. And when you come into a house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily, I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city" (Mt. 10:5-6, 11-15). Jesus did not condone any violence toward those who refused to believe in him and his message of salvation.

Did the apostles sometimes fail to abide by the Lord's instructions? Luke records an incident involving James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Please listen to Luke's account of what happened. "It came to pass, when the time was come that he (Christ) should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did? But he turned and rebuked them, and said, You know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village" (Lk. 9:51-56).

Even the apostle Peter did not fully grasp the essence of Christ's teaching. When the Jewish leaders had determined to kill Christ, they paid Judas Iscariot to betray his Lord. The officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees approached our Lord. He asked them, "Whom are you seeking?" They told him they were seeking Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus confessed that he was the one. The apostle Peter was disturbed, drew his sword and cut of the right ear of the high priest's servant. Christ commanded Peter: "Put up your sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father has given to me, shall I not drink it" (John 18:1-4, 10-11)? Did Peter not realize that God could have sent twelve legions of angels to deliver Christ if that had been the will of God (Mt. 26:53)? From this incident in the life of Christ, we can discern his opposition to killing those who disagreed with him.

The apostle Paul, one of the world's greatest missionaries, completely embraced Christ's teaching about peace. In his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul admonished his brothers and sisters in Christ: "Bless them who persecute you: bless, and curse not. ...Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:14, 17-21). The author of Hebrews urged his readers: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14).

There is no passage in the Bible, in my opinion, that more fully expresses the graciousness and forgiveness of Christ than these familiar words from the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23:34). To illustrate the meaning of Christ's prayer on the cross, I must tell you about a remarkable Christian family in a small west Kentucky town. Frank and Elizabeth Morris from Pee Dee, Kentucky lost their only son to a drunk driver. Like any loving family, the Morrises were devastated. Elizabeth was so angry she wanted to pin her son's killer to a tree and ram him with her car. Her son's killer was imprisoned. After he was released from prison, Elizabeth followed him religiously to see if she could catch him breaking the law, so he could be returned to prison. To make a long and tragic story short, the Morrises forgave their son's killer. They have actually welcomed him into their home. Elizabeth said: "I think in the long run, it would have destroyed me, if I hadn't forgiven" the man who killed my son. When I was director of the annual Freed-Hardeman University lectureship, I met Frank and Elizabeth Morris. They have been a great inspiration to me and to thousands of others.

What are some of the radical elements in New Testament Christianity? The following elements are not radical from God's viewpoint, but they are from the world's viewpoint. We know from reading of the Bible the place the home occupies in the mind of almighty God. He is the one who ordained the home (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:18-24). But our relationships in the home must not replace our duties in the kingdom of God. Jesus taught his disciples: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me. He who finds his life shall lose it: and he who loses his life for my sake shall find it" (Mt 10:37-39). Christians must not allow any relationship or responsibility to interfere with our service in the kingdom. That was Christ's reason for charging his disciples: "But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things—food, clothing and shelter—shall be added unto you" (Mt. 6:33).

I have already read these words from the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Mt. 5:9). We know Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would be called "The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6). So what did Jesus mean when he said: "Think not that I am come to bring peace on earth: I am not come to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance with his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Mt. 10:34-36). How can these sentiments be harmonized with Christ's words: "For they who take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Mt. 26:52).

When Jesus mentioned the sword in Matthew 10, he was not speaking of the weapons of carnal warfare. The sword he had in mind is what the apostle Paul called "the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17). Jesus was teaching very simply that the gospel would lead to conflicts in the home—not because that was what he wanted—but because some people in the homes would believe the gospel and obey it and others would resent their devotion to the cause of Christ. I remember hearing Marshall Keeble, an outstanding black preacher among churches of Christ, tell of a young man who came forward during a gospel meeting to be baptized. The young man told brother Keeble: "When I am baptized into Christ and become a member of the church of Christ, my people will disown me." In thousands and thousands of cases, the gospel has united families. But there were families in ancient times that divided because someone in the household became a Christian. The same occurs today all over the world. Many people claim to be tolerant, but they often do not tolerate a family member's commitment to Christ.

Did you know that some Americans believe that mission work is radical and intolerant? John Shelby Spong, a former Episcopal bishop, thinks Christians who try to convert others to their faith are arrogant. It deeply troubles me that some countries receive billions of dollars from the United States but will not allow American missionaries to try to convert people in those countries. Many citizens from those same countries come to our country and do mission work for their religions, but will not permit missionary work in their nations. In fact, some of those nations imprison men and women who preach their beliefs, if those beliefs differ from the dominant religions in those countries. We are not being very smart when we allow that to happen. If a nation will not allow American missionaries to come to preach their beliefs, we should not give that country one penny—not even one penny. Did you know that American soldiers were forbidden to bring their Bibles and other religious materials into Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War? If the United States and her allies had not won the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein would now be the dictator of Saudi Arabia and the Saudis would be virtual slaves to the Iraqi dictator.

Mission work may be radical in the eyes of many people, but it is the command of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ commanded his apostles: "Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you all the way, even to the end of the age" (Mt. 28:19-20). But the apostles were not the only ones who wanted to spread the gospel throughout the world. The persecuted disciples in Jerusalem were driven out of the city. "Therefore they who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ to them" (Acts 8:4-5).

While it our duty as Christians to spread the word, we must always do it in the way the Lord directs. Trying to coerce a person into obeying the gospel is absolutely inexcusable. Please notice what the book of Acts teaches on the methods of preaching. While Paul was in Antioch of Pisidia, he delivered some powerful sermons to both Jews and Gentiles. Most of the Jews apparently left the synagogue where Paul was preaching, but the Gentiles wanted to hear more. "Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God" (Acts 13:42-43). While Paul was in the city of Corinth, "he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks" (Acts 18:4). Paul told the Corinthians: "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor. 5:11).

Throughout history, there have been religious people who threatened Jews and others with death if they were not baptized. Can you imagine Christ's threatening some person unless that person obeyed the gospel? Those who threaten unbelievers are the true radicals in the ugly sense of that word. If I had to power to force you to be baptized, I would have no interest in doing so. But I beg you to believe in Christ and to obey the soul-saving gospel of Christ.

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334

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