Skip to main content

A Christian Viewpoint on Extremism


Created with Logos

The Apostle Paul wrote what the Lord revealed to him in the passage below, as  being the under-girding framework of all Christian wisdom and illumination when it comes to understanding what the Bible states, and how true Christians are transformed.

10 But God has revealed them [deep biblical truths] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. --1 Corinthians 2:10–16 (NKJV)

Recently the "Barna Group" released a survey entitled "Five Ways Christianity Is Increasingly Viewed as Extremist." They begin the article with this:

 "Society is undergoing a change of mind about the way religion and people of faith intersect with public life. That is, there are intensifying perceptions that faith is at the root of a vast number of societal ills."

 A quick read showed me, that it isn't just Christianity that many are concerned with as the title implies; Muslims and the Koran are also mentioned. However, I do agree that within the ranks of some "so-called" Christian groups we do find extremism, vis-à-vis Westboro Baptist, all snake handling groups, and any other cult-like group tagging "Christian," or in Westboro's case, "Baptist" onto their name. But it would be unfair for the population to rank all Christians as extremists. The survey certainly does not conclude that, but it does conclude some things that are alarming about religion. 

 The Biggest Concern
Barna ranked the findings into four categories. (visit the survey to read all four)

Category one is the category where four in five adults consider, "using religion to justify violence, refusing standard medical care for children, and refusing to serve a customer whose lifestyle conflicted with their beliefs"* as qualifying factors for extremism. They go on to say: "For the most part, these three elements were viewed to be extreme by a majority of all demographic segments as well."**

 As a strong Christian believer I can also see where using religion to justify violence would be alarming and extreme. I think we could mostly agree that any violence is alarming, and thankfully, the bulk of violent crimes in America are NOT committed by any group calling themselves Christian. I can also see where refusing standard medical care for children can also be extreme. So-called Christian groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses commonly practice this. I certainly do not fault those who are biblically illiterate or non-believers for thinking Jehovah Witnesses qualify as Christian since, for the most part, they do not understand how the Bible defines a true Christian group. If they did, they would quickly see that Jehovah's Witnesses, like the Westboro Baptisians, do not measure up to the Bible's litmus test. That test is found in (but not limited to), 1 John 2:3, 5, 3:14, 16, 19, 24, 4:6, 13, and 5:2.

 It is the third statement that concerns me the most, refusing to serve a customer whose lifestyle conflicted with their beliefs. This issue has to do with Christian liberty in America. If left to stand on its own, I believe the way the sentence is structured is not complete and is misleading. I do agree that it is a travesty, and an act of deliberate disobedience to God, for anyone who says they are Christian to refuse service to any patron based upon race, sex, ethnicity, hair color, etc. However, that is not what is at stake in most instances. What I have heard of, is Christians who refuse to service a patron if participation in the requested services is explicitly required or implied. In the recent cases concerning bakers and florists refusing to participate, for example, in a gay wedding or decorating the cakes for a gay wedding, the testimony of the vendors was they had served the plaintiffs numerous times over long time spans with no partiality. The line was only crossed when they were asked to create something that would define them, in their convictions, as participating or celebrating in what they felt was against their Christian faith. 

 The Illusion of Perception
I believe perception is what we are dealing with here, not reality. I like what Marianne Williamson wrote: "Old Newtonian physics claimed that things have an objective reality separate from our perception of them. Quantum physics, and particularly Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, reveal that, as our perception of an object changes, the object itself literally changes." In the cases of the faith based vendors, their actions have been perceived subjectively as bigotry and discrimination and not objectively as one offs based upon celebratory participation not general service. It is a shame.

So here we stand, according to this survey, looking at four in five adults who see Christians who stand for their faith as being extreme. Why? Because anything that a Christian does in the public arena is viewed subjectively by secularists and must line up with their secular worldview, including their perception of what Christians should be. By this, the Christian either stands or falls--is either condemned or justified, and that, unfairly. But here is the problem, Christians do not line up single file to receive their instruction for living the sanctified life from a Christ-less world. The true Christian's marching instructions come from the Bible and they are empowered by the Holy Spirit. This point the world will never fully understand. Again, the Bible states, But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2;14).

Could this be why Jesus was crucified by the unbelieving public and the powers that then existed? Why eleven of the twelve apostles were murdered for their faith? Indeed, it is part of the reason. Today, true Christians are vilified for many reasons not the least of which is standing for their faith. We believe according to the Scriptures that Jesus died for our sins, arose from the dead on the third day, and then ascended into heaven. We also believe that He will be returning very soon. Christians live not just to serve the Lord and others in the present, but we also live for the day when we will serve the Lord in His coming Kingdom (Rev. 20:1-6) and for eternity. Peter referred to believers as "pilgrims" ( 1 Pet. 1:1, 2:11). The author of Hebrews referred to us as "strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. 11:13), and Jesus told us to store up treasures for ourselves, not on earth, but in heaven (Mt. 6:19-21). Christians are Christians because He lives in us, (Gal. 2:20).

I know the unbelieving and the atheists do not understand this, or rather, cannot internalize this. But we live in a world that is not one-sided either for the unbelieving or for the Christian. We live in a world that is spiritual at its heart because it was created by God. Because of this, the friction between the world and the Christian, the Spirit and the flesh, the seen and the unseen, and the temporal and the eternal will wage on. The best we can do as Christians is to serve our Lord with all of our heart. If we must stand and be labeled as radical or extremist then so be it. Rejoice as did the apostles when they were counted as worthy to suffer shame for His name, (Acts 5:41).
As it is written:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,

And whoever believes on Him [Christ] will not be put to shame.” --Romans 9:33 (NKJV)

If the offense of the gospel ceases then we are no longer living the gospel.
Old Newtonian physics claimed that things have an objective reality separate from our perception of them. Quantum physics, and particularly Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, reveal that, as our perception of an object changes, the object itself literally changes.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/perception.html
Old Newtonian physics claimed that things have an objective reality separate from our perception of them. Quantum physics, and particularly Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, reveal that, as our perception of an object changes, the object itself literally changes.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/perception.html

 * -  Barna Group, Five Ways Christianity Is Increasingly Viewed as Extremist https://barna.org/research/faith-christianity/research-release/five-ways-christianity-increasingly-viewed-extremist#.Vs3gjeZbTnM accessed 02-24-2015

** ibid




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

25 Reasons to Believe - In Jesus FREE EBOOK

FREE EBOOK click to download - When book comes up click down arrow on Upper Right to save a copy . A while back the Barna Group released a report titled, "Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church." 1  Under reason two, " Teens’ and twenty-somethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow" they write:  "A second reason that young people depart church as young adults is that something is lacking in their experience of church. One-third said “church is boring” (31%). One-quarter of these young adults said that “faith is not relevant to my career or interests” (24%) or that “the Bible is not taught clearly or often enough” (23%). Sadly, one-fifth of these young adults who attended a church as a teenager said that “God seems missing from my experience of church” (20%)."  If one takes a look at the modern church-scape I can see why. The gap between those pastors and teachers that are fired up about Jesus and those that do not preach all of th
4 comments
Read more

Fornication - The Acceptable Sin?

In the Bible there are several sexual sins that are categorized under the term,"Sexual Immorality." Not the least of these is, "Fornication." However fornication has become an outdated, and in many places, the acceptable sin in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As a matter of fact, many do not even know what the term "fornication" means. Since the advent of the modern Bible translation, many have never heard of it. This article focuses on what the Scripture says about this out-of-control acceptable sin. Fornication is mentioned thirty-six times in the Bible (MT), thirty-two times in the New Testament. In almost all modern translations the word has been substituted with, "sexual immorality" and has come to mean any number of sexual sins. However, sin (missing the mark) is still sin and sin still separates a person from God. So why has this sin become so acceptable even in modern churches???? UPDATE : Here is a testimony of life
5 comments
Read more

The Bride of Christ Has Made Herself Ready!!

The Bible teaches of an upcoming Wedding Day that the Church should be on cloud nine over!! Rev. 19:7-9 states: Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come , and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." The passage above speaks of two distinct events, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Both of these events are reminiscent of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony where the Bride would become betrothed to her Groom and he would go away to build her a home. In the meantime she would wait anxiously for his return with shouts from his wedding party of "The Bridegroom Comes!" When the shouts were he
2 comments
Read more

Understanding Grace…without it no one can be saved!

Years ago as a pastor, I faced an issue concerning the topic of “Grace.” I had noticed some congregants who were taking Grace to the extreme and beginning to teach that since our sins were bought and paid for at the cross—all of them, past, present, and future—there was no need to strive against sin. Thanks to our Lord, this was noticed and the He quickly allowed it to be curbed. This heresy occasionally rears its head in Christian circles and indeed must be stopped before it becomes out-of-control. The good thing is that a proper understanding of Grace can arrest the heresy in its steps. Because this false perception thrives in loose living, many well-meaning Christians go completely to the opposite extreme and throw the Biblical teaching of “Grace” out altogether. That too is heresy. How should we approach it? Grace, as a doctrine, should always be presented in its entirety. By that I mean, a starting definition, followed by why it is important, and concluding with keeping it scri
15 comments
Read more

Cardboard Signs and Saying Yes to God

Perhaps you have seen the story of "Daniel's Gloves". It has been floating around the internet since 2001 according to snopes.com. They also tell us the original author is Richard Ryan the assistant Pastor of a Church in Indiana.  I refer to this story—which you will find posted below mine—because of the effect that helping one in need can actually have on a believer’s life. One of the things I have done in the past is monitor just how many people there are who simply pass on by those who are holding a sign stating “Will work for food” or “Need Help for me and my children.” If you ask the hurting they will tell you there are literally hundreds and hundreds who just will not help. Truly it is a sad testimony that “one or a few bad apple(s) can spoil a whole bushel.” It is definitely something I also have observed. For some reason we either fear them, fear confrontation or fear being deceived. Whatever the reason, I often wonder how God feels about it. Just a fe
Post a Comment
Read more