Living Like Christ
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the August 16, 2014
Sabbath School Lesson
“Then an Israelite man brought into
the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole
assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of
meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this,
he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into
the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man
and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was
stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.” Numbers 25:6-9, NIV
What does it
mean to live like Christ? That question has been asked often through the
thousands of years since He walked the earth. The answers that have been given
through the ages have resulted in the many, many denominations and sects that
proliferate throughout Christendom. For some ascetics in the early church, it
meant drawing apart from the world and living in isolation to avoid the many
temptations the world provides. Others found identification with Christ by
helping the less fortunate. Still others felt that the holy wars of the Middle
Ages were the best way to demonstrate a Christ-like character.
These and
several other ideas have continued to the present. We still have those who
advocate living in the remoteness of the countryside to avoid the evils of the
cities. There are also those who work in the seething cauldrons of poverty and
disease to bring healing and comfort where they are able. We continue, as well,
to have those who see being Christ-likeness as a matter of warfare and
conquest. At times, these all seem to work at cross purposes. Those who
advocate leaving the cities are in tension with those who continue to live and
work in the cities. Those who are seeking to heal and save the lost are in
tension with those who want to sweep those who are deemed to be under the
influence of evil into early graves. It is this last group that perhaps
challenges the teachings of Jesus the greatest.
Seeing
themselves as Phinehas in the camp, they proudly carry about their spear or
sword[i]
and look for every opportunity to wound others with them. Sins, both real and
imagined, become fair game for these warriors and wherever they sense a
conflict they eagerly wade into the fray swinging their polished weapon right
and left, wounding many. Like the proverbial “bull in the china shop,” they
have little sense for the damage they are causing. They reason that the most
important act they are called to do is to “cry aloud, and spare not.”[ii]
In this, they take upon themselves the mantle of the prophet Isaiah, as though
they were called to continue his work. One cannot help but wonder if they would
be so zealous to do the works of Isaiah if they were faced with the same
martyrdom he faced. According to later rabbinical sources, he was sawn asunder
while inside a tree after a conflict with King Manasseh.[iii]
John the
Baptist suffered martyrdom as well as a result of pointing out the personal
failings of King Herod.[iv]
Herod had taken his brother’s wife from him to be his own wife. While this is
certainly not in accord with the commandments or the Levitical precepts, it
perhaps exceeded John’s calling to be the herald of the Messiah. A far too common
failing among us as Christians is that we assume a position of moral
superiority and seek to leverage that into some kind of personal authority to wield
the spear of Phinehas. Perhaps John was not immune to this temptation.
At this
point, some might respond with the example of Jesus overturning the tables of
the money changers in the temple. But if we are allowed to question the right
of Christians to “cry aloud” wearing the mantle of Isaiah, how much more so
should we question those who wish to wear the mantle of the Messiah? Is not the
latter greater than the former? In fact, even Christ did not escape the
martyrdom which is often the price for such confrontation. Perhaps we should
ask ourselves before doing the work of accusation or confrontation, “Are we willing
to die for the one we are accusing?” If we are honest with ourselves, we might
have trouble dying even for someone whom we think does not have any faults.[v]
Some who are
challenged regarding this work of accusation may insist that what they are
doing is a loving act, saving a soul from perdition. However, the real
challenge of that statement is to be found in whether or not the one doing the
accusing would stand by the accused, even when faced with death for doing so. Are
we willing to lay aside any power we might have and submit meekly to martyrdom
on the behalf of our enemies? Christ did.[vi]
Maybe the greatest hallmark of a Christian is in spite of having the resources
of heaven at his or her command,[vii]
they submit meekly to martyrdom, taking the path of Christ to glorify God.
Some might
ask, “What about the things Jesus said to the scribes and the Pharisees?” But
if we closely examine His discourse with them, we discover two things. First,
the individuals within these groups often condemned themselves rather than
suffering direct personal accusations from Christ, and second, when Christ did
make direct accusations, he made them against the group and not against
individuals. This left the door open for individual Pharisees, like Nicodemus,
to come to Jesus and be receptive to His message.[viii]
“After all,” they might think, “while Jesus may have made accusations against
the Pharisees, He did not condemn me specifically.” This willingness to leave
the way open, may have been important in Paul’s later conversion and eventual
acceptance by the early church as well.
Some might
wonder how we can allow sin to be unopposed within the church. Won’t that
result in the demise of Christianity? Shouldn’t we be working to purify the
body of believers to be ready for Jesus’ return? How can we simply sit by and
let sin prevail?
First of
all, we are taught by Christ that we are not to be weeding the bad out of the
church. He taught that those evil weeds are to be left until the harvest, and
that the weeding is not our responsibility but is left to the angels.[ix]
This is hard for us to understand, because we would love to see the field of
the Lord pure and clean. We know what sin has done to our own lives. Imagine
what it must have been like for the purity of Jesus to come and walk in our
world where every single one of us has the taint of sin.[x]
Had He been like us, He would have destroyed everyone and eradicated sin on
this planet, but He chose a better way, the way of self-sacrifice.
Because of
His experience and His deity, He knows that any attempt on our part to root out
sin within the church will cause far more damage than it will prevent. First,
because we are still trying to figure out how to deal with the sins still
rampaging in our own lives, and second, because we do not have the skill sets
of the angels who will be performing the task at the final harvest, we should
not presume to ignore the parable, pick up our spear, and set about dealing
with sin in the camp.
Finally, we
should avoid the work of accusation because the spirit which causes us to
accuse our brethren does not come from heaven. It is the same spirit that
accused God and sought to ascend His throne, usurping control over all
creation.[xi]
This is the spirit of an ugly greed for power and control that is so well portrayed
in the lamentation against the King of Tyre in Ezekiel 28.
The Devil,
who rebelled against God, we are told, accuses the righteous day and night,
without ceasing.[xii]
Imagine how it might appear to God then when we pray to Him if our prayers are
filled with declarations regarding the sins of others. Perhaps He sees us as
little different from the one who was cast from heaven doing the same thing.
If we are to
pray concerning others failings, maybe our prayers should be like Moses who
interceded and sought God’s favor for those who had openly rebelled against
Him.[xiii]
At no point in the Gospels do we find Jesus telling us to go out and find out
what sins the people are committing so we can accuse them. Instead we are to
seek and save the lost. Since all are lost without Jesus, the field of
opportunity is great with more than enough work for all without engaging in the
work of accusation. What is needed in the fields of the Lord is the sunshine of
God’s love, the water of His grace, and the cooling breath of the Holy Spirit
bringing the grain to maturity. Let us be content to seek these things for our
brothers and sisters, and they will seek them for us as well.
