Let me quote Luke 18:9 about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector to prove my point. The parable is about two men who profess to believe in God but end up with very different conviction. Their prayers to God tell it all. The pharisee prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like the other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector...I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess." This prayer has all the characteristics of a man who doesn't need God. It's a wonder that he even bothered to pray to God since he had all the religious trappings of a "good" and "righteous" man. The irony is that such a man is intolerant to a fault and yet he epitomizes what is truly wrong with Christianity then and today. He has essentially forgotten that Christianity is not a morality contest in the likes of Miss Congeniality.
In a Miss Congeniality contest, the crowning queen only needs to satisfy one criteria: Is she the most popular girl of them all? For the pharisee, a similar question would be: Is he the most moral person of them all? By all external standards, based on Mosaic rules and precepts, the pharisee wins it hands down - his prayer says it all. He is no extortioner, unjust, adulterer and he has fulfilled all the dos and don'ts of his religion. But did he? What can we say about the tax collector?
The tax collector has much less drama than the pharisee. He stood afar, head held low and, with both hands thumping his chest, he cried out, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" When we compare the pharisee and the tax collector, we find an oxymoronic contrast. One thinks he's righteous but he's far from it. The other thinks he is not but he is much closer than he thinks. One thinks he's the apple of God's eye but a rotten apple at that. The other thinks he's rotten to the core but is accepted by God as His beloved. One thinks he is exalted but is universally despised. The other thinks he is despised but wholly justified. What makes this contrast so stark and revealing is that both received the same teaching but experienced a totally different heart conviction. That is why Proverbs 4:23 cautions, "Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
The conclusion of the parable is instructive. "I tell you," Jesus admonished. "this man (the tax collector) went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." In fact, the history of Christianity is littered with the evil works of men of God who profess with their mouths what they do not in their lifetime believe in their hearts. And most unfortunately, they became stumbling blocks for many well-intentioned believers whose faith were seriously affected by their hypocrisy.
If you read the history of the grand inquisition which lasted for about 600 years from the early 13th century to the late 18th century, you will convulse at the atrocities committed by the Catholic devout and priests, especially the Dominican/Francisican friars, in the name of God. Many perfectly good Christians, ardent followers of Christ and martyrs of God were killed by the so-called God's chosen ones or peasant crusaders who were conveniently handpicked by the Pope during that time to do His unholiness' dirty work. No one was spared by the Inquisition's overreaching hand of perverted justice. As long as they were labeled as heretics, their fate were sealed. And mind you, it was then easy to be guilty of being a heretic. You don't have to openly object to the practises of the Catholic Church or start a new movement in protest to the establishment to be persecuted.
During the height of the Inquisitorial fanaticism, women with a facial mole, a bad temper or no husband and who domesticated many wild cats could be hauled up for interrogation and be subsequently punished, tortured or burned at the stake. Even death was no refuge for the victims. Many rotting corpses were exhumed and tried for heresy and put to flames. And their properties were confiscated by these hypocritical, self-styled pious soldiers of God for self-profit. One victim of the Spanish Inquisition cried out, "I was torn in pieces by the devils that rack the brains of unhappy men. Do God's eyes not reach to the prisons of the Inquisition?"
Recently, I bought a book entitled Losing my Religion authored by a journalist, William Lobdell. He was once a Christian but he later lost his faith when he started to report about religion in America. If you read his book, you will note that William's belief was seriously challenged when he reported about the sexual abuses of the Catholic priests. These priests repeatedly molested, abused and raped young children, both boys and girls, some as young as 11 years old, and most of these acts were covered up by the Church by the latter destroying the records, paying the victims to keep quiet and transfering the offending priests to another parish. In the end, the Church had to pay millions to the victims and their families for the unspeakable pain and torment their so called shepherds of God had inflicted on those who reposed on them their utmost trust, complete faith and spiritual well-being.
Beloved, as Christians, we will do well to be reminded of William's conclusion when he wrote, "If the Lord is real, it would make sense for the people of God, on average, to be superior morally and ethically to the rest of society. Statistically, they aren't. I also believe that God's institutions, on average, should function on a higher moral plain than governments or corporations. I don't see any evidence of this. It's hard to believe in God when it's impossible to tell the difference between His people and atheists."
Indeed, Jesus had foreseen how evil an unrepentant, unregenerated and unreformed heart can be, what such a person is capable of, and how he or she can be a stumbling block to many sincere Christians out there. That is also why Jesus reserved the worst rebuke for the teachers of the Law. It therefore bears repeating what Proverb has to say, "Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
As much as I empathize with William's disillusionment with faith, I however do not agree with his conclusion. Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinnned and fell short of the glory of God." We are all human and perfection is definitely not our inalienable right at birth. We are all born flawed, for some, seriously flawed. If given a chance and given time, William will find out that there are good Christians as well as bad; just like there will always be good atheist as well as bad ones. Christians do not have the final say on morality; we do not monopolize moral standards. If I may use an analogy, God is our piano-tuner and we are his piano. God knows how each key or string is to be tuned and there is only one way to tune them. For example, the key of middle C can only be tuned in such a way that it sounds in harmony with the key that comes before it (key B) and the key that comes after it (key D). So, with this in mind, my question is: do we condemn the piano because it is out of tune and throw it away? Well, to do so would be silly because an out-of-tune piano is not useless, unplayable or spoilt. If properly tuned by the master tuner, the piano can still churn on masterpieces when placed in the hands of a maestro pianist.
So, it is with Christians. We are out-of-tuned pianos. God is our master tuner. He is still working on us and none of us can claim that we are fully tuned par excellence. It is therefore not the religion that is flawed. It is the person practising it. William, in his anguish, had committed the error of categorization. He has lumped the religion with the practitioner together and had effectively threw the bath water of religion out of the door together with the Christian baby. Philosopher Keith Ward put it most elegantly this way, "My conclusion is that all human beings, religious or not, are prone to evil. Human beings are dangerous, and anything they believe or do will probably go terribly wrong at some point. The question is: how can we best guard against that? The best safeguard is a set of beliefs that convicts humans of wrongdoing and promises them a reconciliation with a personal being of supreme goodness...Religion does not lead to corruption. Human nature leads to corruption. If we let human beings into our religion, it is going to be corrupted."
Let me end with John 21:15-17. The scripture describes events after Peter denied Jesus three times. When Jesus appeared to Peter, he challenged Peter three times with the same question: "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Just as much time as Peter denied him, he was asked whether he loves Jesus and his answer were the same but it grew in emphasis, intensity and, I believe, conviction. When Peter replied, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus answered, "Feed my lamb". The second time Peter replied, Jesus said, "Tend my sheep." The last time, Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."
Beloved, can you see the process here. From lamb (baby sheep) to sheep, the process is all about growth, spiritual growth. Don't expect an overnight transformation of the heart. Let me reinforce this point by quoting verse 18, "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." Peter grew by surrendering his will to God and gradually developed in his spirit a force which initially was no bigger than a pebble to a reckoning force called the rock where the church of Jesus was laid as its firm foundation.
This is the same Peter who was impulsive, temperamental, hardly modest, overtly self-assertive and cowardly. But under the feet of Jesus, Peter was tamed, polished and transformed. Although he sinned as grievously as Judas when he denied Jesus to save his own skin, his heart was truly and deeply convicted thereafter and he repented from his old man to follow Jesus even unto his death. This is also the same man who wrote in 1 Peter 1:6-7, 8-9, "There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. You love (Jesus Christ) even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now;...The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls!"
Indeed, a befitting end to this letter would be to take a quote from Dr Stalker who describes Peter as such, "He (Christ) managed the tumultuous and fluctuating elements of his (Peter's) character as a perfect rider does a high mettled horse. He transformed a nature as unstable as water into the consistency of a rock." Beloved, let Jesus into your heart and transform you into what you were destined to be as a child of God. Remember, your heart, once guarded, is the wellspring of life and, if I may add, the wellspring of an abundant, meaningful and victorious life.
Have a wonderful, life-changing week ahead. Take good care, both heart and mind.
Ps: Last Friday, we also discussed about how we should share with someone who comes to us with this challenge, "Isn't it selfish and unfair for Christians to claim exclusivity to Heaven?" In summary, gathering the thoughts of all you guys, I can safely say that it is not selfish because the evangelical hook that gets genuine Christians to convert is not this: "If you accept Jesus, you go to Heaven...period, no question asked." Most preacher do not appeal to non-believer with this line because it turns newly minted believers into more of a cost-&-benefit analysing opportunist than a true disciple of God. And I am sure that believers who give their lives to God are, first and foremost, convicted by their sin and not by the thought of that newly furnished heavenly mansion.
So, heaven is hardly a factor in the mind of a true believer at the altar where it truly matters. That is why the witnessing approach should be to appeal to the heart rather than to the earthly senses of a bejeweled heaven covered in gold, brimming with joy and showered with endless praise. Secondly, it is not selfish because we have to come to a point in our argument to admit, with honesty and humility, that there is just something in life that is uncompromise-able, non-negotiable. It is just how this world works. For example, the law of gravity would show no partiality or favors to Mother Theresa, no matter how deserving she is, taking into account how sacrificial her life was on earth. The law of gravity does not distinguish between Mother Theresa and Adolf Hitler - that is, both will suffer the same fate if both were to jump off a cliff. Mother Theresa will not be "less hurt" than Hitler.
By the same token, heaven is a promise made to Christians and to them only. It is just how God operates. Without accepting Jesus, it is not possible for one to go to Heaven. If a convicted murderer on death row sincerely accepts Jesus in a sinner's prayer and dies together with a humble non-believer who had sacrificed his life to save a stranger by giving his heart to the latter, which one of them would go heaven? The answer is obvious. But the result as a whole is not selfish for the same reason that the law of gravity is not. (Having said this, I personally believe that God's judgment is always, and will always, be tempered with mercy just like the law of gravity can be tempered with in a space vacumn. But then, I am neither God nor an astronaut).
Finally, is it then unfair? Well, it surely is if Jesus had not made the way. Or, it surely is if Jesus, having made a way, made it almost impossible to achieve or made it almost impossible to tell if one is qualified enough to go heaven. But in all this, Jesus denied us not. He not only made a way, or the way, He made it easy - just a free will choice away - and gave us full assurance of salvation. In conclusion, Jesus did the following:-
1) Jesus made the first move;
2) Jesus made the ultimate painful sacrifice;
3) Jesus made the way achieveable;
4) Jesus made it costless - by grace through faith;
5) Jesus made it complete with full assurance of salvation;
6) Jesus made a difference unlike other religions;
7) Jesus made it there first to prepare the mansion for us.
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