Weekly Meditations: Judges 17-18; When we Make Plans for God

I think a lot of people hate Christians.  It's kind of a weighty statement but I think its true.  In countries where freedom of religion is not an institution, by proclaiming Jesus people are killed, jailed and hurt every day.  In America though I think a different kind of hatred ensues and I think that this hatred towards the church is in part, the church's fault.  Not all the church's fault but maybe 50/50.  Now I don't mean a single church but rather the church as a whole meaning the entire body of Christ.  So why is it the church's fault it is hated?  Personally, after reading these two chapters, I think the church has misrepresented Christ, and in doing so it has come off as a sour taste in the mouths of those who aren't believers.  Don't get me wrong, not every local church is at fault nor is it necessarily fair to single one body in particular out, but lets take a quick look at some times when the church has misrepresented Christ through history, and the effects it had.

The Pharisees:  The religious leaders of the time, who basically knew Jesus was the Messiah (John 11:45-57) killed him to keep their social status.  (of course Jesus had to die to accomplish his task of bringing salvation to the world but nonetheless this is an example of people putting worldly desires in front of God)

The Crusades:  In short, this was Christians trying to "evangelize" by killing people.  Holy war is something only God can instigate, (see Joshua)  not something man can start.  It is a dangerous game when one starts justifying their actions with "God told me too".

The Roman Catholic Church in the oh lets say 1000-1600:  Instead of aiming at spreading the gospel, the religious authorities selfishly set goals to expand wealth and power (sadly reminds me of the Pharisees).  Through false teachings, relics, and many other things, the church's earthly kingdom grew.  

Hate groups:  There are many groups who's slogan is "God hates ______".  As Christians we know that this is absurd because 1st John 4:16 tells us that "God is love".  Sadly this is essentially a modern day holy war if you will.  Groups fighting against something or someone using God's name to justify their cause.

Health, Wealth Gospel preachers:  Jesus didn't promise health or wealth on this earth, he promised persecution and suffering.  A rapper said it well when he wrote: "like a televangelist preaching out of his Bentley".

Finally, the fact that we are all sinners, even though we as Christians are saved, means that we will mess up and this, unfortunately, misrepresents Christ.  I think all of us can confess to that, I know I can.

Through all of this, the church, which is meant to proclaim Christ, has sometimes ended up proclaiming itself.  Through all of this I think it is easy to see why people come to dislike Christians.  Obviously there are a multitude of reasons for this dislike, but a big one I see is the hypocrisy the church can fall victim too when it tries to do its will rather than God's.      

Well, that brings us to the passage.  In Judges 17 and 18 we find two smaller stories, one of Micah, a man living in the hill country of Ephraim, the other of a Danite group, set on trouble.  Both stories have similar themes flowing through them.  They are stories of men trying to worship God but doing so their way.  Micah hires a Levite to be his personal high priest.  I apologize because I couldn't find the passage that supports this but, Levites were not meant to be personal priests, they served the community, the country of Israel.  Micah not only created for himself his personal priest but also had idols he worshiped.  The most ironic thing about these idols is that they were created out of silver he stole from his mother but later confessed to.  "I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol." Judges 17:3.  Micah's mother praises God by breaking the first two commandments.  Oxymoronic isn't it?  

The Danites on the other hand are looking for land to live in and talk to Micah's Levite asking him if their journey is blessed by God.  The Levite, claimed to speak for God (although God had not spoken through them) and blessed their journey.  They went on to attack a town and steal Micah's idols an Levite.  

All throughout this story we see people attempting to worship God but even more so, trying to accomplish their own agendas, justifying it with a good ole fashioned "God told me too".  Just like so many groups through history have done, the folks in this passage justified their actions by using God as a trump card of sorts.  David, in his last message at Cove last year talked about this theme.  Too often people justify their lifestyle, their decisions and their actions by saying "it's God's will for my life" and all too often God's "will" happens to be contrary to scripture, self serving or comfortable.  God's will for us isn't hard to seek out.  He wants us to glorify him, he wants us to love others, he wants us to share the gospel.  I think if you are truly doing those things then it doesn't matter what you're doing, your doing his will.  Take Tim Tebow for example.  He's famous, he's making money, but he's proclaiming Christ, he's loving others, he's being a good example to kids across the country and he truly loves Jesus.  He is doing God's will.  God hasn't given me a sign or a vision but I'm pretty set on moving to Japan later in my life to share the gospel with the Japanese people.  I speak Japanese and I know the gospel, sure God didn't tell me to do it, but it makes sense to me, I'll enjoy doing it and it glorifies God.  Right now, I think that is God's will for my life and I'm going to keep going until God himself closes a door.  

My message here is not to make people love the church; its not a brainstorming session on how to make people not hate the church or stop persecuting Christians.  Sadly that is probably impossible.  My message today however is to look at your life and ask yourself if you are representing Christ well.  Are things in your life the way they are because you want them like that, or is your life in the hands of God?  As Christians we need to understand that God's will for our lives is not rocket science.  It is not down to every minute detail of what we wear and eat each day.  It is simply glorifying God in everything we do.  So look at your life, make sure you aren't justifying actions using God's name and look for ways to proclaim Jesus Christ in your everyday life.