John's truth
This week's goodness is on Luke 3:7-14:
Imagine people going to a Christian concert and the performer yelling at the crowd like the megaphone preachers found all over the world:
Performer: You all are fornicators and idolaters and you're all going to hell!
Crowd: But we're Christians!
Performer: Start acting like Christians then, or you're going to hell!
But that was the position the crowds were in when they came to be baptized by John. They were like people who go to Christian conferences and concerts nowadays because it's the thing to do. They believed in God, considered themselves spiritual, and wanted to be entertained and educated. What they weren't expecting was for the Holy Spirit to speak through John the Baptist. It was jarring and accusatory. People were probably thinking "Hey, that wasn't edifying!" It snapped them out of their trance.
The ones who had more of a reason to be there, who were going there to learn, not just to be entertained, were shaken awake. They started asking John desperate questions. "What do we do?!" John had answers for them all.
The first advice he gives is just as shocking as his megaphone speech: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” What if God told us to do that through someone? We'd probably write it off as them just trying to make us into moralists. But God did speak that through John to the crowd. And it hits us between the eyes, even today. "Share your stuff with people who need it. All of it." Who does that? And why is that act of love so jarring to us, who serve and admire a God of love?
His more specific advice is less shocking to us, but was probably shocking to the people it was for: "Don't extort money from people." "Don't engage in police intimidation, or plant evidence on people, looking to boost your conviction rate or get bribes." They were probably thinking "What?! Who does that? Who only collects the taxes they're asked to collect, or only busts the people who are committing real crimes?" Meanwhile we're thinking "What tax collector makes up taxes so they can pocket what they collect? That's just so evil." Yet the things that we do probably seem just as ridiculously corrupt to God.
How blessed are we when we realize the precarious situation God found us in? And how blessed are we when we are given something we can do to share God's love in the world? The truth John shared with the people who came to hear his "concert" gave all of those things to the ones who wanted it. What sorts of jarring truths and helpful revelations does God have for us, who simply want to be comfortable and read a nice blog once and awhile?
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
Imagine people going to a Christian concert and the performer yelling at the crowd like the megaphone preachers found all over the world:
Performer: You all are fornicators and idolaters and you're all going to hell!
Crowd: But we're Christians!
Performer: Start acting like Christians then, or you're going to hell!
But that was the position the crowds were in when they came to be baptized by John. They were like people who go to Christian conferences and concerts nowadays because it's the thing to do. They believed in God, considered themselves spiritual, and wanted to be entertained and educated. What they weren't expecting was for the Holy Spirit to speak through John the Baptist. It was jarring and accusatory. People were probably thinking "Hey, that wasn't edifying!" It snapped them out of their trance.
The ones who had more of a reason to be there, who were going there to learn, not just to be entertained, were shaken awake. They started asking John desperate questions. "What do we do?!" John had answers for them all.
The first advice he gives is just as shocking as his megaphone speech: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” What if God told us to do that through someone? We'd probably write it off as them just trying to make us into moralists. But God did speak that through John to the crowd. And it hits us between the eyes, even today. "Share your stuff with people who need it. All of it." Who does that? And why is that act of love so jarring to us, who serve and admire a God of love?
His more specific advice is less shocking to us, but was probably shocking to the people it was for: "Don't extort money from people." "Don't engage in police intimidation, or plant evidence on people, looking to boost your conviction rate or get bribes." They were probably thinking "What?! Who does that? Who only collects the taxes they're asked to collect, or only busts the people who are committing real crimes?" Meanwhile we're thinking "What tax collector makes up taxes so they can pocket what they collect? That's just so evil." Yet the things that we do probably seem just as ridiculously corrupt to God.
How blessed are we when we realize the precarious situation God found us in? And how blessed are we when we are given something we can do to share God's love in the world? The truth John shared with the people who came to hear his "concert" gave all of those things to the ones who wanted it. What sorts of jarring truths and helpful revelations does God have for us, who simply want to be comfortable and read a nice blog once and awhile?
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