TIMEs: Sorting THings Out

Intro

1 Chronicles 12:32 ESV

Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.

1chron 12

Cf bumper stickers—van covered in messages about Jesus and sinners—what is the effect? Look at some more of the “Christian” side. The result? Take a look at the world’s responses. (show bumper stickers)

Being distinct from teh world around us is unavoidable for anyone who expects to make a difference.

** No one ever made a difference by being teh same.

Yet sometimes we have made a difference in ways now so desireable, and we have left a mess in our wake. tells of an array of fantastic things that should lay in the path behind us. According to God’s ideal, in the wake of the church as it moves through history would lie testaments to restored homes, renewed health, refreshed souls, revitalized dreams, renewed courage and strength, renewed vision and direction, and an unending list of bounty and blessing. Yet somehow, the testimony isn’t so clear.

Such has been the impact of the centuries of Christianity that not only is it often not in favor in our culture, but in fact many have sought to actually free teh world from its grips. In his book The Mark of Jesus, [T George] points out that the students of Kar Marx

viewed the Christian religion as an ideological tool which for centuries the rich and powerful had used to keep the working poor in an impoverished state.

In the flow of teh 20th Century reaction to a religion that tehy believed only served to stifle their humanity and control them with the force of religious culture, John Lennon consolidated the mindset of his and following generations with his song, “Imagine.” What he imagined was this:

[quote Imagine]

For Lennin and the millions like him—getting rid of religion was a prerequisite for world peace.

In his day, it was the call of the Marxist. Today, it’s the call of the capitalist.

Indeed in our very state, in the wake of CO bakers and florists…, GA like many otehr states sought...

When forced with a choice, a governor of GA who has positioned himself… shut down the movement. Not because he agrees with John Lennon or Karl Marx about the … but rather because corporate leaders from organizations like Home Depot, NFL, NCAA, and a number of Hollywood studio heads urged him that the economic intersts they represent are more critical to our state’s future than the interests of the people of faith who were concerned about teh future of the culture that many of us see experiencing faith shrink like raising in the sun.

It is in that context that we find ourselves facing an election season that is more heated than any mid term cycle possibly than we have seen since teh rise of the tea party. And probably teh most expensive ever.

As of tody, in teh US Senate races for only 35 seats teh two parties have collectively spent 825 Million. And in the US House…, spending has topped 1.3 Billion, with at least another 200 million ready to go today.

https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/index.php?cycle=2018&display=T&type=A

In GA’s Gov race we had already set a record with 33 Million spent just in the primaries back in June. And both money and star power are pouring in from all over the from Oprah, Will Farrell, and Barak Obama to Mike Pence, and even President Trump himself! And early voting has reached stratospheric numbers.

And what may be most pronounced is teh heat of teh language and the ___ of teh mud being slung. BUt not just y teh candidates. Division is rampant down to the street level. And not teh courteous kind of division of well-wishing patriots, but rather vitriolic division and character assassination with people on opposite sides taking things very personally.

It seems to be more than politics. And if you ask most of teh people who even give a little bit of attention to it, it is more than politics. It’s teh heart and soul of the state, the future of our ____, the debt we owe to the generations who will follow.

And at the center of so much of all of this lie issues that are anchored deeply in th arena of faith. Issues that many of us would say call out our own personal response to God, as a matter of conscience. And yet oddly that isn’t leading us all to the same conclusions. In GA, for example, it’s the tightest governor’s race in modern history—more votes will be cast for each candidate than ever before. And it will likely be a nail biter all night long.

And that’s not to mention the other states with close gubernatorial, house, and senate seats up for grabs. The control of the majority of state governments, the house, and the senate are all up for grabs and it’s anyone’s guess who will walk away teh winner.

So what does it mean that we have such division. Deep division.?

Is it bad? I think the answer is yes and no.

DIvision isn’t something that surprises God. But did you know that He actually planned for it. Jesus may be rightly called the Prince of Peace, but that doesn’t mean he expected to make people automatically join hands and sing kumbaya until He returns. In fact, quite the opposite.

Luke 12:49–53 ESV

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Jesus Knows that There is no Easy Way to Do The Hard THing

And he never avoided the hard thing.

Fire—occasionally indicates the Holy Spirit but here as is most often, judgment

Malachi 3:3 ESV

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.

Jesus saw a world with qualities that still need to be addressed

Impurity that kept them from living their best

Ignorance that caused them to hold onto things that harmed them

Relational Allegiance that kept them trapped in unhealthy living

Jesus Realized That He Would Create The Clarifying Contrast

[illus re contrast—green fire trucks, blue lights, something else that’s meant to get attention]

Contrast is yoru friend when danger is disguised

Most of us realize that

Our problem is thinking of Jesus that way. We’re used to silent night and “peace on earth...”—Doesn’t seem to reconcile...

atthew records these words--

Matthew 10:34 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

But if you’re familiar with jesus, yo umay recall some of the ways he divides. Fr example,

Matthew 25:33–36 ESV

And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

They will ask… He will answer…then th eother side (GOATS!)

** Critical to know this—picture of the way true followers will care...

But notice __ important distinctions--

The Diivision is AGAINST one another and Jesus is the dividing line

It’s not passive

It’s not pleasant

and it’s not as clear cut as yo umight imagine

Consider how John saw this issue—the disciple who walked with Jesus for 3 years almost daily—who was one of his 3 best friends in the world, and who was so close to tha Savior that when Jesus neede trust ]Mary\… He wrote more about love than eery other NT writer put togethre. And even with all that love talk, notice what He said...

1 John 2:15–16 ESV

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

1 john 1:15

Why? He understood...

Jesus’s othe close friend was Peter. He was so extraordinarily trusted by the master that apart from any of the others, He entrusted with a unique call to help establish teh beginning of the church itself. Jesus charged him, and created him to be the pastor of all pastors. And what did this shepherd of the sheep take away from 3 years of devotion as a disciple of Jesus?

1 Peter 4:3–4 ESV

For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;

And-

2 Peter 3:10–11 ESV

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,

And in case the point wasn’t clear, Consider Paul. He wasn’t around Jesus while he was here to begin with, but he was so important that Jesus came to him specially after He had already gone into heaven and assigned him to carry the message of Christianity to cities all over the known sorld. IN doing so he wrote half of what we now call the NT, and spread Christianity from Syria to Rome. He made it clear that God bery much meant to create a contrast between the old you and the new you, and between the new yo uand the old world that the old you once fit so well

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 ESV

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

And in case he hadn’t been clear enough, he wrote again to this same church--

2 Corinthians 6:14–17 ESV

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

Philippians 2:14–16 ESV

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

But uderstand that this (PHp 2) was the point. It’s not to create a combative contrast, but rather an inviting one

[ here]

2 Corinthians 2:14–16 NLT

But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?

2co 2:14-16

So clearly-Jesus Brings Divisino Because Jesus Adds Distinction

An for teh believer to try to nack away from that dos no one any favors—not the least of which is Jesus! Why would He create distinction only for use to cover it up

** CF cheap perfume to cover body odor

Which leaves us with two questions:

1- why do we feel the need to take the corners off of our faith

2- why doni’t all Christians (at least in the same circumstance) agree on what should be (elections, laws, social policy, or otherwise)?

My friend Jarrod had an idea for a Christian tshirt business—the first one was going to simply say, “Ask me how you’re wrong!”

Here’s the way it’s supposed to work:

Jesus is teh dividing line--

There’s Jesus and not Jesus

BUt the problem is in teh subtle equations we create without realizing it. ANd it is something like this—there is tradition and non-tradition. So we are supposed to haev two categories. And for many, Jesus=tradition and not… = non...

So then we still have two categories.

But what if not same...

FOUR categories

work like quadrants on a table...

Ideas of race, morality, economics, social programs, social issues, family design, gender issues, and others—often are being seen by ...

TO FURTHER complicate things—we have the problem of association.

It goes something like this—Traditional religion supported the inquisition, validated oppressive rulers, tolerated slavery, vindicated the oppression of native americans, and has been responsible for teh legal and social [oppression] of women, blacks, hispanics, Jews, and a host of other non-dominant groups through the centuries, right up until the present.

So it boils down this way. The dominant society that believes traditional Christianity has done some bad things. Thus teh traditional Christianity of the dominant society is bad.

Now look at the 4 wuadrants in light of that.

It gets easy to see.

?? re tradition??

Create distinctions by [attractuve] character (conduct among genties (Create Distinction with Attraction)

Purify your own perspective with the power of Truth

John 8:31–32 ESV

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:32 ESV

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Ppoint the way with profitable Answers (All SCR given…)

Learn to pioritize your wins

2 Timothy 2:24–25 ESV

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Start with your own heart

[killing Kryptonite]Trust God with timing and steps (lots of forward backward—Cf. MLK—arc lon bends toward freedom]

God’ will be vindicated through either the success or failure of this nation—He will get His way. As much as we can, its our stewardship of this moment… But more than stewards of this nation, our higher call is the concerns of the eternal Kingdom of Christ. Sometimes we get trapped in concerns… Whether you’re a Brian Kemp…Stacy Abrams… want the heritage… or to make history… remember

_________

Creates division of priorities

creates division of morality

creates division of urgency

creates division of perspective?? (eternal, heaven, etc)

________

Songs He Reigns

Urgent to understand--

The goal here is redemption—that’s what we are here for