UJCCPC@UNC (01/12/90)
Mark, I believe the warning from Jesus is directed at those who
pretend to be His followers, not to witches or others who do not
pretend. Jesus calls us to be His soldiers, to do battle with the
forces of evil in the world. But how do we do this? By pointing
fingers? By accusing others of being the enemy? By saying this group
or that group is not doing the will of the Father? Well, sometimes
this might be necessary, but 99.9999% of the time it is not. We are
called to a radically different strategy. We are called to love our
enemies, to identify with them (NOT the same as joining them or becoming
like them), to understand what it means to be them. We are called to
find Christ in ALL people, witches, warlocks, prostitutes, dictators,
lepers, wife beaters, Republicans (especially tricky for me, :-) ), etc.
This sermon is not directed at you, Mark. I'm just using the
opportunity to state a very strong belief of mine: Let's stop
worrying about who is with God and who is not, and instead get out
there among the lepers and prostitutes and start spreading some love.
I mean this in a very practical way. There are some unbelieveably
needy people out there--drug addicts, AIDs patients, homeless kids,
old folks stuck away in nursing homes. This is what He meant by
doing the will of the father. If we don't dedicate our lives to
helping these people, if we spend our resources furthering our own
career while these people are ignored, then we'll be the ones crying
Lord, Lord and not being heard.
OK, I'm stepping off my soapbox now.
John Cromartie