26

Jan, 2010

Lay it Down (Quick Update)

by: Revolutionary Life

This morning as I was reading my bible I came to the place in scripture where Jesus ask his disciples who they thought he was. I smiled as I read how Peter, as usual, spoke up. “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God!”, he answered. I can almost see him looking around at his friends with a sly smirk as Jesus praised him for his good answer. Jesus then went on to expound on who Peter was to become and ,even more, on who the Church was to become.
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…”

It was here that I stopped an meditated on what I was reading. I could tell that these words weren’t just for Peter, but for the whole church that Jesus was referring to. What did he mean, whatever you bind (tie up) and whatever we loose (cut free)? I ponder for a moment then…

I slapped myself in the forehead.

How is it that we can read a scripture a million times and not see the plain simple truth of what it means? One reason is that it is revealed in due time sometimes, but another reason (and just as prevalent) is that some of us have grown up hearing the stories and the RELIGIOUS interpretations of them. Some of us have gotten to a point where we skim over certain passages cause we already know what they mean or ,even worse, can not see anything different from what we think we already know. Now we know that scripture speaks to people in different ways, but in some cases there IS a base message that can not be ignored.

This one is simple, as is often the case. Jesus was saying that he was going to hand the Keys of Heaven that effect earth over to the Church. And, that we would have say so over what is loosed and allowed, and what is bound and stopped. The Lord himself was saying that he was putting things in our hands. We were to take the responsibility of the earth until he returns. It is our job to stop the things heaven hates (injustice, religious manipulation, sickness, poverty, spiritual death from sin) and loose the things he loves (joy, peace, health, prosperity, LOVE). [I clarify these so no-one thinks I am promoting the church govern the world by force. I am saying it is our responsibility to spread the whole gospel and the Love of God across the world in a tangible way.]

In this world today we have the keys in our hands. If we as the Church (not A church, THE Church – there’s only one) tithed and churches used the money correctly* we could wipe out extreme poverty, most water borne diseases, major oppression of the poor, and much, much more. Some studys show that a tithe of the tithe for ONE YEAR could accomplish most of these things. But, we stand with the keys jingling in our pockets watching the world go to rot in front of us. We yell at the government, ‘DO SOMETHING!’, but they can’t. We look for someone to blame, be it the next fantasy book, politician,  or abortion supporter when the blame sits squarely on our shoulders. “It’s not my mission”, we say, while Jesus says it is.

The truth is that we have no right to blame the dark when we are holding an unlit lamp, or curse the rotten fish when we hold a bag of unopened salt**. They are not to blame, they don’t have the keys, WE DO. We can no longer look to the sky and say, “Why aren’t you doing anything!” He has, as is, through US. Ponder this: We are not separate from Jesus, we are his BODY. In other words if it is His Job, it is our Job. If he is the ANSWER, we’re a large part of the answer as well. He want about doing good and destroying the works of the devil; it’s our job to do the same.

It is possible that we can change this world. It is plausible. We don’t even need EVERYONE, we just need at least half to step up to the plate, take our responsibility, and play the man. Together, as a Body in LOVE with God and in LOVE for others, we CAN! Yes, WE CAN. Not a savior on Capital Hill***, but US as the Body of the Living Loving Christ. Shake your head, trash that doubt! Let’s stop thinking that we are helpless. We have the keys to the KINGDOM! It’s on our hands! Spread the word, grab your light, and let it shine.

Dustan Elliot Stanley

* For the widow, orphan, naked, poor, sick, hungry, imprisoned, homeless, thirsty, and men of God who are living on and sacrificing for the Gospel sake.
** Richard Stearns -  A Hole in Our Gospel
*** Derek Webb

Matthew 16:13-20 (English Standard Version)

¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered him,  “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

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