Video-man vs. Post-man

And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

Matthew 13:58

 

There is a new (at least to me) video that is all over my Facebook page right now. I don’t even know the guy’s name – let’s call him ‘Video-man’. In it this young man “raps” about Jesus versus religion. I do understand the point he is trying to make and in the end he clearly states that he loves the church and the word of God. Me, too.

His words caused me to wonder about what it is that most people think about Christianity. Another Facebook friend had a post where he had given God glory and a friend of his, let’s call him ‘Post-man,’ commented that “god is so over rated.” This man admitted that God has power but questioned pain and suffering. This is not exactly an issue that can be clearly addressed in a brief response to a Facebook post (which is why I’m writing this).

I did like it that he used a lower case “g” because he must be talking about a different god. But, he knows that God “has so many powers”. I guess to be fair I have to tell you that he had that one with a lower case “g” as well. There was punctuation in his post but there were no capital letters.

It sure sounded like Video-man knows the Lord. Post-man – surely not.Video-man is saved from sin; Post-man is still struggling with his sin. He seems to think that there should be no pain or suffering if there is a God. Well, He suffered terribly and withstood a great deal of pain as a man. Why would the rest of us be spared this pain?

I know that for a person who does not have a personal relationship with the Lord it is difficult to understand the concept of God’s judgment. Before I became a believer I didn’t just not worry about it, I didn’t believe that God does judge. If I was a good person I would go to heaven and if I was a bad person, I would go to Hell. It was pretty simple.

The problem was that I learned God’s definition of sin and realized that there was NO WAY that I could be good person. In fact, I was worse than my wildest dreams of bad. Video-man talks of previous sin of pornography. Post-man was responding to a remark about drinking beer. Neither of those were my sin. The fact is that Post-man is demonstrating the sin of unbelief, that is one we shared before I was saved.

People hate this fact but the truth is that we can believe God through the Lord Jesus Christ which promises a rich, abundant life now and into eternity or we do not believe God and regardless of how we evaluate our lives here, we live eternally in Hell. It is true for me, Video-man, and Post-man. The Bible is clear that – in spite of people like me who believed they can be good enough for heaven, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Entrance into the presence of God requires righteousness. We do not have it – but Christ does and when we admit our sin and ask Him He will impute His righteousness to us. This is the gift of eternal life! There is no one good enough to go to heaven without Christ’s righteousness.

Unfortunately, people misinterpret these truths. They believe that a rich and abundant life is only about the money and the possessions we have. They fail to see that God’s gifts include His love, His peace, His joy, His strength. We will all be tempted. We will all face trials. We will all have difficult relationships. The difference for the Christian is that we don’t go into temptations, trials, and relationships alone. The Lord is with us, He indwells us so that we are never left or forsaken just as He has promised. That’s pretty rich.

Whether you consider it religion or relationship God has given us many instructions in His word to remain in His favor – even as His children. Two verses that I have been studying are from 1 Samuel 12:14 – 15 which say, “If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.”

Some are skeptical that God is all He says or that He will do as He promises. I no longer look for the easy life, the life with no problems or pressures. I can clearly see that when I am listening to the prompting of the Spirit and when I am obeying God’s commands, I can expect to be living in relative inward peace. Not a life with no problems, but the faithfulness of God to get me through whatever trials have come my way. When I forget God and think that I know a better way than He does, then I can expect things not to go so well. In His grace He draws me back to His way by allowing me to suffer the consequences of doing them my way!

I have seen that the next verse in 1 Samuel 12 is true for me when I am living according to God’s word. It says, “Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.” (1 Samuel 12:16)

I challenge all my friends, Facebook and otherwise, do we believe these verses? According to his testimony, Video-man has brought his life in line with the Lord’s commands and received the blessing of great things done in his life. Post-man doesn’t think that God can do great things – regardless of his admission that he has power. The believer has eyes to see, the unbeliever does not. One can see that God is for him , the other doesn’t use these words but he seems to know that God is against him. The good news is, like He did with me, God may be pointing out this man’s sin as an act of grace so He can save him from it!

I pray it’s so.