Confer with . . . ?

 I did not confer with any human being . . . 

 - From Galatians 1

We have to save our democracy.

Seriously, is this not one of the most cringeworthy refrains of our time?

For over two centuries, the idea of a republican form of government was treated as an essential tenet of our society. Both Democrats and Republicans . . . and independents, understood this. 

If freedom of speech and of conscience were still highly valued, there would be no problem. We could discuss the merits of all forms of government, openly and without personal vitriol. We would operate as mature adults, as sober citizens that can debate, listen, collaborate, learn, and grow.

In fact, this curtailment of free speech is exactly one of the primary threats (clearly understood by all intelligent people), to a nation that has adopted "democracy" as its rallying cry. 

"Democracy" is a purposefully vague and shadowy concept. It sounds good. By default, one must be careful not to argue against it. It has been cemented upon the psyches of the youngest generations of our leadership class, as an absolute virtue. We can't really define it. We do not want to talk about any possible downside to it (in fact, we forbid you from doing such). We only know that it's as essential to us as oxygen, and that anyone daring to question it must be treated as a mass shooter, or worse: a racist. 

Public schools used to be awash with inspirational posters - up and down the hallways, in almost every classroom - celebrating the supremacy of the individual. Kids were encouraged to "be themselves." To stand up against the crowd, even if you must stand alone. It was very clear that this was a shared value of our culture. 

This was the norm up until about 2020.

Not so today.

This messaging has been taken down. It has been cut out of the value set that we want handed down to our kids. Why? Because "democracy" is the concept we want placed aggressively forefront. Democracy only and always. Democracy without exception. Pure democracy, or more accurately: the illusion of democracy. Advertising experts and psychologists, with the right political alignments, know how to persuade people that this is what the democracy wants. And if you go against the democracy, you must be treated as the outcast that you are. You will learn not to go against the people. 

The Apostle Paul showed a different way, a better way. His path is decidedly Christian. It elevates the dignity of the individual. It realizes that the closer you get to Truth, the nearer you draw to God, the fewer the people around you. It is lonely at the top - and every human endeavor organizes itself into a pyramid. If you want to become more skilled, more talented, more honest, more effective, more wealthy, more healthy, more pure . . . you must keep pushing upward, and you must be willing to rely more and more on yourself alone.

Yourself, and God. 

Paul refused the advice of others. He had seen the Risen Lord. He had embraced the truth. He had been filled with the Holy Spirit. He had all he needed. And the call of the crowd, to the great apostle, was like the call of any siren, any human being with something delicious or carnally satisfying, to offer. 

In fact, approval of the crowd might be the most seductive temptation of all. And after all . . . Democracy really is nothing other than gaining approval from a crowd - a crowd that wants one thing today, but something totally anathema to that, the next day. 

Health

Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations. 

 - From Psalm 67

About twenty-five hundred years ago, with the population of the earth much less than it is today, it was a great aspiration to imagine all of the nations of the world knowing about God's saving health. 

We used to say that, even if non-believers practiced God's directives from Scripture, they would be happier, more contented, healthier, more prosperous, more successful. They would be more charitable, more selfless, more attentive to the needs of others. 

I still think there's something to that. 

There's an irrational fear that a world perfectly influenced by the God of the Bible would be bad for humanity. But how can this be so . . . 

• Heal the sick
• Do good to others
• Turn the other cheek
• Be good stewards of the earth
• House the homeless
• Welcome aliens into your communities
• Give at least a tenth of your produce to advancing all of these practices
• Be faithful to one another, serve each other
• Make a priority of the needs of children, especially children of single parents, and orpans
• Make a priority of the needs of the elderly, especially the widowed

Okay I'll stop right here and dwell on those last two for a moment. 

If care for the children (orphans) and the elderly (widows) is God's urgent priority - and it should be. We need look no further than our own household to determine God's will for this moment. - then it would follow that societies that downplay the needs of the roots and branches of our lives could be considered the furthest from God's will. 

If babies and children are not the most wonderful blessing to us; If we consider them inconvenient, a nuisance, an expense. If we believe that we "deserve" our own happiness and that comes before all others, including children . . . if we normalize child trafficking and pedophilia, so that ultimately children become simple a thing to entertain us until we're tired of them . . . if we abort the unborn and abandon the post-born . . . if we ignore and patronize them . . . then it may be said that our society has abandoned God as well, that it has aborted Good itself, and that it has plunged into the opposite of Good, which is Evil. 

The situation regarding our elders is similar. We're coming off a three-year "pandemic" period, which in its earliest days had some governors sending covid-positive people into nursing homes, resulting in the premature deaths of many of the same. They committed this atrocity, and got away with it. The elderly are ignored, mistreated, disrespected, and lonely. 

This is our culture. We treat our two most vulnerable and precious humans: our very youngest, and our very oldest, as though they don't count, in exact opposition to the Lord's constant pleas in both Testaments. Our society is far removed from what's eternally Good. 

 . . . which brings us full circle. We'd better get out there and make sure more people know about God's saving health. The health of our human family seems to be rather important. 

Uneducated

Now when they saw . . .  that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus. 

 - From Acts 4

I have spent most of my life, in the firm belief that a college degree isn't worth a dime, when it comes to one's standing in the Kingdom of Heaven. We have highly credentialed pastors, ministers, worship leaders. They have their graduate degrees from seminaries. They have their doctorates. They are referred to as "Dr So-and-so," and they rarely push back and insist that they be treated as anybody else. 

It is assumed that, if you have all these credentials, that it gives you some sort of godly authority. 

It doesn't.

Right here, we have in writing, that the Scribes and Pharisees, and government officials (i.e. the clergy as well as the secular authorities) could pick out the followers of Jesus very easily, because they were uneducated and ordinary men. 

I'll never understand why professing Christians with advanced degrees and credentials don't downplay it. If we were serious about our walk with Christ, we would put more mechanics and laborers on our boards of elders, and fewer accountants and attorneys. We would let the guy with barely a high school education (and the gift of preaching) speak from the pulpit at least as much as the seminary grad.

It gets tiresome, holding out with some faculty member of a Christian college, that will absolutely refuse to give any ground when challenged by one of us unlettered mortals. If they were really that rock-solid on interpreting Scripture from the original Greek, shouldn't they go out of their way to defer to the perspectives of others, especially the blue-collar members of our community?

Jesus did not run around with the scholars of His day. They didn't write the Gospels. And most of the Epistles were written by a former Pharisee that renounced his degrees and honors, for the sake of Christ. It is very easy to identify His followers. It should be no problem stepping down from one's perch, and attempting to blend in with the riff-raff comprising the True Church. 

The Keys

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

 - From Matthew 16

Peter's simple confession, that Jesus is the "Messiah, the son of the Living God," was an expression of faith that qualified him to be given the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. 

But what might that mean?

When a mortal has the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, does that mean he has heavenly authority? Doe sit mean that Peter could have, any time he wanted to, just pass over into the eternal realm, since he has a key?

Or how about . . . the Lord only said that He will give Peter the keys. It was a promise that, even today, may not in fact, have been fulfilled!

Peter's expression of faith was all that it took. "You are the Messiah, the son of the Living God." That's it./ Just say it, and mean it, and you will have the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. When Christ returns, and the old is burned up, replaced with the new (the Kingdom of God) and Eternity begins, those keys are just handed to you. You then use them, and open a door into a place that would make the Land of Oz look like a barren desert.

I belonged to a church once, that would give all new members a key to the church. Eventually, there were hundreds of keys floating around the community, and eventually, they had lost track of who was out there with keys. A person that left the church, in anger and in a huff, might still be going about, with keys to the church. 

This is a nice object lesson of what the Kingdom of God is all about. If Christ hands you the keys to His Kingdom, it means He trusts you implicitly. If you trust Him, He will trust you. 

And maybe it also has something to do with power, and grace, and authority, that is available to us, even now, in this life. 

Rich Variety

. . . so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

 - From Ephesians 3

First, "heavenly places" here is referring to places of authority and government here, on earth. We have historically erred, often, on our understanding of "Heaven" as Scripture defines it. It is simply a high place. Either here on earth, or in the higher realm occupied by God and the eternals. You'll know which it is referring to, specifically, by its context.

But interesting to note: We are supposed to bring the Gospel directly to worldly, earthly leaders. 

We have got to find a way to witness to Biden, Ocasio-Cortez, Xi, Trudeau, King Charles, etc., as well as to other world leaders that show evidence of already knowing the Gospel: President Trump, Governor DeSantis, Congressman Walberg, etc. Wherever they all are, on the spiritual scale, they can be either convicted, or encouraged. But the Gospel has to make it into every heart, including our world leaders. 

And the Gospel is not to be treated as a dull, predictable topic. Paul urges us to share the wisdom of God in its rich variety.

When's the last time you pondered the rich variety of God's wisdom? What a wonderful idea! The world likes variety, and the world loves rich things. If we were to get it right, the message of God is something that people crave . . . and that they really, really enjoy. 

We've got to get more into it. We need to understand this point - the Gospel message is really, really exciting. 

So much so . . . that even Vladimir Putin would thrill to hear it!

Redeem

He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence . . . 

 - From Psalm 72

You can't read too much of the Bible and feel confident in your eternal state . . . if you have any wealth or comfort, at all. 

Let's just list out the people that God helps, in this Psalm, along:

• The King
• The King's Son
• God's people
• The poor
• The needy
• The righteous
• The oppressed
• The lowly
• The blood of all of the above

Meanwhile, God does not have good things in store, for the following:

• The oppressor
• The violent

Even the Kings of Tarshish and Arabia will pay tribute to the Lord God. 

I have referenced these points plenty of times. But they need constant reminding. The world is obsessed with all the wrong things when it comes to oppression and justice. God's got this. But He's got this, through His people . . . His people that should be concerned if even needy person is found in their neighborhood; or from among their own family, out to the 7th generation. 

Yes, our eternal view if rock solid. We'll be okay. But in the meantime, we can be the hands of God in serving the needy right here. Right now. 

In this second half of the Christmas season, this becomes the emphasis. Christ came for a purpose. And it isn't for us to sit around, contributing to needless strife in our own homes and families.