“You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.” (Christ)

The killer that murdered eight people in a shooting rampage in Atlanta this week was known by his associates to be a professing Christian and he said of himself on his Instagram profile that he loved guns, God, music, and family. Some of the insurrectionist that stormed the Capitol in DC, which resulted in fatalities, carried Jesus banners. Many well-known Christian evangelist professed that President Trump was a man of God; one of them actually called for Angels to come from Africa to war for his re-election. Some of the most dangerous people in the world are carnally minded religious zealots. Their misinterpretation of spiritual principles leads to a lack of respect for natural life. They have a cursory understanding of the superior ethics in spiritual law but lack the ability and nature of love to live by them. Look at this example in the conversation between Christ and His disciples.

 ⁵¹ Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, ⁵² and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. ⁵³ But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. ⁵⁶ For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. (Luke 9:51-56 NKJV)

James and John tried to spiritualize their carnal racism against the Samaritans, but they were rebuked by the spirit of love and virtue in Christ. They had not yet realized that they were just as worthy of condemnation and in need of mercy and grace as everyone else on the planet. The blindness of their carnal minds caused them to think that they were superior to the Samaritans. Just as the disciples of Christ were blinded by the systemic prejudice which permeated their culture, many Americans professing to follow Christ have missed the heart of Christ’s mission. Unfortunately, throughout history, American Christians have not heard the rebuke of Christ which has resulted in millions burning in the racist and prejudice fire of American social policy.

I was in a bible study recently where it was inferred that there was a correlation between prayer being removed from school and the school shootings from recent years. The inference is that the religion practiced by Americans earlier in history held back violence. Here is a picture of school days with prayer.

The army was needed to hold back violence during desegregation, America’s days of religious greatness. From the first religious president, George Washington to the current religious president Joe Biden, America has been a bloody and violent country. The failure to impartially inspect the fruit of America’s religious history suppresses the reality that the spirit of Christ has not been the spirit which has shaped her. The most prolific fruit in America’s history are pride, greed, hate, fear, hypocrisy, deception, and racism. None of these are fruit produced by the branch of Christ. Until the Christians in America except this truth, they will continue to be double minded and unstable in their witness of Christ, and the country will continue to take one step forward followed by two steps back.

Christians have been called to be the light and voice of truth, and the conscience of love in this world, to bring conviction against motives of malice, injustice, and hate. The calling of Christians is to live in the mission of Christ as defined in Isaiah 61 and again in Luke 4:18-19, but in order to do this they have to put on the life of Christ. To put on the life of Christ they must first put off the life of the old man after the traditions and rudiments of this world, through taking up the cross. Before you come to the cross you must first come to repentance, which is the acknowledgement that your ways are evil and need to be reformed. This acknowledgement comes from receiving the truth. The truth comes from brave souls who have emptied themselves of the love for this world and are now filled with the love of GOD and the spirit of Truth. This is how it works and there are no exceptions. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. There are many who confess to be Christians who have not gone through the transformation of the cross, so they bleat like sheep but devour like wolves.

¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. ¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits…” (Matthew 7:13-16 NKJV)

Christ says you will know them by their fruit. The examination of fruit is called righteous judgement. We live in a world where righteous judgement has been replaced by consensus. Christ has told us that few enter the gate of truth and righteousness, so even in Christian circles, due to worldliness, people live by consensus instead of righteous judgement. If someone comes presenting a righteous examination of fruit, they are considered a troublemaker because they disrupt the deadly peace of unrighteous consensus.

The result is that people stay in darkness and our communities are overrun with wolves. We will not see a transformation in our communities until Christians are truly born again through dying to carnality and the love of this present world system. Christians must be willing to except the persecution of standing with the outcast in righteous judgement. It is decision time. To help you decide, here is how it all plays out. In the end, the Chief lamb turns out to be a ferocious lion and all the wolves get gobbled up. Then the lion and the lambs live happily ever after.