Sight for the blind guides

Christ called the Pharisees blind guides because they esteemed the gold in the temple above the temple itself, not understanding that it is the temple which sanctified the gold. This level of blindness is still present today among those who call themselves guides today. Christians are called to be moral guides today however they suffer from the same blindness as the Pharisees of thousands of years ago.

Which is more valuable, the life that a man lives or the man which lives the life? Today, most people, including plenty of Christians, value people by the lives they live. On the surface, this can sound equitable but what if the lives people are living aren’t truly reflective of who they are. What if people don’t know who they are and they are filled with treasures which they overlook because they have been told they are innately incapable of living better. Every malefactor in civilization is a wasted treasure resulting from the perversion of the soul. How can I make such a statement? I can state this emphatically because GOD made all men in His image and backed up this fact by sending His only begotten Son to be sacrificed for all men.

In light of this fact, who are we to look down on anyone, unless we share the blindness of the Pharisees which Christ rebuked. So, which is more valuable, the life that man lives or the man which lives the life? It is the man who gives the life value. The life of every person should be valued because they are human and created in GOD’s image. Just because their life does not reflect GOD doesn’t mean they are a lost cause. Do you curse the soil because it yields thorns and weeds, or do you cultivate the soil and plant the proper seed? People profess that they believe all men are created equal, but they don’t exert the same energy to cultivate and sow into everyone.  It is clear that the framers of the United States were not referring to all humans when they spoke of “All men” having inalienable rights.  Just look at the number of amendments needed to force the inclusion of those who were not white males. The effects of the initial disenfranchisement and brutal oppression of many Americans are still resonating. Racism and injustice did damage to the nature of the oppressors as well as the oppressed. Many people today make value judgments on people based on what their lives have yielded without considering how they have been treated. They don’t consider the environment they grew up in, or whether they had enough water or sun, or if anyone cared enough to deal with their weeds and thorns, or if anyone took the time to sow good seed in them.

All soil needs constant care, or it becomes incapable of producing the right fruit. All souls need love: compassion, empathy, mercy, truth, correction, guidance, charity, protection, and food and shelter. These are very basic things, but it is astonishing how few people have them. I look at the treatment of people at the United States borders and I see a bunch of people coming here because they lack many of these basic needs and they are looking for a better life. Unfortunately, not everyone that reaches the U.S. borders looking for assistance get treated humanely. The blindness of a country that has often treated people differently based on race and national origin still plagues its social policy. It is deplorable to see the inequality in care and concern being shown to black and brown people at U.S. borders in comparison to white people from Europe. I have come to expect this from people in general but those who call themselves Christians have proven to be just as blind.

The conditions in Ukraine which people are fleeing from are horrible, but so are the conditions in Honduras and Haiti and parts of Mexico that people are fleeing from. If you just look at the people and filter out the politics and racism, they all deserve the same care and concern. I have seen and heard of Christians rallying to support whites fleeing from Ukraine in ways never offered to the black and brown who are also fleeing for their lives. Christians are in the world to be a light, but the world remaining in Christians neutralize the light. Much of the ingrained hypocrisy, racism, and injustices which pervert the judgment of American policy also perverts American Christians. Some professing Christians would say that the voodoo and idolatries of the Haitians and Hondurans are at the root of their woes, but if American Christians would study history, they would find their people and lands have been pillaged by oligarchs wielding war machines to include the U.S. military. The same greed and oppression producing dire circumstances in Honduras and Haiti is the same greed and oppression producing dire circumstances in many of the inner cities within the United States. There are many counties in the United States that have to keep schools open during the months of summer break to feed the communities they are in otherwise the children would suffer from malnutrition.

There are also many Christians in America which serve wealth and politics and nationalism and race above GOD, this is also idolatry.

Solution: The cross of Christ

¹³ For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. ¹⁴ But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:13-14)

Until all those who confess to follow Christ become crucified to this world with a single focus on serving the Kingdom of GOD, their vision will continue to be compromised. The darkness of idolatry in the heart obstructs the light necessary for sound vision. How can those who remain in darkness themselves be a guide to those who are lost? Those who confess Christ must repent and turn from darkness to light and take up the cross.

I am not writing this to bash the U.S. or Ukrainians, but to call compromised Christians out and also up to the high calling of GOD in Christ. It is almost infamous to be associated with the name Christian because of the history of hypocrisies and injustices so many professing Christians have participated in and condoned. Christ said that those that followed Him would suffer persecution for good, not retribution for evil. Examine yourselves to make sure you are in the way.

 ¹³ No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon [that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God].” (Luke 16:13 AMP)

²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (1 John 4:20 NKJV)