The Problem With Church Folk: Presumption Over Relationship

#QTNA: Does presumptuous unsolicited advice ever go over well?

Not too long ago, I received a message (via a social media platform) from a woman who attended the church I used to attend in Florida. The message didn't contain any text—not even a greeting—just a link to a video clip of a sermon.

For context, I've had a total of maybe two conversations with this woman, all very brief and to the point. Nonetheless, I thought perhaps it was a profound word that she just had to share, so I clicked it... It was a man preaching about singleness. He started out saying that God "doesn't give companions, He gives helpers," and then went into a spiel about people wanting a significant other but not working. His example being that Adam was busy naming the animals when God decided to create Eve. I didn't get past that part.

Aside from thinking "wtf" (yes I thought that, see footnote below), the following are a few thoughts that popped into my head:

• Did you send this because you think that I need to hear this?
• If so, are you implying I am a person that wants a spouse but isn't working?"
• How would you know if I want a spouse?
• Actually, how do you know I don't have a spouse[2]
• Why would you send me this?
• Did you send this to other people?

As I mentioned, this woman and I have never had a real conversation. For all she knows, I could have a boyfriend. I could be engaged. Throw in the fact that we haven't spoken since before COVID started and I have been in a totally different state for 8 months: I could be married for all she knows. It is very presumptuous of her to assume not only that I am single, but that I also need help with my singleness (as though it is a disease in need of curing).

After simmering down a bit, I cut her a little slack on the presumption of singleness as I've probably mentioned it on my YouTube channel/podcast before, though I don't know if she follows either. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she does. However, that didn't suddnely make the message less bizarre.

There are three types of "work" the man in the clip could have been referencing: physical, spirtual,or emotional. We have physical jobs we do in this world to earn money to pay pills; this is one form of work. There is spiritual work we do both on ourselves and for the Kingdom; this is another form of work. Lastly, there is emotional work that many require to heal from childhood traumas... What type of work was he referencing?

It doens't matter what type of work the man was referencing because this is where my lack of relationship with this woman shines clearest. Literally, the hardest thing about dating is making time for it. I work full time as a software engineer and prior to relocating, also volunteered as a mentor for college women in STEM. I worked with an organization called BOLD Justice to hold elected polictions accountable and fight for a better community.[3] I was in leadership for our young adult ministry and a Sabbath school teacher for the youth class. I have this blog, a podcast, and a YouTube channel dedicated to the Most High God. I have also seen a therapist about past traumas concerning racism in my childhood (as well as for anxiety in grad school). If that's not working, I'm just going to have to be single and lazy cause I can't add much more to my plate.

The thing is, she wouldn't know any of this because we've literally never had a meaningful conversation! (And contrary to the fact that I'm pretty open on the blog, podcast, and YouTube channel, I don't use social media as a diary).

Perhaps she meant well, but I'll never know because she didn't communicate (and I refuse to ask, because I'm too blunt and liable to say something I shouldn't say). A simple message with the link would have done wonders. For all, I know she could have been sharing it with me because she thinks I'm still a youth leader; she could have been hoping that I would pass the information on and it may have had nothing to do with me personally. It's possible that if I'd listened further, the person said something I echoed in one of my posts and maybe she sent it because she thought I'd agree. However, I'll never know because she didn't articualte her thouhgts.

The problem with most Christians—specfically church folk—is that instead of developing and cultivating relationships that lead to organic conversations, they pass out unsolicited advice based on assumptions they've made. Even as a follower of Christ who has done much work on my temper and controlling my tongue, I had quite a few choice words in response. I imagine a younger, less mature version of myself and I see exactly why young people don't want anything to do with the church. Unfortunately, when people behave like this, they're claiming to represent The Most High God (which is both bearing false witness and using God's name in vain) and it doesn't just turn people away from the church but away from God Himself. Let's not continue this.

Footnotes

1. Many Christians subscribe to the belief that "cursing" is wrong. While I would agree that you should watch your mouth on the basis that you may offend ofters (Romans 14), I would like to point out that there is a difference between a "curse" word and a cursing a person. Simply speaking negatively about a person is cursing a person. Shouting an expletive when you drop something on your foot is not cursing a person; there really isn't any difference in screaming the f-word vs. ow in this situation. So while I strive to keep my vocabulary clean and am mindful of how I use my words toward (and about) others, I often think "wtf" and see nothing wrong with it.
2. There are several people at that church that I had known for a year or two (I mean I had actually had conversations with!) that ended up having spouses and I didn't even know. While I disagree with the belief, many in that church believe jewelry to be a sin and therefore a large portion of them don't wear wedding rings. Thus, it's equally plausible that while I was attending the church, I could have had a whole husband she wasn't aware of. Throw in the fact that I haven't seen this woman in person (nor had a conversation with her) in over two years and I could have met someone and gotten married in that time.
3. BOLD Justice (Broward Organized Leaders Doing Justice) is a coalition of religious communities that research problems in the community—such as treatment of homeless people, care for mental health and the elderly, uneccessary arrests, and more), then work with elected official to implement solutions to said problems. While I was there, the main issues worked on were providing stable housing for those struggling with mental health, creating civil citations to reduce the number of arrests for minor infractions (particularly for youth), and ensuring all nursing homes have generators and are inspected so that the elderly are provided with safe living spaces.

Book Review: Keep it Shut

Keep it Shut: What to Say, How to Say it, and When to Say Nothing At All by Karen Ehman was recommended to me by a friend during a conversation about how hard it is to control what I say. More specifically, I have a tendancy to say things I think are just fine, only to find out people are offended. So I knew I had to read it.

Overview of the Book

This book is on the power (and danger) of the tongue and how to weild your words in a Godly manner. The author combines personal anecedotes and Bible verses to remind us of how our words can affect others. In each section, there are reflective questions to help you in thinking out a particular response of statement.

What I Didn't Like

I'm not going to lie, it did take me a whole year to finish this book. I don't think that's particularly a statement on the quality of the book, however. The topic is something I knew I needed to focus on (we probably all do) but I think my commitment to it waxed and wanned. Also, the points made are not earth shattering or things you couldn't think of yourself, which keeps it from being a page turner.

What I Liked

Despite the information being "obvious" it was definitely a good reminder, and as God would have it, I was tested after every chapter. The inclusion of Bible verses to keep the advice Biblical was well timed and gave me a great list of scripture to reflect on as I continue this journey.

Would I Recommend?

The book is definitely written with a female audience in mind, though I think anyone could read it and benefit. The author leans heavy on her experience, which is that of a white Christian in the US; I would love to see a similar book written by someone from a different race/culture. Despite the fact that many of her experiences didn't necessarily resonate with me as a black woman, I was still able to convert the experiences shared into useful information. For this reason I would still recommend the book to anyone searching to be more effective and commpassionate in their communication.

Condemnation, Correction, & Conviction

Do you know the difference between condemnation, correction, and conviction? How about where they fit in our journey as Christians and how the interplay with one another? Let's talk about these 3 important C's

⁷One who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And one who rebukes a wicked person gets [a]insults for himself.
⁸Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you;
Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.
⁹ Give instruction to a wise person and he will become still wiser;
Teach a righteous person and he will increase his insight. Acts 2:42 NASB

Condemnation

• Bible Verses on condmenation
  • Job 10:2
  • Proverbs 12:2
• Condemnation can be a judgment by God or a weapon weilded by Satan
• Satan tries to convince us we are condemned and unworthy of salvation; Satan is a liar
• We should never condmen anyone, instead focus on forgiveness (Matthew 18:22-35)

Correction

• Bible Verses on correction
  • Proverbs 9:7-9
  • Proverbs 13:24
• Correction is needed to help us grow
• It must be delivered in love, however

Conviction

• Must be internal
• The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin
• This is what gives us the motivation to change and be more Christ-like

References

1. "Condmenation". Merriam-Webster; visited June 2021
2. "Correction". Merriam-Webster; visited June 2021
3. "Conviction". Merriam-Webster; visited June 2021

How Real Church Should Look

Church is not a building. It's the people of God and the community they build. I've been blessed to experience what real Church looks like and from this environment I was able to truly able to grow in Christ.

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42 NASB

The first Century church, as described in Acts, did life together. They didn't just see each other on Sabbath for a few hours; they ate meals together, laughed together, cried together, sold their belongs to support each other, and most importantly, worshiped together. Luckily, I've had friends like this my whole life, which I credit as part of the reason I've been able to develop such a strong relationship with God.

In my teenage years, the spiritual aspect of these friendships was spearheaded by adults. So while my friends and I maintained a relationship similar to the first century church, we weren't actively cultivating our relationship with God. It wasn't until recently that I met a group of people I could truly live this experience with. It was life changing, and I wish every Christian could have that opportunity.

References

1. Adorned by Adanna Website
2. Styled by Jah Instagram

War Binders / Spiritual Journaling

I've been keeping a journal for as long as I can remember. About 4 years ago that journaling turned into something more spiritual; instead of poetry and short stories, it started recording Bible studies, sermons, prayer lists, etc. During the month of May I didn't get to do much journaling and consequently, I didn't read the Bible as much either. For me the process of journaling helps me focus, but it also motivates me to want to study the Word. When I finally settled in to my new place, I was stumped at where to pick up. These types of blocks are common in creative spaces (even in Computer Science), and are almost always solved by going to inspirational sources. I watch a ton of journaling videos, and not just the ones that pertain to scripture—mental health journaling, bullet journaling, art journaling, and more. This reminds me how much I love to journal and gives my ideas for what to do next. Once I got moving again (last Thursday), pages started to flow easily. Before I knew it, I was at page 100 and I thought that deserved a celebration. In hopes that some of this will inspire you as well, I uploaded a video that shows the evolution of my spritual journaling over 4 journals.

Let me know what helps you get creative and your favorite way to journal in the comments below!

2021 War Binder: Setup + What is it?

Check out one of the ways I strengthen my relationship with God in my latest YouTube video.

What is a War Binder?

From what I've seen on the interwebs, war binders were inspired by the movie War Room. War binders are kind of like prayer journals; they're meant to strengthen your relationship with God. It may include scriptures, bible studies, prayers, reflections, etc. To be honest, even though I've seen the movie, I didn't know war binders were a thing until after I had created about 3! My journal consists of notes I take while studying the Bible independently and in small groups, sermon notes, prayer lists, word studies, and many other things. So I think it earns the distinction as a war binder.

What is a Bullet Journal?

Bullet journals were invited by Ryder Carroll and popularized on YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. Often shorted to "bujo," bullet journals are an alternative to traditional planners. It's a system using lists and symbols to organize (and simplify) the planning process. The typical bullet journal contains monthly layouts, weekly layouts, habit trackers, and collections (a collection is basically a list). The beauty is that you can add to or remove whatever you want from the system because you create it as you go. No two bullet journals are the same. I joined the bullet journal world around 2015 because I loved the flexibility and the creativity.

The Mash Up

For a while, I had a notebook for my bible study group and a notebook for my bullet journal. That didn't work so well, so I created the first iteration of my war binder/bullet journal mash-up. It was too bullet journal-y so it didn't really make sense. I was really bad at filling in the table of contents, so bible studies, sermon notes, and devotions were lost in the many pages of the journal. It was a bullet journal, with random studies thrown in. So I went back to separate journals, but something still wasn't quite right.

I finally ended up with the sweet spot last year this time when I created a journal I called "Woven Together." Before I started it, I made a mental list of what I liked about bullet journaling and what I liked about the bible study journal.

Bullet Journal	War Binder
dot grid paper idea/brainstorming lists make it up as you go system/key for easy reference	God focused Bible study pages sermon notes word studies

Then I combined them!

Instead of a "table of contents," I have a "list of lists." It's essentially a collection of collections I want to create. After I create the collection, I add the page number to the original list. The primary function of these collections is to brain storm what topics, passages, and words I'm going to study, but I also add collections like favorite worship songs, women of the Bible, favorite passages, names of God, ways to be a better neighbor, etc. When I sit down to study the Word, I flip to my collections and pick a word, passage, or topic to study.

I've really enjored this format and think this is how I'll be journaling for a while. It's really helped to put God at the center of everything. Since I'm coming to the end of that journal, I decided to continue with "Woven Together: Volume 2" in 2021. This time I added back in some of the planning aspects of the bullet journal and I think it's better balanced than the first time I tried this. Do you journal? What style is your favorite?

A Message to the Father

Father, in Heaven, on earth and all around me—
There is so much I don't understand, so much to learn
And there is so much I don't deserve, yet here we are...
I have nothing of value to give you in return;
I can't keep my promises no matter how hard I try
And I wonder why You even bother with me, why You created me.
So I'm here, at Your feet, willing to give all that I have
You are the only reason I survive, the only reason I succeed,
And this is the only way I know how to say thank You.

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Kelly Sikkema

Answered Prayers and the True Vine

Sometimes God takes forever to answer prayers and sometimes it's same day delivery! Last week, God answered one of my prayers almost instantaneously. He gave me a vision of the true vine, which led me to study John 15 in a whole new light!

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.John 15:1-8 CSB

A Prayer for YHWH

Father help my unbelief—
I'm reading about your disciples thinking I can do better,
Looked at my life realizing I could never do better...
I've never walked on water, never healed the sick,
Never moved a moutain or changed langauges quick.
I know You're there listening, prayer afer prayer,
I need You to change my direction, to lead me there,
To change my heart and give me faith,
That's why I'm here surrendering to Your perfect grace.
My knees are down, my head is bowwed,
Proclaiming You my King before this very crowd.
Even when my heart is weak,
I come before You because I believe.

Photocredit: Unsplash.com/Samuel Martins

Church Hurt

Church hurt turns a lot of people away from God when it's actually us that are the problem. In this episode, I want to talk about how "Christians" have turned people away from Christ because we don't follow the words of Christ.

PSALMS to God · Church Hurt

¹Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! ²It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. ³Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” Luke 17:1-4 NKJV

What is the difference between corporate church hurt and personal church hurt?
In this episode I talk about "corporate" and "personal" church hurt. When I say corporate church hurt I'm referring to things that apply to the institution of organized religion. These offsenses may not affect a person personally, but are issues with the religion as a whole. Personal church hurt occurs at a specific church between specific people.

Corporate Church Hurt Examples

• Racism -- Protestant "Christians" behaved outside of the word of God in their practices of slavery and murder of the indigenous population in America.[1]
• Sexism
• Sexual Assault/Pedophila

The issue is that people are claiming to be followers of God, but not living according to His Word and lying about His Word (re: all the images of Biblical figures as white people)

Admitting that you have angered someone is part of the process. Some times you have to pray to be compassionate and let God do the resolving of the situation.

Here are a few verses to meditate on:

• James 1:19-20
• Ephesians 4:2-3
• Romans 12:17-21
• John 13:34-35
• Proverbs 27:5-6
• Matthew 5:38-42
• Proverbs 19:11

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." -Gandhi[2]
The I Feel Statement—I feel _____ when you _____ and I would like you to _______.

References & Footnotes

1. In the episode, I called out Protestants because that's who shaped most of the US's history, but Catholicism has played a a role in spreading white supremacy as well.
2. Soutik Biswas. "Was Mahatma Gandhi a racist?". BBC News. September 17, 2015

I Am Not A Good Person

PSALMS to God · I Am Not A Good Person

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Matthew 19:17 KJV

Defining Good

Good is a very subjective word from a human standpoint—it requires a point of reference.

Imagine someone asking you is their cooking "good." If they are serving you a dish you've had before, you will use those experiences to define good. If you've never had that particular dish, you will likely judge it based on your experience with other dishes, but it will become the standard for this dish. It is possible that someone who is more familiar with the dish (in particular when it comes to authenticity), might find the dish to be sub-par while a person experiencing it for the first time may call it "good." It is very possible that some dishes will not receive unanimous descriptions simply because people have different definitions of what consititutes good food.

Why is our definition of good important?

In Matthew 19:17, Jesus tells us that no one is good except the Father. This is definitely in reference to Romans 3:23; we have all sinned and therefore in comparison to God, we are not good. We err when we view ourselves as good or innocent and subsequently decide what we deserve based on our presumption of innocence.

The law is the standard in which we can determine our "goodness"

   
• Have you ever placed another god before God? This doesn't have to be worshiping a named diety; it can easily be placing people, goals, or objects in a place of more influence/importance than God. If we iodlize someone or something our answer to this question is yes.
   
• Have you ever worshipped/created/accepted an image? If we have ever accepted the image from the renessance era of the white man with long brown hair as a picture of Jesus, our answer is yes. This also includes worshipping or granting abilities to inanimate things as though they have power: crosses, statutes, "holy" water, church buildings, etc.
   
• Have you ever taken the Lord's name in vain? This isn't just swear words. When you claim to be representing God (wearing the label of Christian alone does this) and you bear false witness to Him, you use His name in vain.
 
• Have you ever broken the Sabbath? Sabbath is from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday (the Sabbath day; the 7th day of the week) and is supposed to be set apart for God. We aren't supposed to work or require anyone else to work; subsequently we aren't supposed to buy or sell.
   
• Have you ever dishonored your mother and father? This can range from the temper tantrum you threw because your mom wouldn't buy you a piece of gum, to the moody one-liners you delivered in your teen years. Also, God is our Heavenly Father, when we don't reflect Him, we dishonor Him.
   
• Have you ever killed anyone? This doesn't have to be physical murder, you can also kill a person's spirit.
   
• Have you ever committed adultery? Remember, we are the Bride of Christ; when we are disobedient to God and/or forsake Him, we commit adultery (the Israelites are found quilty of this multiple times—Jeremiah 3:8).
   
• Have you ever stolen anything? Even if you were a child and didn't quite get the concept, it was stealing. Remember that you can also steal intangible items such as joy, time, recognition, etc.
   
• Have you ever born false witness? Little "white" lies (*rolls eyes at the inherent bias of this phrase*) are still lies. Note that this also includes gossiping; when you you spread information you have not verified you could be spreading false information and thus unintentionally baring false witness.
   
• Have you ever coveted? This includes being envious of people on social media/TV/YouTube/etc, desiring another person's gifts and abilities, wanting someone else's life. Note: I do think there's a difference in striving to be like someone (e.g., an athlete or entertainer) and wanting to just be born with their talent. There is also a difference in working toward a goal (e.g., homeownership) and wanting to "keep up with the joneses." Coveting, from a Biblical standpoint, is wanting something that is not rightfully yours. Remember, coveting is more than a passing thought; it is a burning desire that you internalize and feed.

Full disclosure, I answered yes to every single question. I have let people be more influential in my life than God. There was a time when I acknowledged that picture as being Jesus (it's not) and there was a time when I thought there was power in the physical Bible (the power is in the Word, not the object). Although "God" is not His name, many people in the US associate the word "God" with "YHWH", and as such when I say things like "Oh my God," I'm taking the Lord's name in vain, as this is an empty usage. I have also claimed to be a Christian while not reflecting the fruits of His Spirit. I didn't start keeping the Sabbath until five years ago and I've probably broken it accidentally a few times since then. I have disobeyed my parents and said things to them that I probably shouldn't have. I have killed someone's spirit with my words. Because I have broken the first four commandments I have committed adultery against God. I have stolen people's time; I also stole the dog I had growing up (though eventually the owner did consent). I have lied and I have gossipped. I have desired a-many of houses I saw on HGTV.

I am not a good peron by God's standard.

I used to think I was a good person because I was comparing myself to other people. The standard in which I determined my "goodness" was based on man's standard of good, not God's. When I thought of myself in this way, it was easy to become arrogant and not realize the gift God gave me by enabling my to enter into His presence despite my inability to live up to His standard. It became easy to not realize that I need the Holy Spirit.

References & Footnotes

1. Bob Deffinbaugh. "23. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Coveting -- and a Whole Lot More! (Exodus 20:17)". Bible.org. May 13. 2004
2. The article I mentioned about the disporportionality of racism in white Christians can be found on NBC News
3. The Bible verse I was trying to quote is Mark 13:6.

Failure is Normal

Being delivered from a sin doesn’t mean you’re never tempted again, it means you have mastered the tools God has given you to overcome the temptation. Like anything though, I’ve found that if I don’t practice using those tools (Prayer, Studying the Word, Fellowship with the Body of Christ) I get rusty at using them and have to restrain myself. Don’t give up when you give in to temptation, just get back to training with your tools!

I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 1 Corintians 15:31 NASB

Book Review: Is Christianity the White Man's Religion?

Is Christianity the White Man's Religion?: How the Bible is Good News for People of Color by Antipas L. Harris caught my eye while scrolling through Instagram. I've had my share of conversations on this topic, and though I've already been able to navigate this questionfor myself, I thought the book might introduce more information that would make such conversations easier. Based on the title, I expected the book to provide historical and theological answers to some of the age old questions people have by delving into the true history of the Bible, the Church, and white Christianity. Unfortunately, if I didn't have answers to the titular question, this book would not have helped me on that journey.

A Surface Level Mess

At 70 pages in, Dr. Harris has mentioned police brutality, racism, the Hebrew Israelites, Nation of Islam, African Spiritualism, and Megyn Kelly, but he hasn't answered a single question. Not only has he not answered questions, he has lead the casual reader to have new questions. For instance, he introduces the Hebrew Israelite theory that black people are the true Israelites and even provides the scriptural reference they use to support their idea (one of the few scripture references we see written out thus far), but as he complains about this group pulling young blacks from the Church, he doesn't give any push back as to why they are wrong. If I was unfamiliar with the group and the theory, I would have been more interested in researching their theory than continuing his book. This is just one example, but there are three main issues I have with the book: it lacks a clear focus, doesn't know who its audience is, and has questionable language when it comes to the theology.

A Lack of Focus

In one section, Dr. Harris has a heading "Does Jesus Care About Black People?" In this section he starts to discuss how racial identity informs how we relate to people, thus provoking black Christians to desire a black Jesus whom they can relate to. He follows this up with an example of Megyn Kelly asserting Jesus to be white, and then states that she needs Jesus to be white. Dr. Harris then leaves this conversation to discuss his time pastoring in prisons. He begins talking about racial bias in incarceration rates and how the Nation of Islam empowered black prisoners (also members of Nation of Islam are allowed to wear the Nation of Islam bow tie in jail). At the end of the chapter, I have potentially useful tidbits strung into an incoherent mess.

1. Dr. Harris never answers the question "Does Jesus Care About Black People?" in the section. Why did he make that the heading if he wasn't going to answer the question?
2. The discussion of how racial identity drives our interaction with God could have been flushed out much deeper. There are historical and pyschological aspects to this topic. What's more is that Dr. Harris asks if Christ can relate to the ghettos and barrios, but he neglects to talk about Christ's position at the bottom of society. Not only was Christ considered lowly in Jewish society, but the Jews were conquered by Rome and considered low among the larger society.
3. When Dr. Harris brings up Megyn Kelly, he names the woman she was responding to as though it is of importance, but it doesn't actually have any relevance. In fact, he spends time bemoaning her need to view Jesus as a white man, just a paragraph after explaining why minorities want to see him as a man of color. He doesn't give any reason why one is justifiable and the other is not. Nor does he offer any suggestions...
4. Instead of addressing the questions he has already brought up, Dr. Harris goes off on a tangent about people in prison. Why do we need to know about bow ties in prisons? Why are talking about the Nation of Islam instead of answering the question? If we're going to tie prison in to identity, why aren't you discussing the fact that most of the disciples were wrongfully accused and thrown in prison?

The entire book reads like this.

Who is Your Audience?

Another big issue in the book is that there's a disconnect between the title/synopsis and who the intended audience is. Based on the title, I assumed the audience was someone who was either asking the question "is Chrisitianity the white man's religion?" or someone who deals with people asking this question (pastor, youth leader, parent, etc.). Instead, the book reads as though it is written for someone who doesn't know this question exists and has no idea why anyone would ask the question. The first chapter should introduce the problem, but subsequent chapters should move you closer to an answer.

There are definitely larger issues of structural racism or concepts of racial identity that warrant deeper discussion in an individual chapter, but there should also be answers within these chapters. For instance, in the above example about racial identity informing the relationship one has with God, we should have also had discussions about how we can identify with God. If the audience is already asking the titular question, they aren't reading the book to hear more questions.

If instead the book is meant for those who are confused as to why one would ask the question, the title and synopsis should have been written to indicate that the book is meant to guide people through the minds of those asking the question. It should not purport to answer the questions if it's not going to deliver.

The Language of What You Believe

Several sentences in this book made me pause and ask about the authors beliefs. We're going to discuss 3 of them.

The incarnation is about a God who came among us in Jesus Christ and set up residence in our neighborhoods (John 1:14)

On page 72, Dr. Harris refers to "a" god coming amongst us and not "The God" who came into our life. If this was the only questionable sentence in the book, I would write it of as poor wording. However, just a few pages later (page 75), he seems to question the Biblical narrative of history.

From this child, the Hebrew people—the nation of Israel—are said to have eventually emerged.

Dr. Harris doesn't seem convinced that the nation of Israel descends from Abraham and Sarah's child Isaac. He leaves room for other possibilities, making me question his loyalty to the scriptures. This is excerbated by his sudden confidence in the worldly narrative.

Finally, when Constantine's own mother converted to the faith, the emperor saw the light. Constantine became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.

On page 86, Dr. Harris seems fully convinced that Constantine actually converted to Christianity. Most scholarly sources admit that Constantine had a very superficial understanding of Christianity. In fact, Constantine's "conversion" is a crucial part of the problem the book is supposed to be addressing. The Romans had a habit of taking the religions of the regions they conquered and meldng them with their own beliefs for the benefit of the kingdom—a weird form of assimilation if you will. This is how may of the pagan practices crept into the religion, but more importantly for Dr. Harris' book, this is how the religion went from be the religion of brown people, to the religion of Europeans. The pattern of him questioning the Biblical narrative of Israel's formation (the words of Moses, a man of color) but boldly asserting the narrative of Constantine, is the exact issue he's supposed to be addressing in the book!

What Dr. Harris Got Right

I like to end on a positive note, so lets talk about what Dr. Harris did acheive. Eventually he does get to issues such as "the curse of Ham" (there is no curse of Ham, the curse was on Canaan), and discussing the African presence in the Bible. Really, the meat of the book doesn't start until about half way through. By the time I had reached this part of the book, I was exhausted and had no interest in finishing. If you must read this book, I suggest starting in chapter 6, then you might actually finish.

Forgiveness & Reconciliation

I have a short temper, but one thing I do not do is hold grudges. I'm more likely to tell you exactly why I'm mad at you and then be over it. Obviously, if you do the same thing over and over it's going to affect our relationship, but even then I don't usually hang on to angry. Other people I know are still mad about the time in 1st grade when someone cut them in line. Many will never even verbalize their anger. Yet Christ gives us two pieces of information about dealing with conflict that apply to all of us, regardless of how we default in times of anger.

¹⁵Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. ¹⁶But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. ¹⁷And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.Matthew 18:15-17 KJV

²³Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; ²⁴Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. ²⁵Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.Matthew 5:23-25 KJV

Last week, I woke up to a group chat message that I found highly offensive. I addressed the individual in what I thought was a calm manner, and they became defensive. It was a very short exchange, but in the end, the other person said they were "hurt" by what I said. This person did not care that they had hurt me and held no remorse for their part in the exchange, but per Christ's instructions the leaders of the church recommend that we "reconcile."

I'm Only Human

My first reaction was to become even angrier, to be honest. Imagine someone punches you, you respond by shoving them, and they respond by kicking you&mdahs;then they say you asaulted them and they're hurt. The flesh was like "Good! I hope you stay hurt." Unfortunately though, I'm at the point in my relationship with Christ where I know this isn't how to handle the situation. In responding to the message that originally caused offense, I sort of did Matthew 18:15—arguably because this was through text, the next conversation should probably still be one on one. Yet, because he has said that he is also hurt, I am also "at the alter [remembering] that my brother is angy with me." The two of us are doubly called to talk it out and attempt to be reconciled. The problem is, I'm not sorry for I said, and he's not sorry for what he said.

A Step of Humility

One of the hardest parts of forgiveness and reconciliation is admitting you are wrong. Whether we are wrong for what we said, how we said it, when we said it, who we said it to, or why said it, admitting that is hard. It's also hard to admit we blew something out of proportion or misjudged a person. In most situations we just want the other person to say "you were right and I was wrong." Meanwhile, they're thinking exactly the opposite. I've definitely grown in my ability to admit that I have overstepped a boundary, or gotten mad unnecessarily (PMS is real).

Unfortunately, the truth is, sometimes I think the person received exactly what they deserved. Maybe I didn't consciously say it to hurt the person, but even before I opened my mouth to speak, I decided what needed to be said was more important than hurt feelings. It is in those cases, such as the example we've been discussing, that I have no remorse for what happened and struggle the most with humility.

Questions to Ask Yourself

When i'm trying to bring myself into a state of humility, these are the questions I ask myself.

Was it necessary?

This question really should be asked on the front end of conversations, but if we're honest with ourselves, sometimes we say or do unnessary things. This is usually what gets us in trouble. When I answer this question truthfully, if the answer is no, it becomes easier to see the other person's point. This is essentially me admitting that overstepped a boundary. Even if what I said was true, it wasn't necessary and didn't benefit anyone.

Could I Have Handled It Better?

The answer to this question is almost always yes. It might take a day, or a month, or even years to able to answer it honestly, but the answer is almost always yes. I've often told people it's not what you said, but how you said it. The truth hurts sometimes, but that doesn't mean I should hurl it at you like a baseball. I have found that with delicate matters, every person reacts differently. As we get to know people, its important to remember who you're talking to. With some you may need to be more gentle. Many times we don't know that we've touched a nerve or we upset someone we don't know well. Stopping to think of alternative ways I could have handled a situation helps me to understand the person better, and sometime identify where things went wrong. This allows me to see from their perspective and is helpful in admitting my fault.

Was it the Right Time/Place?

We all know the meme "too soon." Sometimes it just isn't the right time to say something. Of course with somethings there is no right time, but at least there may be a right place. Things that may be ok to say between close friends or between family might not be ok to broadcast to your entire friend circle. Similiarly it could be one particular person that you said something in front of that irritates a person. Again, its one of those things we really should think about beforehand, but in the after effects, I find that acknowledging I embarassed someone or stole the spotlight, etc., is a crucial step in repentence.

Letting Go

It also takes humility to let things go. Pride is what makes us feel like someone owes us an apology or that we are deserving of something. It takes humility to say "I'm sorry" is enough. It takes even more humility to forgive without an "I'm sorry."

Repentance

During some of the rough conversations I had with members of my church in the past couple weeks, we talked alot about Christ's stance on forgiveness, but not alot about repentence. People often remind us that Christ died for our sins while we were still sinners as motiviation for forgiveness, but we aren't pardoned until we confess His name and repent. This is why humbling ourselves is so cruicial. We have to truly get to a place where we actually feel apologetic about what we have done and/or the pain we caused.

Reconcile

In my scenario, I feel like what I said was respectful, necessary, and done in the appropriate time/place. Am I sorry that the other person felt hurt in the process? Unfortunately the answer is no. A hit dog will holler. When we are confronted with out own biases, faults, and shortcommings, our reaction is often to be defensive and get offended. That's what I felt happened in the exchange. So how then do I go about reconciling with this person? When speaking with the leadership of the church about it, the person said reconciliation didn't mean apologizing. I'm not sure I agree with their assessment, especially since I've never had a conversation with this person otherwise.

What Does Reconcile Mean?

Reconciliation means "the restoration of friendly relations."[1] This implies that there was a friendly relationship in the begining. I find this point interesting because we often forget that when we talk about reconciliation in the context of Matthew 5 and Matthew 18, we're supposed to be talking about our brothers and sisters in Christ—those we actually have relationship with. You can not be restore friendly relations to someone you were simply neuteral about. Now, one could argue that in cases such as my own, reconciliation would mean to get back to that neutral.

Refusal of Reconciliation

We're not all on the same spiritual level. Some of us are moved by the Holy Spirit to reconcile, and some are not inclined to reconcile at all. Many (maybe even most) of us, are somewhere in between. Often I am aware that conversations should take place and I the desire to attempt reconciliation, but I may not be ready to budge. There will be times when people will refuse to listen or speak to you. Sometimes it will come to a stalemate.

Responsibility

I often ask God what our true responsibility is in reconciliation. Sometimes, conflict exists over the dumbest things (for a great example, see my podcast episode Misunderstandings). However, sometimes the conflict is legitimate. In Matthew 18, it even says that if after carrying the matter through propper channels the issue still exists, the person becomes as a stranger to you. It doesn't guarantee reconciliation. There are at least two points of contention I've been involved in where I feel as though I did the right thing—the example shared being one of them. In both cases the other person adamantly disagrees. At least one of them desires an admission of wrong doing and an apology, but you shouldn't apologize when you aren't apologetic. You cannot restore a friendly relationship if the person is waiting for you to apologize.

So I asked myself when is it ok to stand your ground, so to speak. When am I justified in not offering and apology? Am I ever justified to not accept an apology? (Colossians 3:13) Do we have to be "friendly" in the aftermath. Biblically, we don't ever see Christ back down from the Pharisees; He does not legitimize the fact that they feel threatened by His teachings or try to soothe their ego. Yet, in Luke 7 and Luke 14, Christ is also seen breaking bread with them. What does that mean for us?

Christ tells us to forgive our brothers and sisters 70*7 times. So, when a person approaches me for forgiveness, it's pretty obvious that I'm supposed to offer it. Being friendly with that person doesn't mean being naive though. For instance, if they stole money from me, apologize, and I forgive them, that doesn't mean I'm going to leave my wallet with you when I go to the bathroom. This, while difficult, is actually the easy side of reconciliation, because at the end of the day, we can only control our own actions. When the person is unresmoreful for their actions, we have to be able to let go of anger without an admission of wrongdoing. Similarly, when someone is angry at us, we can not force them to accept an apology and we cannot force them to see things our way. This is when things get complicated.

In situations of conflixt, my suggestion would be to first pray and surrender your heart to God. Let God humble you; His Spirit will tell you if you should be remorseful. Let God be the one to decide what you should say. If both people are truly in the Spirit, reconciliation will happen. If only one person is, it's hard to say what the outcome will be, but in these scenarios, I want to be the one that came in the Spirit so I can be blameless before God. In short, our responsibility is simply to try.

References

1. "Reconciled". Merriam-Webster. visited June 13, 2020

Acts 9: From Saul to Paul

Possibly the biggest conversion documented in the Bible is that of Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a vehement persecutor of Christians—he even took part in the stoning of Stephen (Acts 6-7). He would go on to write almost half of the New Testament. Now that's a testimony! Throughout this post, I'm going to refer to him as Paul since that's the name we most commonly use. Let's jump into some key points of his conversion...

What Made Paul Change?

The church I'm a member of is currently investing in discipleship—from small groups to outreach, we're hearing a lot about horizontal relationships. However the conversion of Paul is not about a horizontal relationship. When Christ appears to Paul, he is with his fellow "anti-Christians." He is not moved by Stephen's speech or seeing the perseverance of the disciples. It is Christ Himself who changes Paul's heart. Yes, followers of Christ aid Paul in his transformation, but that first step comes from Christ. The other conversion accounts support this pattern as well, but with Paul I find it much easier to see.

A lot of times we forget this, but it actually isn't our job to convert people. Our job is to help people find answers and grow after the Spirit converts them. When people aren't ready and we push faith on them, it only turns them away. This pattern is evident with the Ethiopian man (Acts 8), Cornelius (Acts 10), and Paul (Acts 9). Each of these men were called by God independently of the disciples. It is only after they accept that call that God sends a disciple to nurture their growth.

Fear of Change

Paul represents an extreme case. He wasn't just someone who made disparaging remarks about Christ's followers, he was actively participating in their deaths. Can you imagine hearing that the person who is responsible for your loved ones' death has turned over a new leaf and is joining you? That's a hard pill to swallow, and as expected, the disciples were not convinced.

The Right to Change

Despite the fact that we don't experience this type of persecution in the modern US, it's oddly relatable. What we do live in, is the era of social media and the permanent record of all our stupidity. Do you remember in school when teacher's threatened to put something on your "permanent record"? I don't know if anyone actually looks at those, but you best believe that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. have a permanent record of everything you've ever posted. Idiotic babbling, uniformed opinions, drunk posts, idle musings, conspiracy theories, etc. There's also that person bored enough to go back through your life to find the post from 15 years ago where you said/did something you should not have. How many celebrities and political candidates have gotten in front of a camera to release a statement about social media misconduct? A better question is how often do we actually believe them?

When I think about who I was my freshman year of college—the year I created my Facebook account—and who I am now, there are definitely major differences. Lucky for me I've always been a bit reluctant to share my life on social media, but I can easily see how things I thought at 18 could haunt me at 32. And yet, I have a right to change—to grow.

The Church is one of the most unforgiving places when it comes to change. I don't know how many times I've seen or heard about a "Christian" rudely dwelling on a person's past. When people turn away from the world, we should be welcoming them with open arms and making that transition easier. Yet often, they are met with reaction and skepticism.

Skepticism Isn't Always Bad

There are two kinds of apologetic people: those who are actually remorseful and those who got caught. Some people genuinely make mistakes—the girl who got pregnant/the guy who got a girl pregnant outside of marriage, the person who cheated on their spouse once, the person who got desperate once and stole some money, the recovering alcoholic, etc. While other people boldly continue in their sinful trajectory. The latter are the people we rightfully guard against, but in doing so, many times we lump in the former. Yet these are the people with the most compelling stories and the people who are often most able to reach the lost.

We have to approach things with skepticism to avoid allowing false doctrine and complacency in the Church, but how do we know what to shut out and what to accept? How do we recognize a genuine transformation? The Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit knows who He's converted. After Paul is converted, the Spirit tells Ananias to go to Paul. Notice that it's not a council of men voting on whether Paul is or isn't a true believer, though it does take a while for them to be convinced. In every case, God places a disciple in position to help His newly converted child. That disciple knows the person is the real deal because the Spirit has revealed it! We should never be relying on ourselves to determine who has changed and who hasn't.

Signs of Change

I don't think everyone changes at the same rate, which means I also don't think everyone's transformation will look the same (a major reason why we should be rely on the Holy Spirit to do the discerning). However, what I do know is that a genuine change will be led by the Holy Spirit and therefore will show a person coming closer to the Holy Spirit. I would expect to see the person seeking answers and studying the Word, leaving behind worldly behaviors, adopting behaviors that reflect our Father, growing the Fruit of the Spirit, and an admission of guilt.

Ananias

Ananias is the brave disciple who goes to Paul right after his conversion. It is Ananias who heals Paul, returning his sight.

Who Was Ananias?

The first point I have to make about Ananias is that he isn't the Ananias from earlier in Acts who ended up dead. Apparently Ananias was a popular name in during this time.

The Name of Ananias

Ananias is actually the Greek variant of the Hebrew Hananiah. In the Old Testament, there is a person named Hananiah featured in the book of Daniel. You may know him better as Shadrach (Daniel 1:7). This Hananiah was strong and stood for God during a time of captivity and turmoil, so it isn't shocking that it would become a popular name. The name actually means "YHWH has been gracious."[1]

The Faith of Ananias

Let's be honest. If the Holy Spirit came to me and told me He wanted me to go to the house of a known killer, I don't know what I would do. I know my immediate answer would not be "Yes Lord." Ananias was just as scared as we know we would have been. The book of Acts doesn't paint a holier-than-thou image of him rushing to Paul without question. Like us, he is taken aback and unsure of the command he is given. The important thing is that he moves past his own reasoning to do what the Holy Spirit requests.

Imagine, if no disciple was ever willing to go to Paul? We know that God's plan was always going to be fulfilled, but someone had to go to him. The Church had to accept Paul for him to be able to spread the gospel. The first step in that process was Ananias surrendering to the Holy Spirit.

The Power of Ananias

How many people do you think actually know who Ananias is? Despite playing a crucial role in Paul's entry to the Church, few people would name him if tasked with jotting a list of people from the New Testament. Yet, he was able to remove the scales from Paul's eyes. What does it say about us if a little known disciple who is never spoken of again can restore vision, but our church doesn't have any healers in it? Where is the Holy Spirit in our Church? Where is our faith?

Summary

• Paul's conversion was motivated by the Spirit
• You cannot and should not force the Word on a person in attempt to convert them
• The Holy Spirit is the only one who can assess wether a person is truly changed or not
• It takes courage and faith to follow the Holy Spirit's instruction instead of our own
• The biggest enemy of the Church became the most powerful ally

References

1. "Who was Ananias in the Bible?". GotQuestions.org; visited May 29, 2020
2. "Ananias". Bible Gateway; visited May 30, 2020

The Conversion of Paul

PSALMS to God · The Conversion Of Paul

And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. Acts 9:26 NKJV

The conversion of Paul/Saul is discussed in Acts 9

I will have a more in depth overview of Acts 9 posted to the site by the end of the week.

Paul learns directly from the Holy Spirit and therefore teaches on one accord with the disciples even though they did not train him (Galatians 1)

Would you trust someone like Paul if they were trying to join the Church?

The Holy Spirit's Role
The Church is supposed to be led by the Holy Spirit. This is what gives the body discernment as well as keep us unified. Can we honestly say the Church today is let by the Holy Spirit? Without the Holy Spirit the Church is done.

The antichrist is not a single person—it is a system of worship. Satan's goal is to get us to worship him instead of God. "Anti"-Christ means "in place of" Christ. If the Church isn't functioning the way its supposed to be, it will be even easier for people to deceive the masses.

Acts 1-5: The Early Days of the Church

Electing a 12th Apostle

The number 12 should stand out to you.Its the number of sons Jacob had. Its the number of tribes in Israel. Little known fact: its also the number of sons Abraham's first son, Ishmael, had as well. After Judas betrays Christ, the 12 disciples became the 11 disciples. We could speculate for all eternity why 12 men were needed, but the fact is, God sees something in the number 12. If He started a nation with 12 tribes (Israel) it makes sense that He'd launch His Kingdom with 12 disciples.

To do this, the remaining disciples had to select Judas' replacement. It's a daunting task to choose someone for spiritual positions, but here we see an example. They gathered together all the people who had been following Christ, a total of 120 people. All of them prayed together an got on one accord. They nominated two choices from within this group, and then allowed God to show them which man to choose.

Terminology

What's the Difference Between an Apostle and a Disciple?

Reading these chapters we see a greater use of the term apostle applied to anyone: the 12 Disciples shift to the 12 Apostles. I was quick to ask myself what is the difference? Who is an apostle and who is a disciple? I found differing opinions online and have linked some of the articles I found in the references section. Below is a what I took away from my research.

Apostle

The word apostle is actually heavily tied to Christianity and usage of the word before Christianity is very rare.[2] It refers to someone who is sent on a mission, more precisely someone with authority sent to preach the Word of God.[3] Generally speaking, it is usually applied to those who directly communicated with Christ. The 12 disciples and Paul, though Paul is only referred to as an apostle in his own letters. It seems to be a "promotion" from disciple.

Disciple

A disciple is both a student and a teacher. Part of discipleship is the act of spreading the message, just as an apostle would.[4] It seems to me that a disciple, though spreading the word, could refer to someone who has not come into his own yet and is not ready to teach without supervision.

The Seven Chosen to Serve

Within the body, there's a lot that needs to be done. We need to take care of each other. We need to spread the Word to non-believers. We need to teach and nurture believers who haven't become spiritual adults yet. Prioritization can easily trip us up if we aren't careful. As the disciples began to spread the Word, they were accused of neglecting the widows and had to determine how to handle the situation. It's important to realize that the first step was acknowledging that there was a problem. They didn't shirk the responsibility or argue that it wasn't important. However they did assess its priority within the larger mission. Since it was a task that didn't need to concern everyone in the body and could be completed with a handful of workers, they chose to select a small group for the task.

Notice that even though the group is small, each member is picked based on spiritual qualities. When we form groups (or ministries) within our local body we should be sure to pray about the people we chose and look for people that are spiritually sound.

Resistance

³⁶For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
³⁷After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
³⁸And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
³⁹But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.Acts 5:36-39 KJV

In Matthew 10:22 and Matthew 24:9 Jesus warns the Apostles that they will be hated for following Him. In John 13:16, Jesus asks if a servant is greater than his master. We know that Jesus was hated and killed; if that's what the world did to Jesus, why wouldn't we expect the same treatment? In Acts, we see that the Church was persecuted from the beginning. The leaders in the community are not happy with the disciples and quickly move to silence them. They are thrown in jail, threatened, and forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus. Yet, they continue steadfastly in carrying out the mission Christ set for us.

The Stoning of Stephen

The leaders are so bent out of shape about the spread of Christ's teaching that they are willing to do anything to stop the disciples, even kill an innocent man. Stephen, one of the 7 men chosen to serve the widows, is the unfortunate person chosen to be killed. Stephen was performing miracles and becoming well known, so they accused him of blasphemy. The leaders even went through the trouble of setting up false witnesses to testify against him. There was a full out campaign to spread misinformation and turn the people against Stephen (just as they had done with Jesus). You will see that after Stephen is stoned, the focus shifts from preaching to the Jews to preaching to the world.

In the Name of Jesus

When I was in high school, I remember I was asked to give a prayer and they cautioned me not say "in Jesus' name" at the end because it might make some people feel uncomfortable. I don't remember wether I complied or not (I was still a babe in my faith then), but I do remember wondering why "God" is OK and "Jesus" is uncomfortable. There is power in the name of Christ and it is a clear sign of what God you are worshipping. It is a sign of allegiance and reminder to Satan that the battle has already been won. We must be like the disciples and continue with what God has called us to do despite what man is requesting.

But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.Acts 4:19 KJV

Relationship

Within these first six chapters of Acts, we get a great picture of the relationship between the followers of Christ. It is mentioned 5 times that they meet daily (Acts 2:46-47; 3:2; 5:42; 6:1). While they did meet at the Temple, they did not confine their relationship to that location. They met in each other's homes and shared meals together. I googled "the significance of sharing a meal" expecting to see information on Jewish culture of Biblical references, instead I found secular sources proclaiming the importance of sharing meals. From child development sites expressing the importance of family meals to mental health sites expressing the effect of eating with others on our mental health.[1] It seems everyone agrees that sharing a meal has a profound impact on our relationship with others.

Money

The disciples didn't just give 10% of their income and consider themselves sufficient, they gave all they had. People sold their homes and land to pool together their resources!

Communal Living

When I think about communal living, honestly, I think about cults. It is a common trend for cult leaders to move their followers out of the normal world, away from family and friends, and into the confines of their control. In this way, the cult leader has full access to his followers, ultimate authority, and no one distracting his followers. Knowing that the early church sold their belongs, including their homes, to fund each other and make sure everyone had sufficiently for their needs, it's easy to see why the Roman and Jewish leaders thought of it as a dangerous cult. Think about it: if a group from your church suddenly began meeting every day, sold everything they had, and pooled their money together, would you think that was dangerous and be wary of them?

When I think about it in full, from an ideal standpoint, I get the appeal. In a perfect Church system, no one would be without. For instance, right now as people suffer job losses from COVID-19, in a communal system, bills would still get paid by those able to work. There may be less food, but instead of one family having a surplus of food and another family starving, both families would have something to eat. Furthermore, it emphasizes selflessness and the concept of a Church family. Most parents would give the clothes off their back for their own child, but what about their neighbor's child? What about the child across town? Building a Church community that functions more like a family forces people to get on one accord and behave as a family. There's both beauty and power in this.

Of course, as I mentioned from the beginning, the dangers of it becoming cult-like are very real. We aren't perfect and we often stray from the teachings God has given us—primarily the commandment to worship God alone. Mankind is prone to worshipping mere men. Many churches today worship their pastor, and those in and out of the faith idolize celebrities. This habit of elevating humans is dangerous. This is what gives cult leaders their hold on people.

So what are we supposed to do? What would this look like, practically? A system like this could only work if everyone was cultivating their relationship with Christ individually. This is necessary to develop the discernment from the Holy Spirit (to identify false prophets). Each person would also have to develop the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and renounce greed. Checks and balances with leaders would be necessary as well—we all know when one man or woman has all the power, things don't end well.

Ananias and Sapphira

Probably the 2nd most popular (or well known) incident from this section is the death of Ananias and Sapphira. This married couple sold their belongings like many of the other disciples, but chose to give only a portion to the group and ended up dead. The context of this is important, because people can easily misuse this passage to instill fear into people. The break from chapter 4 to chapter 5, in my opinion, is misplaced. Acts 4:32-37 should not be separated from Acts 5:1-11, because it all goes together. In Acts 4, we learn that many of the disciples were freely giving what they had to the group. A man named Joses (who may or may not be the same as Joseph mentioned in Acts 1) was lead to sell his land and give everything he had. It is in the midst of this culture that Ananias and Sapphira lie about how much they were given for their possession and withhold a portion for themselves.

Joses and the couple are given as examples, one as the ideal, and the other as what not to do (just like Cain and Abel). As such, we should notice the similarities and differences in each scenario.

The Similarities

1. Neither was commanded to give
2. Both involved the sale of something and remitting the money to the group
3. Both sold land

The Difference

1. Joses gave everything; Ananias and Sapphira kept a portion for themselves
2. Joses told the Apostles he was giving everything and actually gave everything; Ananias and Sapphira lied about how much they were giving

The key components in this instance are freewill and trust. Peter reminds the couple that the possession was theirs and in their control the whole time. Imagine, you see everyone around you selling everything they have that is valuable to give to people who are complete strangers. You can bet that some people were not so comfortable and ready to do the same. However, those who did were probably praised and admired. If the majority of the group is doing this, those who weren't quite ready would likely feel pressured to do the same even though know command had been given. In this, we see giving akin to Cain and Abel, where Abel gave the best he had freely and Cain held back. Essentially, they didn't trust their new family enough to give all they had to the cause.

The question I have is, would it have been different if they had said "we have sold our possession and we would like to give half"? Peter seems the most outraged that they lied, not that they didn't commit to giving the whole portion. If they had said, "we aren't ready yet," would the group have prayed for them and been encouraging?

⁴¹And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
⁴²And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Acts 5:41-42 NKJV

References

1. "Search: The Significance of Sharing a Meal". Google; visited March 9, 2020
2. "Apostle". Bible Study Tools; visited May 9, 2020
3. "Apostle". Merriam-Webster; visited May 9, 2020
4. "Disciple". Merriam-Webster; visited May 9, 2020
5. Jonathan Potter. "Apostles vs. Disciples". Bible Odyssey.