The Post that's NOT about the Syrian Refugees

No, I’m not going to get into details of the Syrian refugees debate. Yes, I have my opinion on it. Feel free to ask my opinion privately. But I prefer to use my blog for encouraging or exhorting (okay yeah... ranting) rather than to discuss politics.

What I want to talk about are the Christians that I have seen using the Syrian refugee debate as an opportunity for the ultimate Jesus juke: “Jesus said to care for the least of these- the Syrian refugees are the least of these. Jesus would let the refugees into the country, how could you disagree? That’s an extremely unbiblical attitude! Jesus told us to love and care for others. Think about that before you make your opinion on foreign policy, etc. etc. etc.” The best is the people that even go so far as to make statements that assert that the Christians who don’t support bringing the Syrian refugees into the country are just cherry-picking what they like and don’t like out of the Bible.

Okay, really quick, just for the record so you can read this without judging me or labeling me as a hateful and greedy racist bigot and actually listen to what I have to say. Let me assure you that I agree that the Syrian refugees are the least of these and that we should help them in some way. That’s all the more I’m hinting at my opinion, really!

But here’s the thing, more so than Christians “cherry-picking from scripture,” I find it interesting that some Christians only choose to quote this passage of scripture about caring for the least of these when it applies to their government and not to them individually. If you are a Christian who is caring for the needy in some way, then this post isn’t for you. This post is for those that quote that passage but feel no burden to apply it in the same way to their personal lives. I’ve even seen defensive posts saying the scripture applies to the situation in the broader sense and whether they as an individual apply it to their life or not doesn’t take away from the truth of scripture.

There are two main issues with this logic: 

Practice what you preach and pay attention to the plank.

Practice what you Preach 

If you personally are not living out that passage of scripture, if you are not caring for the homeless, the hungry, the poor, the hurt, the widows, the orphans, the sick, the needy (take your pick!) in some way, shape, or form then you have no platform to say that anyone else should be doing that. You have no right to try to Jesus-juke other people with a passage of scripture that you aren’t following. How can you tell someone to do something if you aren’t leading by example? Paul wrote many instructional letters to churches in his time telling them what to do. But his witness was so pure and he was able to tell people to follow his example (Philippians 3:17). He practiced what he preached. Practicing what you preach is important because otherwise no one listens to what you are preaching. If you think caring for the least of these is important, get out there and do it! 1 John 2:5-6 even says, “By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” If you say you follow Jesus then you’d better be living like him not just talking like him. If you are claiming to be a follower of Christ and even go so far as to say that a government or group of people should live by a certain passage of scripture then you must first make sure you are living by it first. 

Your actions (or lack thereof) don’t hinder the truth of that scripture but your actions do hinder your ability to quote it for others.

Pay Attention to the Plank

Not only does lack of action hinder your ability to quote it for others, it especially hinders you from being able to suggest that other Christians are the ones cherry-picking scripture. How can you suggest that Christians are only applying parts of scripture that they like or that support their political beliefs if you aren’t applying the passage you’re using to judge them to your own life? There’s a passage of scripture that you might have conveniently ignored yourself- Matthew 7:3. It says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Why are you so quick to suggest that the Christians not supporting Syrian refugees coming to the USA don’t believe parts of the Bible if you have no problem not applying the ones above or this one? If you are not actively applying a scripture to your life but you’re going to accuse someone of throwing away parts of scripture, then you’re guilty of doing the exact same thing with this one. Don’t tell someone that you don’t think is applying scripture to their political beliefs that they are cherry-picking if you’re not applying it to your everyday life. Look at the plank in your own eye before you point out the sawdust in someone else’s.

It’s not wrong to discuss matters like these, in fact I think it would be wrong NOT to discuss matters like these. But what sort of witness are we leaving for nonbelievers that just see arguments back and forth about who’s a bad Christian? 
Imagine the witness we would have if we argued less about who’s supporting it in their political views and actually did something to care for the least of these in our personal lives. If believers spent more time doing that we might actually make an even greater impact on our government and world than we would by arguing about it.

So I leave you with a challenge, be the example. Pay attention to the plank in your own eye before your find sawdust in someone else’s and practice what you preach. If caring for the least of these is a command of Jesus, then actually go do it! 
Practice what you preach, don’t just preach about it. 
Examine yourself before you tell someone else how to improve.

Wherever you are, go and be the example Jesus in this hurting world.

The Beautiful Bare Tree

Romans 1:20 NIV “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

God created the world so creatively and magnificently as to remind us of his greatness. 

I was observing my surroundings on a gray autumn day in New York State as I waited for my fiancé in my car. There were cars rushing past on the busy street and buildings and signs to look at but what caught my eye the most, was a bare tree.

I noticed that this tree was almost completely devoid of its leaves. As it has been an unusually warm fall, some of the trees still had a lot of their leaves. But this tree had dropped most of its leaves and was holding onto just a few. 

At first this bare tree just reminded me that winter was on the way and most of the trees would soon look this same way. But second to that thought, I began to notice how intricate the shape of the tree was. The tree was shaped in intentional curves and its branches and twigs popped out in all the right places to form the tree just right so that even without leaves, it was beautiful.

Most people wouldn’t consider a bare tree to be beautiful. Trees are beautiful in the spring as they blossom. They’re beautiful in the summer when they color streets and neighborhoods in a lively green. They are even beautiful in the fall when they turn shades of orange, red, and yellow. But very few people think bare trees in the winter are beautiful. Usually those bare trees turn our hillsides gray and make us think of death and the cold more than beauty.

But as I studied the curvature of the tree and the way it was shaped just so, I was reminded that God made that tree. The same God that knows how many hairs are on my head (Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7), knows exactly when that tree was planted and how long it had been there. The same God created that tree and intentionally gave those branches the curves and bends it needed to be beautiful. The same God placed each of those tiny twigs in their place and knew the leaves that fell off of them and the blossoms and leaves that have yet to spring out of them. 

The fact that God could know each of those innumerable twigs on just that tree alone, not to mention every other tree in the world, is mind-blowing in and of itself and gives testimony to God’s omniscience and omnipresence. The fact that God cared enough about the world and about his people, to not only create it all with a spoken word but to make it beautiful to the eye as well is a testimony to his creativity and omnipotence. 

But the fact that God put that much time and effort into creating and knowing a bare tree is a testimony to how much he loves you. If God cares that much about a bare tree that most people don’t care about or even perceive to be ugly, how much more does he love you? He put even more time and effort into creating you. He chooses to know even more about you. He has far greater plans for you. The fact that God’s greatness is seen so clearly in a bare tree means that his greatness can be seen infinitely more through you.

My prayer is that as the leaves continue falling off trees and the hillsides turn gray, you would take the time to notice some of those bare trees. When you do, remember that the same God who cares about and knows that tree, cares so much more about you. 

Luke 12:27-31 NIV “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”