Punching someone for Jesus

     Here is a statement that will throw you guys for a loop; I believe that we need more people willing to punch someone for Jesus. I would go as far as to say that we need more MEN to punch people for Jesus……..if you’re still reading, I will tell you why….
 
     I often say I feel like “Punching someone for Jesus” and it is true. This is not a new statement or something that I have come up with on my own, I actually heard Peter Haas say it, and if memory serves he may have even placed in his book.

     Men will argue until they are blue in the face over brand of truck, fastest muscle car, best motorcycle, or sport team. Even to the point of potentially punching each other. However this never occurs when God is involved, we never will takes such a visual stance before the world.

     Picture two men, one is working on a fence, attempting to put it up on the other guys property. The first guy tries to get the other to stop. They are in disagreement and they discuss, argue, maybe even call each other names, they get loud. What fascinates me is that the passion, anger, urgency, and emotions build up in them and after they have tried everything else, and one of them punches the other. They are willing to go as far as needed.

     Now change scenes, we have two men in a group at church, the one man is sowing discourse and even saying things that are biblically unsound and undermining church leadership. As a good “church guy” the first guy will allow this to continue because………. We have taught it’s not his place to judge, everyone’s opinion is valid, and after all we must be tolerant. So no real confrontation occurs………I am not saying that “church guy” should have clocked his fellow member, but I am saying there should have been a passion, a righteous anger, the emotion should have resulted in an action.

     Outside the church when the society tells us we must be tolerant of everyone, we need to say no. We must love everyone and that is different, sometimes love comes in the form of action that says “your wrong”, even if that makes the person feel as if you have just “punched” them.

     Read Genesis 32 and 35 and see how men use their resources to do what God has called them to, watch how places of God are created and honored, see how men defend their family, and how God protects those who act on what he has told them to do. These actions included talking, contracts, trading and gifts, and even violence when needed.

     Read about how Moses stood before the king of Egypt and said “God says…” or Elijah as he walks into the king’s court and stops the rain. Basically we have one man of God willing to “punch” a king.

     While I would hope we can resolve things in a way in which never lead to violence. I would pray that should we find ourselves in the situation Lot found himself in during Genesis 19, where in order to appease the evil of the community he was willing to give his daughters up to be raped. Thank goodness there were angels there will to act, and it says they “struck” the would be attackers, making them blind.

     I hope something as silly as the phrase “punch people for Jesus” remind us that we are to be a people of action.

Have you met Jesus? Or did you show up and sing songs?

If you follow me on Twitter you will have seen a rather long conversation between me and a very challenging atheist. That is not uncommon for me as I am fascinated by atheist, I can understand the rejection of Jesus or any religion, but to think that no one created all that is bothers me logically. That being said God used the conversation to reveal to me a few things. I will share them now:

1-     He stated he was a Christian for a while (I am not questioning or discounting his personal experience), I think we do a poor job as the church as a whole of defining Christian. Showing up for a while and singing songs and reading stories does not make one a Christian. Jesus does, and with him comes change. New creation as Paul says.

2-     God is an experienced accepted fact. This gentleman wanted facts to support God. I began to think about that. What do we know about the world, universe, and so on…. We know what someone with a better understanding has told us is true. I have never seen an atom, but we except it is there. So if we can accept this based on the experience of someone else, then it should come as no suppose that God is proven through a relationship with Jesus. Jesus testifies to the facts of the Father that I cannot understand but accept as true.

3-     The devil attacks statements of faith. This whole conversation started when I made the statement that my God is big. That statement was met with someone to cast doubt and attempt to make me believe I was small because God was small. The thing I learned in this is that the attempt is made, but if you stay in the presence of God for the duration of the attack all you feel is peace in the truth of faith.  

God is a Big God!!