Use a podcast app: Apple | Google | Spotify | Breaker | Stitcher | iHeart | RSS
Sharing is caring: Twitter | Instagram | #ForTheHope
Original airdate: Thursday, December 26, 2019
(unedited/draft show notes here, not a transcript)
Lead:
Sometimes “Christians” say misleading stuff. Now what?
Intro:
There’s an adage in the world of relationship — confront the idea, not the person. In other words, we honor each and every person because they’re made in the image of God. But even Christians, even “pastors” say things that must be confronted. So today’s All Our Minds segment, and for the next few days, we’re going to confront false ideas stated by real people. I’m not going to call them out by name, but there are teachable moments in taking captive the falsehoods they’ve stated.
Sponsor:
Some “Christian” statements need to be addressed.
Bible:
Passage: Proverbs 26
Translation: ESV (English Standard Version)
Verses: 28
Words: ~459
All Our Minds:
Twitter. Christians tweeting stuff that gets retweeted, which means that there are plenty of people who think dumb stuff sounds good enough to pass along.
Today, we refute false ideas. Why?
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 2 Ti 4:2, ESV
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Col 2:8, ESV
Candidate #1: “Christmas is about a family finding safety as asylum seekers.”
Asylum seekers? Were there any asylum seekers in the Christmas story?
Let’s see…Luke 2:1-4 records that Joseph and Mary left Galilee and went to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus was conducting a census, probably for the sake of taxation. I don’t know if they wanted to go so they’d be registered in that locale or, what most people assume, they had to go. Either way, they’re not political refugees.
More likely the person that posted this was referring to the passage in Matthew 2:13-15. Herod’s miffed because the Wise Men didn’t come back and report that they’d found Jesus, so he’s going to have all the male children two years old and younger in slaughtered. But what prompts Joseph to take the family to Egypt? A Divine warning.
Here’s the crux of this. What is God’s perspective versus man’s perspective? Is this story about political refugees? It is if you discount miracles and/or fail to exegete the Bible text. But if you did exegesis…discovering of the message God has for us in this passage, would it be that human rulers sometimes do evil things and we need political justice? No, it’s that God is sovereign and Joseph is obedient which, by the way, is not the first time in the book of Matthew that Joseph is depicted as obedient to God’s commands. And then they stay in Egypt until God says it’s time to return.
So why would someone say “Christmas is about a family finding safety as asylum seekers?” To make it sound like the Bible is about social justice? To make a point about immigration policy? I want to be careful not to read too much into the guy’s purposes.
Without a doubt, God’s infinitely just, and His heart is for all people. His solution could have been to have Jesus overthrow the Roman government. But it wasn’t. To use language that makes the Christmas story sound like a political game is a misrepresentation of the text, both directly interpreted and more broadly situated
The only way you get to the Christmas story being about a family seeking asylum is by reading contemporary culture and values into the Bible…the opposite of what we should be doing, which is to look at that story in that context and asking, “What is God saying here?”
Wisdom:
Passage: Psalm 146
Translation: ESV (English Standard Version)
Verses: 10
Words: ~164
Love you!
-R
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources: