I'm guilty of this wretched, wretched math effect.
I'll admit it now, to start it all off, so no one dare say I'm just ranting and railing against others, while thinking myself impervious.
I've actually spent months and months working my way up to writing this one, because that part of me that hates the idea of looking like a hypocrite is holding me back. But no more.
It has to end, folks. It just has to be put to an end. Taken out. Abolished. Done in. Taken out back behind the shed, shot, buried and forgotten.
What does?
This horrible, disgusting, maniacal, DISTRACTING math.
I'll call it "Kingdom Math." And when it's the DIVISION kind of Kingdom Math we're talking about, it creates all sorts of distraction.
Kingdom Math is whenever someone or something is added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided within the confines of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God has been defined by many as existing wherever the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is being proclaimed, and where believers in Christ are found together. I'm focusing on the people part of this definition. When you and me, fellow believer, are found hanging out together, the Kingdom is there with us. When 50, 500, or 5,000 of us are together in worship inside a building, singing God's praises, hearing the truth of the Word of God, it's definitely there too.
Here are my examples of the Math of the Kingdom:
Addition: A baptism. A child or adult is brought into the family of believers through this awe-inspiring sacrament involving the element of water and the presence of the Word of God. After a baptism, the Kingdom's tally has just *DING!* gone up by one! Another example: Someone gains tactful and friendly influence in another person's life, uses great people skills to find the right ways to speak difficult truths to them when the time is right, and, through the boldness of their witness when the other person's heart is ready to be receptive to them, the Holy Spirit moves in that person and leads him or her to see Jesus as their Savior. *DING!* Up goes the tally!
Subtraction: This one, while not the focus of my article today, is actually the worst of the math types. Example: A child grows up in a hateful home where parents who claim to "believe in God" abuse their child verbally and neglect to show her love in the most critical, formative times. This child becomes an adolescent and, even though she attends church a handful of times each year and goes through the motions of a Confirmation class in a stale, stuffy church congregation, as soon as she is on her own years later, there is no room for God in her heart. The tiny flickering flame of faith in a God that was misunderstood because of horrendous misrepresentation is now snuffed out. A tally has been erased from the number of those who are bound for heaven. *funeral bell sounds*
Multiplication: Back to the happy stuff. An example would be: A child who has never really heard much about Jesus (except when His name is used in vain around home or on the TV) ends up at a Vacation Bible School in town because his parents want to use it as kid-free time for them to do drugs. After a few days of their son coming home carefree, happy, and carrying a curious twinkle in his eye as he talks about his crayon pictures of Jesus and the kind people caring for him at VBS, the parents decide to get to know the nice folks running it. After a few weeks of thinking, they reflect on their talks with the nice folks at St. XYZ Church who impacted their child, and decide to attend a service. They're surprised at how inviting the casual environment is, almost as if the people organizing the service want it to be for outsiders, not "church people." They feel their hearts stir a little as the pastor delivers a message of hope, and they begin wondering if Jesus loves them like their little boy believes He does. Months later, after more worship services are under their belt, they ask the Pastor to pray with them, and their hearts are converted to the Lord and they become believers in the one true God, Jesus Christ. The changes this new faith sparks are incredible and fire off like a chain reaction. Soon other family members are attending church. The effect of one happy little boy coming back from a church evangelism function with the name of Jesus on his little lips turns into an exponential wildfire of conversion in a family, as many begin to follow Christ because of the ripple effect of the impact. This is when the *DING!* begins to sound like a slot machine hitting a jackpot.
But then there's another Kingdom Math type. The last. The one I hate almost more than subtraction, because it's performed by Christians themselves when it never should.
Division: This one can occur in many grievous forms. It occurs when one Christian criticizes another for how the other's church chooses to conduct worship, when really it's just a matter of opinion as to whether an organ or a rock 'n roll style praise band is better music for church (and by the way, when God's people were partying in the streets with raucous music involving lyres and tambourines and trumpets, as they celebrated war victories He had given them through King David, which type of present day worship does that seem closer to? I'm just saying...). It occurs when the Lutherans look down their noses at the Assemblies of God folks because they assume they can speak in tongues in worship, and when Assemblies of God folks mock the Lutherans for their stubborn traditions and overly-conservative (in their minds) theology on fellowship practices. It occurs in so many settings, and the list goes on. Satan loves this list, and in a moment I'll tell you why.
Another occurrence of this sad type of Kingdom Math is one that I absolutely cannot stand. I said it before and I'll say it again: I'm guilty of it. I look back in my past and can recall times when I fell prey to the arrogance that causes this. I pray I never do it again so long as I live, and I have fought like everything to outgrow it.
Here's the example to which I'm referring: One Christian (we'll call him Joe) shares an opinion or view of something that matters to him. Whether on social media, in public, in a classroom, at fellowship hour after church on Sunday, at a picnic or softball game, or at the bar....setting doesn't matter. This expression from Joe might be an idea about how God can bless a certain vocational choice that Joe has been seeking peace about in his life, or maybe it's that Joe expressed lingering sorrow for a loss he suffered (perhaps the death of a loved one). Along comes another Christian (we'll call him Lance) who proceeds to tell Joe a thing or two about how dumb his view or emotion is. In fact, it's not just out of place or misguided, it's sinful. With the way Lance comes across, so matter-of-fact, so point-blank, and so blunt, all Joe can hear is condemnation. He's immediately turned off to whatever Lance has to say, and he's confused as to where Lance perceived there to be an invitation for the admonition in the first place. The two cannot resolve the ensuing dispute because Joe is too hurt by Lance's judgmental position, and Lance is too proud to recognize he's needlessly taken an unexpected withdrawal out of his relationship to Joe, and they part ways and a rift opens between them. Over time, depending on other factors, that rift may form into a cavernous abyss that neither can manage to cross, and it hurts them both for years, perhaps even causing one of them to question their faith.
I have to ask the question:
Why do we sometimes think being a Christian - being a bearer of God's infallible Word of timeless truth, and someone familiar with God's Law - entitles us to be a jerk?
Why does this happen? Because pride is easy, and people skills require work. Dealing with each other in all things in Jesus' way is a LABOR of love. Human nature is fallen, and our spiritual laziness leads us to hurt each other out of sheer lack of desire to take the harder road through interactions.
Pride is also ambitious. Within each of us hides a hideous monster called the opinio legis, which is Latin for the "opinion of the law," or, for our purposes, the good ol' self righteousness. When a Christian sees something in his brother that he cannot agree with, whether it's an emotion, an attitude, an idea about something, or whatever, he can take two paths: 1) Make an effort to see where his brother may be coming from, elect the patience and gracious heart of Jesus that doesn't opt to first throw stones at offenders, and keep his mouth shut unless asked, or 2) Insert himself somewhere with no tact whatsoever, shaming the other person, capturing an opportunity to "preach the law" as Jesus did simply because he's been told somewhere that the law is for those in error, and committing arson to the relationship.
Kingdom Math, Division style, takes place because Lance cannot help but want to feel superior to Joe. He has an upper hand of greater understanding of an issue, or wants Joe to be held to the same standard he feels he's been held to before, and can't stand the idea of Joe "getting away with" his folly. So, in the face of all Lance knows in his heart about the mercy and forbearance Jesus showed to the ungrateful 9 other lepers he healed, the Pharisees, his family members who doubted he was the Son of God, Zacchaeus the cheater, the thief on the cross, and many more, Lance opts for wielding the Law weapon like a bull in a China shop just because it's available for use. He passes it off as being ok because of any number of reasons (it's his personality to "tell it like it is," or God doesn't want us to convey tolerance of something by not calling it out to someone's face the second we see it), and makes no effort to retract or smooth things over when Joe's offense blows up in his face.
While these various divisions are taking place, the Great Distraction unfolds.
I mentioned it earlier. Remember?
"...when it's the DIVISION kind of Kingdom Math we're talking about, it creates all sorts of distraction."
Satan is God's enemy, right? Satan and God are at war for the souls of mankind. (At least that's the way it feels, as we humans watch good triumph one moment, and evil prevail in our world the next. Fortunately, the Scriptures show us the image of the once crucified and dead Christ, rising from his grave to defeat sin and death, thus defeating Satan...Until Judgment Day, Satan merely gets to think he's winning sometimes)
So if Satan, who deep down knows he's already beaten by God, wants to have any victories at all, what is his best chance? He can't take away mankind's salvation. That was bought and paid for by Jesus on the cross, once and for all time, never to be revoked. Salvation stands waiting for all to accept it as a free gift.
The only thing Satan can take away is....FOCUS. The world's focus, that is.
When Lance pulls that prideful stunt with Joe, what the world sees is two bickering, petty Christians. They see the egotist, Lance, being a judgmental hypocrite, they'll call him, who can't cut Joe any slack. They'll see Joe fighting back to defend himself, and that's a scuffle that won't end in two seconds. Meanwhile, as the world watches this silly little Christian altercation - this abhorrent Kingdom Math of division, they forget....about....JESUS.
Brothers and sisters, if there was any argument that trumps all others, as to why we need to err on the side of avoiding division like a zombie apocalypse, it's this:
WE NEED TO LET THE WORLD HAVE EVERY CHANCE TO FOCUS ON JESUS.
When unbelievers' attention is taken away from their Savior, the one who loves them dearly and who died to make them His children and heirs of heaven, EVERYONE loses.
The fighting Christians being divided lose.
The whole of Christianity, who wants the world's attention on Jesus, loses.
The world itself, full of spiritually starving, thirsting, dying people loses.
Folks, this is what's at stake. Let's be honest here. Is there any room for judgment?
There is a time and place, as outlined in God's word, for speaking the Law of Scriptures to our brother or sister in the faith. But those occasions are not only few and far between, but more often than not way more good will be accomplished by further winning over the fellow Christian to heaven's cause by uplifting, encouraging interactions, than would be accomplished by a "Lance's" version of fire and brimstone, thrown carelessly into the middle of a situation where it wasn't warranted.
Enough of the power trips and selfish pride, brothers and sisters. Let's ensure together that the only Kingdom Math being computed in this fallen world is Addition and Multiplication.
What is Jesus' way? Love. Mercy. Forgiveness. Quiet acceptance of one's brother or sister in spite of their sin or mistakes or off-base opinions. Grace...
Let's end the distraction. Let's keep the quibbling down, and let the world focus on seeing Jesus, their loving Savior and true friend, in center stage instead of us. He is worthy of every bit of attention He can get.
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