In order to become a better person, we first have to acknowledge our faults and short-comings. The same is true when we want to go from being negative, to being positive.
In order to confront a wrong in our world, we have to remember that most often, we can’t simply ignore it — we can’t just pretend it doesn’t exist, because that allows it to fester. The same is true in the Christian faith. The Christian faith is about peace, joy, compassion, forgiveness, inspiration and healing, but that doesn’t mean we can simply overlook something that is bad. What I mean is, in order to help bring people into the fold of the blessings of our faith, we have to call out the bad actors who mean to do our faith harm.
The Reverend Benjamin Cremer has emerged as a sane and rational voice on matters related to faith and more specifically, the attempt to hijack the faith by those who put politics first. This piece is one such keen insight from Reverend Cremer:
You Strain Out a Gnat but Swallow a Camel
There’s a sickness in American Christianity, and Jesus named the same sickness long ago.
“You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:24)
He spoke these words to the religious leaders of His day, men who were meticulous about purity laws, quick to point out others’ failures, yet refused to acknowledge their own participation in injustice. They polished the outside of the cup while the inside was full of greed and self-indulgence. Their obsession with moral appearance had replaced the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” -Jesus (Matthew 23:25)
I see the same spirit alive in our time.
As millions of families braced for hunger with SNAP benefits threatened, our leaders, who have long claimed to stand for “Christian values,” threw lavish parties where the powerful feast and the poor are forgotten. At those tables, the wealthy gorged themselves while funding dried up that strip bread from the tables of the hungry.
And yet, there is silence from many who are usually quite loud.The same voices that raged about the “impurity” and “immodesty” they see perpetrated by our culture, by pop stars, and halftime shows have nothing to say when the powerful use women’s bodies for entertainment at these lavish parties. The same preachers who demand purity and go viral rebuking “how women dress these days” will not rebuke the impurity of those who hold the reins of power.
All while the same self proclaimed moral guardians who shame the poor for buying chips or soda with their SNAP benefits will shrug when billionaires rig the system to hoard what belongs to all.
They strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.It is a tragic reversal of the gospel. Jesus did not come to protect the comfort of the rich, the powerful, or the reputations of the pious. He came to announce good news to the poor, freedom to the oppressed, and healing for the sick. He overturned tables, not to perform outrage, but to restore justice in the house of God.
If we claim His name yet defend policies and leaders that exploit the weak, if we are loud about personal purity but quiet when those same leaders participate in debauchery, if we are our loud about how the poor should spend their SNAP benefits but quiet about how thr ultra wealthy sway the entire system to their benefit, then our Christianity has become the very thing Jesus rebuked. A Christianity that blesses greedy and the powerful while condemning the poor and the hungry cannot recognize the face of Jesus, because Jesus stands among the poor, the hungry, and the condemned.
As Jesus said about the religious leaders of his time in the same passage, “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:4)
This hypocrisy is a huge reason why many are following Jesus away from this kind of Christianity.This ultimately isn’t about politics, it’s about fidelity. It’s about whether we will follow the Christ who emptied Himself for others, or the idols of power who gorge themselves while others starve, who participate in the very impurity many claim to oppose.
I believe repentance is still possible within Christianity. The kingdom of God is not lost to us, but it will not wait forever for our convenience. The prophets are still crying in the wilderness, still calling us back to love, justice, and humility. God is still crying out through the screams of the poor, the sick, and the hungry.
May we have the courage to hear them before our religion becomes nothing more than harmful noise.
May we repent of swallowing camels and may we once again hunger and thirst for righteousness that feeds, heals, and restores all God’s children.Jesus is preaching to the church today, “You have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness.” (Matthew 23:23)
May we neglect them no longer.
There are those in the faith and indeed, even those not of the Christian faith, who are attempting to alter the Word and Will of God. They preach hatred and vindictiveness and try to present themselves as being better and cleaner — somehow more worthy. They are not. Every single one of us is a sinner and thus, not at all able to “cast the first stone.” We are not meant to make war on our brothers and sisters, for every one of us is a child of God. We are not here to sit in judgment and condemnation and that is particularly true for these bad actors, who are simply trying to gain worldly power and riches — these people are trying to enrich themselves with money and power by corrupting the Word and Will of God.
Our mission is clear: we are to love, be kind, compassionate, generous, welcoming, calm and humble. Please don’t let some people try to convince you that they are speaking for God or that they know the Will of God, when all they do is preach hatred, cruelty, selfishness and greed.
