And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night.
Revelation 12:10
An Orthodox Christian sister of mine wrote me today about a young friend of hers who is zealous against Israel and ‘Zionism’ and has posted a gruesome account of (apparently) the martyrdom of a Christian by ‘Zionist settlers.’ I have heard nothing about such an incident, but this was my response to her, covering some other points she wrote in her letter as well.I do not get involved with Christians, Orthodox or otherwise, who have an ax to grind. Zionist settlers murdering someone, so he is now a martyr. Well, if it's true, so be it. The whole idea of categorizing people as "Zionist" is an implicit indictment against them.
The word "categorize" comes from the Greek word meaning "accuser" as in, satan being the accuser of the brethren.
It is very disappointing that Orthodox Christians are by and large siding with the Palestinians against Israel, and that they take the viewpoint that the Church has replaced Israel. That is a majority view in the Church all through history, but we will see who is right when Christ Himself returns. He is not a Christian, but a Jew, and we'll see what He has to say about it all.
There are so many better things to do with our time than tear people down, criticize them, categorize them, objectify them, divide them and condemn them. Even if we start only by loving them, Christ would reveal to us all the other good things we could do for them and for Him, none of which belong to the order of this fallen world.
When He says “love one another as I have loved you” and when He says “love your enemies” someone can always find an excuse why not to follow these simple instructions. But alas! There is no excuse. When Christ prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” He wasn’t kidding, and He isn’t kidding about loving our enemies and even each other. Or are we rebels and enemies start to finish, blind, deaf and dumb to His precious and all-knowing Word?
When the accuser strikes a chord in our hearts, let’s stop our ears so as not to hear him and agree with what he says about our brothers. To believe him, and find a reason not to love, is to lie to Christ, to trample His love, to trample not death as He did by His love, but on love itself, to trample Him.
What do you think He will say to us on the Day of His return, if we have denied Him by our judgment, our slander, our suspicion, our hatred of each other?
There is no turning back, if you have responded to the call of Jesus, there is only one thing to do, follow Him. That means to do what we see Him doing in the scriptures, and to follow His commandment, and it is only one—to love.
Pray for me, Romanos the sinner.
2 comments:
Timely words, as always. I know many Christians who think this way, too, forgetting that Jesus is a Jew, that he died for the sins of the whole world, and that antizionism is just another excuse to hate Jews. I steer clear of such people. I believe you have it correctly, when you say 'ax to grind'. I read today, where the Amish have sought the forgiveness of the Jews for being antisemitic. The Amish brethren even flew to Israel with a hand written scroll to ask for their forgiveness. I did not know that the Amish sided with Hitler in WWII. What blood-stained beliefs. We live in perilous times. The love of many has grown cold. I am praying for you, Romanós, you sinner, you. Pray for me, too, a sinner.
Thanks, sister, for your words of encouragement and testimony, and for your prayers. As Basil of Caesarea declared, "we are all deceived" and as the Word of God declares, we are "all sinners, and our righteousness filthy rags." But He didn't leave us with that bad news, but brought us and became for us the Good News. Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs, bestowing life. "Those in the tombs"... that's us! So let's use that life to love the brethren, even down to our most bitter and "blood-sucking enemy" (as Peter called Levi in the film Jesus of Nazareth).
We are truly on the path of no return, with Jesus.
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