"How terrible it will be for those who have an easy life in Jerusalem, for those who feel safe living on Mount Samaria. You think you are the important people of the best nation in the world; the Israelites come to you for help. Go look at the city of Calneh, and from there go to the great city Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. You are no better than these kingdoms. Your land is no larger than theirs." (NCV)
"You think you are the important people of the best nation in the world."
As I have lived and tried to broaden my thinking as far as peoples and cultures and perspectives, I’ve come to realize that most, if not all, people have a strong sense of national and/or cultural identification. Most are unwilling to change their world view significantly, but want to have others identify with them. "If only we all agreed . . . if only we all had the same perspectives . . . if only we all shared one common goal . . . that would fix all the problems in the world."
That is one of the root problems between differing groups of people. Muslim insurgents have been claiming that if everyone followed Islam, there would be peace, but even now ISIS is killing off other Muslims for disagreeing with how they interpret the Koran. The gangs in Los Angeles fight because they are different gangs. "If you just joined our gang, there would be peace." But even within each gang, there is violence and fighting. Within marriages, one of the common complaints is that one spouse doesn’t exactly see eye to eye with the other. The result? Often, divorce.
There is an inherent egocentricity within the human heart that demands that others be like me, think like me, act like me. We all think we are the most important person in the world. We all think our position is right. We all think that we should encourage—or even demand—that others think and do as we do.
That is not how Christians are to live.
"For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. . . . Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:5, 11 NKJV).
We are born egocentric, thinking that we are the center of the universe. Once we become Christians, that person is crucified with Christ and that body (of sin) is to be done away with. We are no longer slaves to sin, but should reckon ourselves dead to sin. We are transformed to become theo-centric, God-centered. And when we become God-centered, we no longer demand that others see things our way, but rather we begin to see things God’s way.
And what is God’s way?
It is that one kingdom is no better than another. One place is no better than another. One person is no better than another. God created it all; He is in control of it all; and Christ died for all! Even the most evil person on earth our Lord Jesus Christ loved and died for. I believe this is why the thief on the cross was saved at the eleventh hour. This is why tax collectors were included with the original disciples. This is why Paul—who orchestrated the murder of Stephen (and lived with that guilt all his life)—was appointed to be perhaps the greatest of all apostles. To show us that our Lord Jesus loves everyone, died for everyone, and counts everyone worthy of being offered salvation. We are all the same.
"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:1-4 NKJV).
"Prayers . . . for all men [people], for kings and all who are in authority. . . . God . . . desires all men [people] to be saved."
All. Paul doesn’t tell us to abandon where we are because the rulers are bad. (The fact is, rulers are usually bad because absolute power corrupts absolutely.) In fact, in the Amos passage, the Lord pointed out that feeling "safe" in one location, as opposed to another, is a false peace. There is no "safe" place except in the arms of Jesus. There is no nation better than another. There is no people better than another. Rather, if we want to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness (Is that our goal? To live godly?), then we are to pray for our rulers. That is "good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior." Why? Because even bad (or evil) rulers need the Lord. Because our Lord Jesus loves them; He died for them, too! We pray for people because God commands it. We pray for people so that they will be saved. We pray for people because the Holy Spirit in our lives demands that we put aside our egocentricity and begin to think like God thinks. We pray for people because that’s what our Father longs for us to do.
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
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