Well, folks, the reason I haven’t been sharing many short clips from my morning readings lately is that, well, I’m in chapters 11-17 of Ezekiel. They involve complicated visions that don’t lend themselves to Twitter threads. But at the end of my reading today in Ezek 17,
God delivered a word to the prophet depicting a theme that may be uncomfortable but it’s not incomprehensible.
“I bring down the tall tree and make the low tree tall. I cause the green tree to wither and make the withered tree thrive. I, the Lord, have spoken and I will do it.”
“I bring down the tall tree and make the low tree tall. I cause the green tree to wither and make the withered tree thrive. I, the Lord, have spoken and I will do it.”
God’s got this thing about pride. He does not let it go unchecked. When his people continue in arrogance after multiple warnings, he is going to bring them down. He will turn the tables. That which has been high will be brought low. This is why we are told by both James and Peter
in the NT that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We need his grace so badly. Repentance is our only real way forward. He also views idolatry as spiritual adultery. This was the case in the judgment that was coming to his people through the Babylonians.
We are caught in a cycle. We keep repeating the same offenses and keep excusing them the exact same ways. Study even just the last century. I beg you to. Face how we evangelicals have bedded down with worldly systems for power. See how every time prophetic voices confronted us
with our wrongs, we claimed they should stick to the gospel. Dear Lord. Somebody read Luke and watch how the gospel acts. Watch Jesus preach the gospel, not only in words but in deeds. We’ve reduced gospel witness to something I’m not sure those early followers would recognize.
We were meant to do people good. Not just our choice of people. We were meant to be pro-ALL-life. That’s what Jesus is. Was. Will be. Anyway, I’m a broken record. We will look back on this era of time & wonder why on earth we couldn’t just repent instead of doubling down.
We sinned grievously in wedding evangelicalism to a political party. This wasn’t just about policies. It was also about power. Position. Access. Neither political party represents the breadth of Christ’s concerns for people. The gospel is so much bigger. My generation is so
deeply indoctrinated that I don’t know if we’ll be willing to face this train wreck & do this differently. I hope so. But I do believe you believers in your 20s, 30s, 40s could be the ones that begin to fight for policies across parties that reflect Christ’s heart for people.
We are Jesus people. Above all else. Our loyalty is to Christ. His way is good and right and true and just. We can do this differently. The devil himself cannot keep us from repenting. Only our own pride can.
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