Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, August 10, 2020
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Ah, another rant by Paul. Here he is lambasting false apostles proclaiming a different Jesus than the one Paul proclaimed. And, you know, we all love Paul (most of the time) but it wasn’t as though he was Jesus, or knew everything about everything about Jesus (this last Saturday’s text was about how we humans can only “see through a mirror, dimly.”) But most Christians can probably agree that Paul had a pretty good idea of this God we proclaim.
Except lots of Christians have lots of interpretations of who Jesus was, of what the Bible says about what it means to follow Jesus, etc. So much controversy is kicked up by the gospel being cherry-picked to support hateful ideologies. It was used to justify slavery and all manner of oppression, injustice, environmental destruction, and more. And it still is! By people who are absolutely certain this is what their faith—what Jesus!—tells them is right.
Who’s to know what’s “right,” who the “real” Jesus is if even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light? Do we just have to say, “well, it’s open to interpretation, so who am I to tell you you’re wrong?” Um. No. I’m not Paul, and I recognize that I “see through a mirror, dimly,” but as far as I am concerned, there is a simple test to determine whether a proclamation of Jesus is true or false. If it diminishes—in any way!—another human being or anything in all of God’s creation, it is not from God; it is false. If it uplifts another or anything in God’s creation, it is good and true. Forgive me if I’m oversimplifying, but I honestly do think it’s as simple as that.
Where have my actions diminished or uplifted another person?
An
Exceptional
People
Blog Posts
SIGN UP NOW