What Would Jesus Say?

It has occurred to me that there are people who try to distort what they regard as the teachings of Jesus in order to support their political agenda.  We have to be careful not to stake out a particular position and then attempt to make the Scriptures fit our own personal agenda, rather than start with the Word and conform our thinking and behavior to Him. Jesus taught in Matthew 13 (ESV):
13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. ”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. ’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

The principle of selective hearing of the teachings of Jesus came into clear focus in a recent Congressional hearing, according to The Daily Citizen of Focus on the Family.  Paul Batura, who has been a guest on my program, wrote:

Congressional members were gathered to glean answers to the many questions surrounding the massive fraud in Minnesota’s social service programs. It’s been estimated that over $9 billion was stolen, a scam allegedly driven and enabled by the state’s illegal alien community.

Mariah Tollgaard is pastor of Hamline Church United Methodist in St. Paul, Minnesota. If you visit the church’s website, you’ll see them refer to the congregation as being “radically inclusive” or “LGBTQIA + Friendly.”

The so-called "pastor" decided to appeal to emotions; the article says: "In her opening statement, the pastor accused ICE officers of terrorizing the community and noted her eight-year-old 'struggles to sleep at night because she is afraid ICE agents might break into our house.'”  Batura asks, "Where might an 8-year-old have gotten that idea?"  Tollgaard says: “This Administration has targeted Minnesota because we live out our values of loving our neighbors.”  She also invoked the words of Jesus in Matthew 25, stating: "Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do unto me.”

Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas took issue with Tollgaard's invocation of Matthew 25.  The article says:

The Texas representative pushed back on the idea of Matthew 25 being used as a “blanket statement” for funding even illegal activities, noting the necessity of a safety blanket, but saying it doesn’t justify the distribution of taxpayer funds for anything and everything. He then referenced the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and noted God expects us to do something with what He gives us.

In other words, it’s easy to distort what true Christian charity is to be.

Cloud rightfully quipped: "I’m always amazed in D.C. how much we get to define our personal worth as a politician or statesman, or whatever you want to call us, by how much of other people’s money we give away."   He noted: “We have a massive program of fraud that’s being paid for by taxpayers.”

Batura closes out the piece by saying that Cloud related: "I would caution those who begin to use Matthew 25 to do so in the proper context, understanding that we have multiple biblical institutions and they each have a purpose and context here.”  Batura notes: "Whether a politician or an ordinary citizen, Scripture isn’t intended to suit our whims but rather to help us serve the Lord and those in our world."

The exchange in the hearing is reminiscent of the comments of Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde in a prayer service correlating with last year's Presidential Inauguration, in which she said, according to The Christian Post:

"In the Name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now," Budde stated. "There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives."

"The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens, or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals."

Notice she did not delineate between legal and illegal immigrants.   Rob Pacienza, Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church is quoted as saying by The Christian Post:

"I think the irony was she attempted to preach on unity, but her rhetoric and her very unwelcoming spirit — from the beginning to the end of her message — actually created more division in the end," he said.

"She was advocating for transgenderism. She was advocating for open borders. She was advocating for lawlessness in America. She was advocating for an administration to embrace sexuality that is against God's design."

So, the main takeaway is that we should not use Scripture to justify actions that are contrary to Scripture.  The Matthew 25 passage is directed at believers to do the will of God, as the Congressman pointed out, and should not be used to justify government doing the work of the Church to which our Savior has called us.  

In developing our worldview, we should always start with Scripture, not try to cut and paste Scripture into our own personal belief system.  It's unfortunate that you even have people who do not follow Jesus who are trying to tell the Church what He would say or do in various circumstances.  Our call is to represent Him in this world, but we cannot do that if we follow the ways of the world, which is attempting to shift our understanding of Scripture.