“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”
Psalm 133:1
A very scientific poll was taken a couple days ago and the conclusion was rather troubling: “Over 80% of Americans think the world is going to hell in a handbasket.” What does that even mean? And is it really that bad? Those who think so must have never read their history books: Ever hear of WW2? The Black Plague? The Flood of Noah? I’ll bet those days were pretty bad?
But underlying this poll is the feeling that people don’t know how to get along with each other anymore. People are furious, pointing fingers, mad at the President, mad at football players, mad at the news, and mad at the neighbor who drives a better car than you. Everyone has ideas how others can change, we all can cry how there is a need for more church and government programs to make the world a better place…but nothing will work until individuals learn to “Go To”instead of “Going Through.”
The Reformation is one of the strongest cases in point on this. Let me explain. The Bible declares in Colossians 1:21 that “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” Alienation means there is separation, animosity and a real distancing between two people. And the first broken relationship according to this verse was between mankind and God. If you look really closely, this brokenness begins in the mind of the one who was wrong.
We were God’s enemies because we did evil, and we blamed our separation on him. People still do that. To make amends and bring peace, God first sent his Son to be a bridge between an angry world and a perfect God (2 Corinthians 5:18). He was the mediator, he came to us, he talked face to face to those who hated God, and personally won over hearts. He paid the highest price to prove his love, he died! Over time this message of love (Gospel) was proclaimed by those who were changed, those who found peace with God went from person to person to share that peace. It is the only way to spread love. Paul says in Acts 20, he went “house to house, to proclaim repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.” The Gospel was a very clear and personal invitation from God where you could “go to” him directly.
History tells us that the Gospel started to become buried under man-made regulations and rites, new hoops to jump “through” instead of going to God directly. The biblical church “an assembly of those people who were changed by God’s love” morphed into “The Church Proper.” This was the new means by which people had to “go through” to find God. Instead of needing Jesus as the only middle-man to get to God (1 Timothy 2:5); “The Church” instituted a new army of mediators: Priests, Cathedrals, Sacraments, Indulgences and Masses were all necessary if you wanted peace with God.
Enter a man named Martin Luther. After reading the Bible on his own, he found the verse Romans 1:17 and realized, the Gospel got gunked up over time. And he gave everything he had to try to dust off the Gospel and breathe new life into the truth that Jesus alone gave an individual direct access to God. This is what is known as the Reformation, changing “The Church” back into ‘the church.” Instead of needing an institution to “go through” to get to God, you only needed faith in Jesus to directly to “go to” Him!
Just think, you can find peace with God right now, on your own, by faith alone! That is what sets a single person’s heart aflame!
This is the same way individual relationships are restored as well. Don’t “go through” to find peace, “go to” people personally, one to one, house to house. We are too caught up with methods to go through, and they will never work, they only add to the distance.
Example One: Parents and Grandparents, do you want to know your kids and grandkids? “Go to” them. You don’t need a youth pastor, your spouse, or teacher to get to know your child. I know a grandparent that goes through his children to try to know his grandkids. But the grandkids feel alienated from him because he doesn’t go to them directly. “Go to” if you want a relationship, don’t “go through.”
Example Two: These race wars have become completely directed by “go through” methods instead of “going to.” I am sick of the Social Justice Warriors telling the government to develop more programs to cause all the bad people to make peace. (And why are Social Justice people always above the rest of us?) It won’t work. Classes in colleges on developing multi-cultural sensitivity won’t work either, it just makes some people feel guilty and others smug and self-justified.
We need to learn to “go to.” I have a brother-in-law who is white who had dedicated his life to go “house to house” to make peace with African Americans. It is easy to point the finger and tell others how prejudiced they are, but you don’t really know them until you meet them one on one.
I had a high minded white person tell me recently how black people think. I asked them if they had a relationship with any? No. Then how do you know? I had a black roommate for two years in college and I found out a couple things. (1) He was a human being just like me. He wanted a girlfriend, he wanted a well-paying job, he liked watching the Cleveland Browns with me. (2) He was a sinner just like me. He knew he was often misunderstood because he was black, but he often misunderstood me because I was white. I talked to him about it. We argued and laughed. We shared a room, bought groceries together. I brought him home to my house, he brought me to his. I also learned he was a whole lot more like me than many of my white friends.
His blood was also red like mine.
I heard on the radio today, “the only way change will happen is when white people finally open up their eyes.” What does that mean? Pointing fingers again. I heard yesterday, “the only way change will happen is until black people stop expecting us to do everything for them.” What does that mean? Pointing fingers again. Stop it!!!!
People need to go to people. “Go to”, not “Go through.” And until you really know a person, stop acting like you do. Jesus came to me personally to win me over. If you really want peace, you must “go to.” Stop “going through.”
Otherwise, all you are full of is hot air. Maybe that is the real cause of why people feel like this world is going to hell, everyone is giving off heat.
