Sermon Video: "Everything that does not come from faith is sin." - Romans 14:22-23

Having established the grace we need to give each other in disputable matters, Paul ends the discussion with a warning toward those who might act against their own conscience, and thus do so without faith.

Along the way, we also have the important advice to "not condemn ourselves" by approving of things that we should not, and the clarification that it is not with respect to faith in God or his will that we should hesitate to act on faith if we doubt (in that case we ought to "dare Great things for God") but our own understanding, when we doubt ourselves Paul is telling us to err on the side of caution.

Elon Musk, antisemitism, and ignoring the wisdom of Romans 14:22 "Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves."

 

Romans 14:22  So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

After buying Twitter, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, has numerous times "condemned himself" by approving of racist and antisemitic statements and conspiracy theories.  While Musk has insisted that, "nothing could be further from the truth," much of the world isn't buying it, not when it keeps happening, not when he seems to have so little interest in repairing the damage he is causing.

Elon Musk addresses claims of antisemitism: ‘Nothing could be further from the truth’ - by Sarah Fortinsky, 11/19/23, The Hill

The latest example was Elon Musk's reply, "You have said the actual truth" in response to this tweet:

I’m deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much. - The tweet on X (formerly Twitter) to which Musk replied.

This of course comes in the context of the horrific mass murders in Israel on October 7th, and is a repetition of the deeply antisemitic conspiracy theory that inspired the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooter and the Charlottesville wanna-be Nazis who shouted, "Jews will not replace us" known as the Great Replacement Theory.  

{Here is a post I wrote in the wake of the Pittsburgh shooting that examined the support of the Great Replacement Theory by Tucker Carlson: Another Mass Murder inspired by the Evil of the "Great Replacement" theory}

The point is, by now, anyone who has an opinion worth hearing on the subject of immigration, Jews, and racism is aware of how dangerous the White Supremacist's conspiracy that Jews are financing global migration to eradicate white people really is.  And yet, Elon Musk felt the need to lend his support to this idea and share that "opinion" will his 100 million + followers.

Whatever the outcome is down the road for Elon Musk, X (Twitter), and the rising tide of antisemitism that we must once again confront, there is a profound lesson for all of us to be learned from watching Musk try to defend himself against his own words: If you support evil, don't be surprised when people associate you with evil.

If you share, promote, and like antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories, the world is going to conclude that you yourself are an antisemite.  That's not unfair, it isn't unwarranted, it is an application of Jesus' wisdom, 

Luke 6:45  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Sermon Video: Having Grace in Disputable Matters, part 3 - Romans 14:15-21

Having established the need for grace in the areas of Christian liberty about which we disagree with our brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul now turns to the need for love to limit that liberty if exercising it were to cause harm to fellow Christians.

How can it harm others if I follow my conscience with respect to disputable matters?  Two key ways: (1) The who have "weak" faith my imitate you, even though their conscience tells them that they should not, it then being an act of rebellion for them, or (2) those who disagree may look upon your choice as sinful (even though it is not) and have their faith damaged by your seeming hypocrisy at tolerating sin in your life.

In the end, Paul's command to us is to not allow our preferences in non-moral issues to ever bring other believers to harm.  Proactively we must look out for each other and be willing to restrain our freedom if it will help the faith of other people for whom Christ died.

Jesus, Jim Harbaugh, and the fallacy that, "Only the guilty take a plea."

 

Before I begin, I'm aware that terms like Innocent, Guilty, and Victim ring fairly hollow when thrown around between the NCAA who makes billions off of college athletes, the Big Ten which makes hundreds of millions, and the coaches who are making tens of millions.  That being said, perhaps this crazy saga of the University of Michigan cheating scandal and its coach Jim Harbaugh can open our eyes just a little to how these issues play out when a high school dropout is charged with a crime, doesn't have the money to make bail, and has to rely upon a public defender.  

Jim Harbaugh, Michigan drop court case and accept Big Ten punishment for sign-stealing scandal - Yahoo Sports, by Dan Wetzel and Ross Dellenger

For those of you who aren't aware, the University of Michigan yesterday dropped its effort to sue the Big Ten over the suspension of coach Harbaugh after having called it "insulting" and "unethical" in previous public statement.  They shouted that their guy was a victim and this whole thing a conspiracy of a witch hunt, and then they did the equivalent of taking a plea and accepting the lighter punishment that was on the table.  I don't really care why they made that choice, whether or not they had evidence that this would only get worse as long as the light was shining on the case, or even whether or not Jim Harbaugh knew about the scheme in the first place.  The point is, they had public opinion, Michigan politicians, and high priced lawyers on their side, and they still folded.  That ought to be instructive to us.

What you think about the criminal justice system and those charged with crimes probably isn't true.

At least not fully, there's more going on most of the time, certainly more than the politicians and pundits shouting about the issue are willing to tell you.

There are a lot of people who find themselves in the middle between "fully innocent" and "completely guilty."  When the choice they face is between decades in jail of a judge or jury convicts them and a plea that will only cost a few years, it is inevitable that a significant portion of them will plead guilty, even if they're not guilty.

Fixing the criminal justice system is a massive undertaking, on some level it will always have these flaws, and while it is entirely noble to fight injustice and push for honest reform, I'm also concerned with the larger issues of power, justice, mercy, and forgiveness.  Why?  Because Jesus was.

One day Jesus was confronted by the ugly truth of a criminal justice system that was clearly corrupt.  He was asked to choose between the authorities and a perpetrator.  His critics thought they could use whichever side he picked as fodder to discredit him.  They were wrong.  They were wrong because Jesus saw clearly that the whole situation was impure, that their was guilt to be found on both sides, and so he chose a new path.  The following account from the Gospel of John illustrates Jesus' solution:

John 8:3-11  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus chose a better way forward, a way that contained both love and repentance from sin.  A way that actually fulfilled that line we say without really knowing what it means to do it, "Hate the sin, love the sinner."  I don't have a snappy plan for how we can apply this lesson to the criminal justice system in America, but I hope that the next time I interact with someone who has a criminal record, or just a more difficult past or present set of circumstances than my own, I act more like Jesus toward him/her than like the Pharisees.

Sermon Video: Having Grace in Disputable Matters, part 2 - Romans 14:10-14

Continuing his teaching that Christians must show grace in disputable matters, the Apostle Paul adds the new consideration that we will all stand before God one day and answer for how we have lived our lives (i.e. we will account for judging others unnecessarily, and we don't need to judge when God will take care of it in his own time).  In addition, Paul explains that at the heart of the truth that there are indeed disputable matters is the reality that no thing is good or evil (clean or unclean to use terminology related to the Law of Moses) in itself.  It isn't things that cause evil, so in Christ there is no need for a continuation of the Mosaic purity laws, nor for a Christian version of them.  Lastly, Paul warns those who extend God's rules beyond what he has stated that they will be bound by their own rules (lest they sin by, in their own mind at least, rebelling against God).