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Introduction:
Some Christians are referring to themselves
as “Red letter Christians.”
By this designation they mean that their emphasis
is upon the words and exhortations of our Lord as
they appear in red letter editions
of the Bible. Since hearing this expression I have
given it some thought and have come up with my own
take on this concept, hence this booklet.
I am one of those followers of Jesus Christ who believes
and accepts the Bible as the God-breathed uniquely
inspired written Word of God. I am not necessarily
a strict literalist on every section of the Word.
Some sections were written specifically to an individual,
a group and of course many parts were written with
Israel in mind. Neither am I a King
James Version only advocate. In my personal
study of the Word I usually consult a number of translations
and versions. Presently my priority is the TNIV
(Today’s New |
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International
Version.)
I especially like this version because it has made an effort
to render the English translation of the Bible in a more
inclusive manner. Generally it appears to do a better job
than does the NRSV (New Revised Standard
Version). I continue to read and study the King James
as well as the New American Standard Bible, the New King
James Version and others.
My theological equipping and training originally took place
in churches and Bible Colleges that were Dispensational
adhering to the Scofied Reference
Bible. I’ve since broadened my understanding
of God’s written Word and am no longer a strict dispensationalist.
However, I have not rejected dispensationalism
in total and now hold a more
moderate dispensational theological position in my
understanding of the Bible. |
Becoming
Red Letter Christians:
Though
there are merits to interpreting and understanding the Bible
from a dispensational perspective I am somewhat turned-off
when I hear or read Christians of this theological bent totally
dismissing the exhortations of Jesus
recorded in the four Gospels. Though I acknowledge that the
apostle Paul was the prime teacher
of the apostolic faith, yet I become concerned at the teaching
that we should dismiss what is recorded in the Gospel accounts
because it is not for this dispensation. In this respect I
hold the Anabaptist position
in these matters rather than my former strict fundamentalist
position.
I’m
not overly fond of labels. Yet, I am aware that of necessity
we all wear certain labels.
For instance I am a Christian.
It describes my faith, belief and allegiance to Jesus Christ
as my Savior and Lord. I also wear the label male.
This distinguishes me from being a female. I am an
American indicating my native land. I could go on
and on but I’m sure you get the idea. When it comes
to my faith in Christ I get tired of having people ask me
as to what I am, i.e., Baptist, Catholic, charismatic, or
what. To the individual who is “in”
Christ the church label is secondary. The important factor
is that when an individual is “in”
Christ they are a believer, i.e. a disciple and follower
of Christ. The sinner is brought into the family of God
by adoption upon their spiritual
rebirth. Salvation is God’s doing. It is solely by
God’s grace through faith in Christ as Savior and
Lord that one is placed “in”
Christ. See – Eph. 2:8-9.
First and foremost an authentic Red
Letter Christian is just that: a
Christian; a Christian in the full meaning of what
being a Christian is. See –
2 Corinthians 5:17-21.
I cannot overemphasize that being a Red Letter Christian
does not mean that one dismisses
the rest of God’s written Word. While on-the-other-hand
it does mean that the Red Letter
Christian seeks to adhere to what our Lord said in his teachings
and exhortations to his disciples. When we are “in”
Christ we are his disciples. |
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What
Gandhi Observed:
History reveals that Mahatma Gandhi was greatly impressed
with the life and teachings of the Man Jesus. Although
Gandhi himself was not a Christian, but a Hindu, he
had read the Gospels. It is said that he considered
becoming a Christian. However, he
was turned away from the faith because of some
of the actions, practices and lives of those who professed
to be followers of the Christ. Upon reading the Gospels
he is reported to have said, “Everybody
in the world knows what Jesus was teaching in those
verses – except Christians!”
WOW!
A Hindu, a man who was the father of modern day India,
a man who could have influenced India and the world
for Christianity, turned aside and away from becoming
a disciple of Jesus Christ because of Christians.
How tragic! |
| The
challenge is given for Red Letter Christians to prove
“the Mahatma”
wrong. |
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Becoming
a Radical Christian:
Even as the Anabaptists during the Protestant Reformation
was dubbed ‘radicals’
in like manner it behooves us, as Red Letter Christians to
become radical followers of Christ in this twenty-first
century. One of the ways in which this can be accomplished
is by beginning to take the exhortations, the message, of
Jesus Christ seriously. Our Lord’s
exhortations were radical. Spend some time reading,
pondering, exploring, studying and then putting
into action and practice what is taught in his Sermon
on the Mount as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew
chapters 5, 6 and 7. |
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Evangelical
Arrogance:
At this point please don’t turn me off. If you are
a Christian who is an evangelical, I too, am an evangelical.
I accept the evangel, i.e., the gospel, as the
bottom line of New Testament Christian faith. The
evangel or gospel is that our Lord died for our sin, was
buried, rose in the body literally from the grave, ascended
back to the Father’s presence and will one day return.
A legitimate evangelical is
one of those people who believes in and accepts the Gospel
as the Message that needs to
be shared with humankind; wherever and whoever.
By
evangelical arrogance I am referring to the fact that many
people who call themselves evangelicals, who march under
the banner of evangelicalism, have
aligned themselves with a teaching that at times
does not appear to be the simple faith and practice of the
earliest original disciples of our Lord. Many people who
claim to be evangelicals have bought into what I often term
“the party line.”
American evangelicals appear to have become obsessed with
but two issues, namely: abortion and
homosexuality.
But
wait! As we read and study
the four Gospels and the exhortations of our Lord we discover
that the above mentioned two issues
which appear to be the total concern of many evangelicals
are but a tip of the iceberg
of concerns addressed. What about
such issues as:
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Plight
of the poor of the world |
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Environmental
issues |
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Military
aggression |
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Blatant
discrimination directed against women, people of color,
native Americans, sexual orientation, etc |
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Use
of torture by governments |
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Civil
religion |
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| I
could go on-and-on with numerous other
issues that too many evangelicals seem to turn a
blind eye to. Red Letter Christians seek to take a
close look at our Lord’s exhortations. I am convinced
that these exhortations were not given solely to his immediate
disciples. They were and are given to his disciples living
today; to you and me who follow
him. It is to Jesus Christ that we as his disciples give our
allegiance. |
WWJD
and WDJS?:
A few years ago the motto: “What
Would Jesus Do” became popular among
Christians. It’s a good concept to follow. Someone
has suggested that we also ask “What
Did Jesus Say” as a principal for
believers to explore. In our study of our Lord’s
exhortations this becomes increasingly
more meaningful to us. In the list above we might
want to reread and restudy the Gospels to discover just
what our Lord did say about these various issues. Not
what the evangelical party line dictates but
what does Jesus say. It cannot be denied that our Lord
was vitally concerned about such issues as poverty,
discrimination, etc. He continually displayed
compassion on the wandering sheep of the world.
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Much
of the organized Church has become like Sodom of old whom
the prophet wrote about, “Now
this was the sin of your sister
Sodom: She and her daughters
were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned;
they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty
and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away
with them as you have seen.”
(Ezekiel 16:49-50)
It
should matter to us what our Lord taught. Note what the
above passage from the prophet Ezekiel says. In like manner
we American Christians have
become arrogant, overfed and largely unconcerned to the
needs of the people of the world let alone even people in
our midst. The poor and needy
we often view as the concern of government agencies, not
the concern of our super and mega-churches. After all we
have greater and more expensive buildings to erect, salaries
to be paid, utilities to be met and entertainment to draw
in the crowds. I am convinced that in
God’s sight the organized Church has become
haughty and is doing detestable things. We’ve aligned
ourselves with promoting a form of
religion that is far from the simplicity of New Testament
Christian faith.
Both the so-called “right-wing”
as well as the “left-wing”
political movements are alive and
well in many of our churches and denominations. We
need to once again turn our
full attention to the exhortations
set forth by our Lord. We are exhorted
to become peacemakers, merciful, pure in heart and life,
seeking to help eliminate poverty, spreading the Gospel,
loving those whom we may consider our enemies, those who
hate and use us, building strong families. Our churches
are called forth to be prophetic. In informing society as
to what God requires will not cause us to be popular. We
will not be acceptable with organized institutional Christendom.
We will be the outcasts and pilgrims
that Scripture speaks of. Reminiscent of our Lord as he
cast out the moneychangers from the temple we, too, should
be seeking to drive out those forces that have perverted
the faith of the apostles. If we really are to take our
Lord seriously at his word then we will begin putting our
actions where are words are. We will begin seeking to live
out the exhortations spelled out by him.
I came across the following on the internet written by Randall
Balmer, a Columbia University professor and expert on American
religious history:
“The
evangelical faith that nurtured me as a child and
that sustains me as an adult has been hijacked
by right wing zealots who really have
no real understanding of the teachings of Jesus.
They have taken the Gospel the Good News of Jesus Christ,
something that I consider to be lovely and redemptive, and
turned it into something ugly and punitive. They have cherry
picked through the Scriptures wrenching verses out of context
and used those verses as a bludgeon against their political
enemies.”
I fear that the brother in the above quote is pretty much
on target. But all is not lost. As disciples of Jesus Christ
we can and we must regain the
old landmarks of the faith of the prophets and the apostles
of old. Someone has aptly said of the modern church that:
“Prophetic ministry must
not be allowed to degenerate into pathetic ministry.”
God is still on the throne of heaven. As the Gospel song
implores: “Let us all go back . . . to the old
landmark!” And
what is that “old landmark?”
It is the teachings given by our Lord to his disciples,
to his followers, to you and me
who claim the name of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
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