I don't really like to watch a lot of news talk shows. They are usually way too sarcastic and tend to spend a lot of time talking bad about other news talk shows. However, I do try to stay informed about what is going on in the world so I turn on the news every once in a while! Recently, there has been a lot of debate about how Jesus would do Christmas and charity. A lot of scripture has been thrown around, taken out of context, or just been completely misquoted.
Let me preface the rest of this with the fact that I am a Christian and a conservative.
One person said that Jesus must be a liberal because he hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors. Well, I don't know what he was trying to say about liberals with the prostitute part of that comment, but as for the tax collectors, when asked why He hung out with them He simply said He was sent to those who were sick, not to those who were well. Also, Zaccheus and Matthew stopped being tax collectors after an encounter with Jesus. On the conservative side, someone said that God helps those who help themselves.That isn't actually a quote from the Bible and it doesn't necessarily reflect the values that I think Jesus tried to convey in His lifetime.
Jesus wasn't into politics to start off with. When Pharisees cornered him about paying taxes to the Roman government He said that we should give unto Caesar what is due to Caesar. He didn't take sides about the political issues of the day, Jesus just said we should do what is right. As Christians, we do have a responsibility to be good citizens and give the taxes required of us by the government, even when we don't agree with the rulers at the time. The same government He told us to give taxes to ended up allowing him to be crucified and then persecuted the church for ages.
That being said, he didn't say he agreed with the outrageous taxes they were charging. I'm not going to put words in Jesus's mouth because I'm sure lately He's gotten a mouthful from everyone else, but what He did say is that we should help the poor. He never said to let the government help the poor, He said WE should help the poor. We should be generous and giving and lead by the Spirit to give to others everyday.
When Jesus preached to the multitudes and they became hungry, He didn't tell them to go find the local government sponsored program for hungry people, He used what God had given Him and He fed the people right there. When the fishermen were depressed after a day of fishing and no success, Jesus didn't tell them about how He had voted in higher taxes just for this circumstance and they should all go stand in the unemployment line. Nope, He told them to go back out again and because of their obedience and willingness, they received an amazing catch that they could not contain themselves!
So, I guess all I really want to say is let's take the politics out of Christmas and Christianity and do what Jesus himself did for others. Let's give of ourselves and be lead by the Holy Spirit to have compassion all year long. Don't depend on others or programs to do the things that He has called YOU to do yourself.
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