Wednesday 30th September
Political Correctness – Is this Jesus way?
‘‘I know the blasphemy of these self -styled Jews…..a synagogue of Satan….’(Rev 2:9)
We live in a world where we find ourselves chaperoned by political correctness. In society’s pursuit of eliminating racism, sexism and many other ‘isms’ we find ourselves walking on egg shells in so many different situations. A Pennsylvanian newspaper recently reported the suspension of a 10 year old boy after he pulled an imaginary bow and pointed it at a girl in his class. Johnny was accused of breaching the school’s regulations on using weapons, even though the bow and arrow were not real. He was reprimanded after the girl he ‘fired’ the bow at notified a teacher! In recent years there has even been a campaign to redefine Christmas as it’s not ‘PC’ to exclude other religions. In 2014 one internet company produced a multicultural Christmas jumper that represented Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Atheism! How mad is that!
I think this letter gives us some insight as to whether Jesus is ‘politically correct’. The simple answer is that Jesus is not PC! Listen to His words “I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan”. Or one translation puts it this way ‘I know the blasphemy of these self-styled Jews’ …..we recoil. How can anyone say such things? That’s a little harsh we all shout! But in fact in the real world (as opposed to the fantasy world of the relativist) there are hard edges and tough challenges for a community with a truly Christian worldview.
In Smyrna there was a large synagogue community whose members did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah or that He was raised from the dead. Not only did they not believe in Jesus, they actively blasphemed Him and called curses down on Him and openly accused the church in Smyrna of political disloyalty, immorality and breaking up homes. So Just as Satan is ‘the accuser’, so this Jewish group had become tools in his hands – they had become ‘the accuser’. Hence Jesus’ outspoken assessment of the situation and His description of them as ‘the synagogue of Satan’.
I wonder if we have lost our voice when it comes to saying things as they are for fear that we will offend? Whilst Christ calls us to walk in the shoes of the Gospel of peace this doesn’t mean that we should not have the confidence to speak out clearly yet lovingly. There will be points at which this could cost us and may result in suffering, hardship and even poverty, but surely its better to be known by Jesus, to be rich spiritually than rich materially and in poverty spiritually!
Are you prepared to pay the price for standing up for the truth?