Acts 17: 23 (NKJV) - “for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:”
What’s happening in our culture is proof that a vague theology, and an appeasing message of a god we can relate to, has failed to offer real answers to complex human difficulties.
The evil represented by the Klan, or Neo-Nazis, or Nazis, or white nationalists, (of whom some CLAIM to be Christian) is born of an attempt to bend God to look like them rather than the other way around. Some in that movement point to scripture and say, “It’s in the Bible!” A god that doesn’t offend them, is a god that believes like they do. Consequently, deception, and modification, and twisting of God’s revelation to their own vile purposes ensures that the Lord of Glory will remain an unknown God to this world.
Likewise, twisting Jesus into some sort of social justice poster-boy presents an incomplete picture of a Messiah who came in the flesh, and died to redeem the world, not just make it better. Justice is a PRODUCT (see also, result, outcome, consequence, effect) of a relationship with God through Christ... NOT the other way around! It isn’t adjustable based on our situation or shifting opinions.
Faith, when it is active and moving, is powerful in its ability to restore hope in the face of changing circumstances. In faith, we are filled with the presence of the Christ who guards our hearts and minds, and strengthens us for accomplishing the impossible. (You know, things like NOT returning hate for hate.) If we are not accountable for how we act and react, even in the opposition of evil, then anything goes, and “by any means necessary” becomes a viable option that will continue the cycle of violence that we see at play now.
When we come to that point, we have abandoned our faith and started believing in our circumstance. If violence becomes acceptable, just because we’re on the right side of the argument, how are we ANY different from the evil that we seek to oppose? Do we really know Him all that well if we’re only situational disciples? I submit that in that moment, the Christ is an unknown God to us… and that maybe our faith is more decorative than it is transformative. This should be a non-starter for we who have received the gift of forgiveness. We who now have a relationship with this known, and knowable Christ.
I know that not all believe. And not all in this post-modern / Christian / reality world will accept the notion of the God who not only loves all people just as and where they are; but who also loves them too much to leave them in their conditions of sin and death. But indulging this world’s fickle whims of socially acceptable behaviors by not proclaiming the whole truth of the Divine nature, ensures that God continues to be just one of many little g gods worshipped in the public squares… an unknown god among other idols of gold and stone and self-indulgence. A Christianity that can simply be added to everything, will never transform anything.
So that leaves only one thing we can do. Herald the King who was, and is, and is to come! It might be that we are having a hard time explaining to people who the God of the universe is, because we aren’t close enough to Him ourselves. Spend some time finding out more about our very personal, and very present, Savior. Get to know Him better through prayer, and reading the Scriptures daily. It will make it a lot easier to make God unknown to many in this world, known to it in both truth and deed. Take some time today to learn about, and share, the foundational truth of who and what the Author of reality is and says. And while you’re at it, try and remember to...
Love in Christ always,
Chris
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