Warning: This post contains the word "ass"... used improperly.One of the most exciting pictures of Jesus is that table-turning day in the Temple. His best friend later described the scene by quoting Scripture, "Zeal for Your House has consumed Me." Hollywood has never done justice to Jesus. It has never captured his eyes, his smile, his despair, his passion or his zeal. No movie could ever top our imaginations and our imaginations can hardly imagine a man walking into a crowded Temple market and doing what Jesus did...by himself.
But Nehemiah was this kind of @$$-kicker. Chapter 13 is worth reading by itself.
By Any Means Necessary.
This phrase was popularized by Malcolm X in the 1960's. Pre-Mecca Malcolm, that is. * However, if you've ever read Nehemiah, you know that he was the original Nehemiah X.
Nehemiah had returned to Susa to his cup-bearer position before the king but he asked for a little more leave to check on his hometown of Jerusalem. When he returned, he found the temple service abandoned, one of his arch enemies living in the prime real estate of the temple storage unit, the people of God intermingling with the other nations, marrying and giving in marriage and profaning the Sabbath.
So here is what he did.
If you weren't a Jew, you got the cold shoulder or you got booted. Kicked out of the city. I don't think the people took this lightly, nonetheless Nehemiah forced them out.
He was extremely angry to discover that Tobiah was living in the Temple storage area. He threw all of Tobiah's furniture out of the chamber and onto the lawn. Undoubtedly, if Tobiah had returned to complain, Nehemiah would have whooped his @$$.
Nehemiah then made the people of God honor the Sabbath by stopping work and stopping the shopping. Furthermore, as the foreigners lined up outside the gate to sell things on the Sabbath, he told them in no uncertain terms, "Get away from this gate on Saturday or I am going to kick your @$$."
Nehemiah then gathered together the Jewish men who had foreign wives and children and he "contended" with them and he cursed them. When repentance wasn't forthcoming, he beat their @$$es and pulled out their hair and made them take an oath not to give their families away to foreigners or take foreigners into their families.
Finally, as the son of the high priest was married to another of Nehemiah's arch enemies, Nehemiah chased him out of the city.
Zeal for His House consumed him.
By any means necessary.
This is what Jesus meant when he said, "Pluck out your right eye" and "cut off your right hand." This was his message in the Temple. This was God's message in Numbers 16 and Paul's in 1 Corinthians 5 and 6.
"Be saved from this perverse generation," Peter said.
Purity and sanctification and devotion to God is serious business in our lives, our families and our churches.
I forget that sometimes.
I was reminded by Nehemiah....by any means necessary.
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*I recommend for history buffs the Spike Lee biographical film of Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington.
4 comments:
hey jw: it seems there is a genuine difference between "bible cussing" and using curse words. recently, i sat at starbucks with ayoung man who is wasting his life. after two hours of conversation i told him "i hope and pray that God will kick your ass to repentance." he shut his mouth and froze. then he cracked a smile and said, "that's a scary thought."
i am prone to use a well-placed "wordy dird" in certain times and places, but i do not want my speech and life to be characterized by profane speech. ya never know when Johnny Mac's gonna write you up.
on a side note: i just performed a wedding between a white girl and a black guy in louisiana of all places.
John and I rented Malcom X after reading your post. Very thought provoking. I realized after watching it that I had a very lopsided view of him. It was good to see that he recanted a lot of the racism he preached in the beginning.
As for cussing, I've managed to keep clear of the "really" nasty words, but I cannot for the life of me stop saying sh** when I drop or spill stuff. I s'pose I'm a wayward girl in need of some rehab.
A couple of thoughts.
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I suppose it is fine to "let loose" with stronger language so long as you are not really letting loose; you should be in control of your tongue.
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Every Christian should be above reproach. I would never recommend arbitrarily cussing and thus forfeiting the reputation of a pure mind and/or risking offending another brother or sister.
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As believers and conveyors of truth, cussing should promote rather than hinder the Message.
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We hear "God loves you" so much it is a scary thought to think that God might "kick our ass to repentance."
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I think believers tend to be a bit "uppity" about the whole cussing thing. Its fine for us to listen to it on the radio and TV, but if a well-meaning preacher uses it...woah, now!
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In general, I have to agree with J Mac's assessment of M.D. He does use rough language a bit too much. But my main complaint about M.D. is that while he says the name of Jesus plenty in his sermons (the titles are even about Jesus), he never gets around to preaching about Him. On the other hand, he offers more jokes in one sermon than you can count. Literally. To me, this is the greater offense.
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I think every man should take his wife down occasionally and give her hair a good yank.
http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/01/piper-on-language.html
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