Mean as a Hornet

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!" Galatians 5:13-15

In Galatians chapter 5, the apostle Paul is writing about Christian liberty in Christ, love being the fulfillment of the Law and walking in the Spirit. Along the way, he takes the time to warn the Church about falling from grace, being hindered from obeying the truth and avoiding the works of the flesh. While he is encouraging Christians to stand for the truth of the grace of God, he points out that those who will try to undermine their faith, surprisingly, will be those from within the body of Christ. For example, I recently took the time to view the social media page of a ministry that meant a lot to me in my early years of being a Christian. The ministry teaches what is referred to as the "finality of the Cross" and the "reality of the Resurrection." In other words, they proclaim that the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross forgave all the sins of mankind, past, present, and future and that salvation is the restoration of the life of God made possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the nearly 20 years that have passed since I grabbed a hold of this message and proclaimed it, the majority of opposition to it has come from those within the body of Christ. It was not any different on this ministry's page.  Under a post where they were promoting some products, a Christian who opposed the message wrote, "...when did the Apostles or Jesus EVER sell the gospel? I see your motivation is to sell and push your products for the false doctrine that you teach." When some supporters of the ministry challenged them on their accusation, they replied with, "You must embrace the same abomination that he does." After being called a "legalist," they shot back with, "I follow God's Word the way it's written. I don't wrangle the scriptures to make them mean what I want them to mean," " If you were a "Christian" you wouldn't be on this site," and, finally, "A Legalist: One who obeys God...as viewed by someone....who doesn't." The whole exchange is wrong on so many levels. There is no dialogue, no reasoning from the scriptures and, definitely, no love being exchanged. The conversation is nothing more than two factions devouring each other with name-calling and judgment. While nobody wins in this scenario, it could have been avoided if the individual had either said nothing or tried to ask questions in an effort to start a dialogue. Unfortunately, this type of exchange seems to be the norm when it comes to online Christian "discussion." Out of curiosity, I visited the profile of this person and found a post that read, "Dear Lord, please help me to speak the right words, at the right time, with the right attitude so I might be effective in reaching some with Your truth..." Given that this post and the argument they ignited are about 10 months apart, one can only hope their prayer is a sign of God working on their heart and not an example of their hypocrisy.

Interestingly enough, the pastor of this ministry once said, “Religion makes you mean as a hornet.” Just like a hornet, they are unwanted, irritating and can ruin a good time. While I do not know the person who caused the uproar, I have encountered many like them over the years. And to the pastor's point, they are mean as a hornet and it can be traced back to their religious beliefs. Regarding the roots of the word religion, Webster's Collegiate Dictionary traces the word back to an old Latin word religio meaning "taboo, restraint." A deeper study discovers the word comes from the two words re and ligare. Re is a prefix meaning "return," and ligare means "to bind;" in other words, "return to bondage." That is eye-opening. To be religious means you are in bondage. That is what the Apostle Paul was preaching against. He wanted the Galatians, and all Christians, to stand in their liberty. Liberty means freedom; the exact opposite of bondage. Religion does put you in bondage. The individual mentioned earlier proudly embraced being called a legalist by saying they are one "who obeys God." There are different meanings for obedience. However, by making such a claim, I have to believe they have convinced themselves they are obeying the commands of God. In short, they are under the Law; i.e. a legalist. That is the ultimate form of religion. And if religion is bondage, it will make you as mean as a hornet. Why? Because the law is of no use without somebody to compare yourself too. And, in my opinion, misery loves company. Are prisoners happy? No, they are in jail cells wanting freedom. Are dogs in a kennel happy? No, they are in cages barking up a storm trying to get out. When people leave churches, it is often because they have encountered people like the one mentioned earlier. Once they get out, they want nothing to do with Christians, church or God. They don't need the hassle of the endless pressure to obey, condemnation for failure and the shame of not being good enough for God or His people. Religious people like this person are compelled to judge others for their perceived lack of obedience because only two things can result from comparing yourself to others; you are either better than other people or worse. One is religious pride. The other is self-condemnation. In this scenario, you see the religious pride that comes from convincing yourself you are being obedient to God. Both are of the devil! You can't love your neighbor when you are consumed with trying to be obedient to laws God never expected you to obey. Only when you are resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ and allowing Him to live His resurrected life through you, will you begin to receive the love that God wants to give to you. You will then know what it means to be free in Christ and "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36)."