Service to God

Scripture: They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.   John 16:2&3 NIV

Observation: Jesus is speaking of how his disciples will be treated by the synagogue rulers.

Application: As I read this passage I was reminded of the protest group from the Topeka, KS church, Westboro Baptist. Much like the synagogue leaders whom Jesus said would seek the lives of the disciples as a “service to God,” the Topeka protestors flout their biblical knowledge, (specifically in Leviticus 18), and revel in the misery of others as a means of providing a “service to God.” They took a godly truth, “do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable,” Leviticus 18:22 NIV, and they turned it into a means for punishing innocent by-standers; the families of the fallen soldiers. Their premiss is that American soldiers die as God’s punishment of America for the acceptance of homosexuality. It seems to me that while they are biblically accurate about homosexuality, their “service to God” by assuming the mantle of modern day pseudo prophets is more damaging to the cause of Christianity than it is helpful. Sadly, they don’t care and I believe that they don’t care because “they will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.” John 16:3 NIV

Prayer: Father, help me to care about the souls of others. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen

Doug