Church Corner

What a tragedy. On the Lord’s Day, Sunday, May 31, an abortion doctor was gunned downed – in a church of all places – by an extremist.

On June 10, another extremist gunned down a black security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Although not as tragic, but extreme nonetheless, a handfull of religious extremists met in Seattle recently protesting against homosexuality and Jews. They held signs laced with slander and hate, all “in the name of God!”

A few weeks earlier, Perez Hilton shot out a question at Miss California’s Carrie Prejean that killed any chances of her becoming Miss USA regardless of how she respectfully stated her beliefs. What’s the world coming to?

You might be surprised, but Jesus had to deal with extremists in his time. From a governmental perspective, it was the Romans who occupied Israel and treated the Jews with disdain. There were also the Jewish zealots who sought to overthrow the Roman occupiers by use of terroristic tactics. On the religious side, you had the Pharisees and Sadducees. These two self-righteous religious groups were leaders who abused their power and the people they were supposed to help and serve. Anyone who did not show them respect or meet their standards (those of mixed race, had a physical infirmity, poor or those considered and outcast of society) were shunned, mocked, and avoided. So, what did Jesus do? Well, for one thing, he did not compromise on his beliefs. He held true to God’s written word regardless of the consequences. He did not choose the far left or far right extremists agenda ; he stayed on the straight and narrow path. He did not seek to be a people pleaser; he sought to please his father in heaven. He did not follow the crowd, he faithfully led the way. He did not turn away the dejected and the downcast. He actually sought them out, gave them assistance and offered them new hope. He did not seek to change or overthrow the government. He purposed to change each individual’s heart from within. Instead of hanging out with the self- assured, self-confident, self-made individuals, he sought out the lost and downtrodden.

When it comes to dealing with extremism or extremists, maybe we should go back to that popular old slogan of the 1980s, “WWJD – What Would Jesus Do?” This is no doubt an extremely important question for our time today, but the answer was given, by example, more than 2,000 years ago.

Looking back is extremely important in following the right path.