In Touch With: Christianity and Rhetorical Voices
“The pastors, ministers and church leaders are out there giving you the message. You may find some of them in today’s protest marches, but they are also all over social media. They have found a way to reach out to people through this modern technology.”
There is no need to tell you about the situation that we the people of the United States of America are in right now. The news media, be it TV, newspaper, radio or your cell phone, has kept you informed about where we are at this moment. The political conventions are over, and we must now come to grips with our Christianity for we are facing a choice of consciousness.
Christianity is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, whose coming was prophesied in the Old Testament and chronicled in the New Testament.
Social distancing has caused churches to close their doors but not silenced the Word. There are worship services via Zoom, GoToMeeting and YouTube. The YouTube app allowed me to visit a church in Alexandria, Virginia, one Sunday morning. The sermon was titled “The Complicity of the Church,” and the Scripture came from the Old Testament, Amos 7:10-15.
Amos was a minor prophet who was a herdsman and fruit picker when God called him to go and prophesy to the people of northern Israel.
Israel’s social sins at that time consisted of injustice, official corruption, greed and false worship. Amos’ mission was to give the people a warning from God about their behavior. God was angry with the people for they had corrupted themselves and pushed Him away.
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, did not like to hear what Amos was preaching, so he went to Jeroboam, the king, and told him Amos was a traitor to Israel and was plotting the king’s death. Amaziah told Amos to leave and take his prophesying with him.
The minister of this sermon brought that biblical text into today’s world by expounding on the complicity of the church. He asked: How do we deal with the world today when our religious beliefs are threatened by a person with an extreme antisocial attitude, behavior and lack of conscience? He said pastors and church leaders need to speak up, not be afraid of losing their influence and not be concerned about what people say of them. He further said that they have a responsibility to a heavenly King and not to a president, and that God raises up leaders out of the confines of the church.
Later that same Sunday, I attended worship services at my church. The pastor’s sermon came from the New Testament, Colossians 3:1-25. Apostle Paul was in prison in Rome when he heard and became concerned about the strange pagan theories creeping into the Church. He was troubled that these views were a mixture of astrology, magic and Judaism, and that they downgraded Christ to be just sort of an angel.
Paul wrote to the believers to warn them not to be led astray by the foolishness and false wisdom of men. They were not to let others spoil their faith and joy with philosophies based on thoughts and ideas filled with wrong and shallow answers instead of what Christ had said. He told them to get rid of their anger, hatred, cursing and dirty language and stop lying to each other. He encouraged them to let Christ’s love guide their lives and there would be peace in their hearts and they would always be thankful.
The pastors, ministers and church leaders are out there giving you the message. You may find some of them in today’s protest marches, but they are also all over social media. They have found a way to reach out to people through this modern technology.
There is a lot of noise in the news media that boosts viewing ratings for the networks. We know this virus is not a hoax; that the vaccine is in a pewter dish in a science laboratory; that people of color have been living in the suburbs for years; that there are different social justice laws for different folks. And those are just a few things.
But we also know that by keeping our faith, hope and love in Jesus Christ, who is our anchor, we will get through all of this.