John the Baptist
12/30/14
Many people have problems with this man John and how he
approached the ministry of Christ. There
are many examples of John’s extravagant behavior and living conditions which
puzzle many people as to why he operated in this manner. One has to understand some things about the
Church, the leadership of the Church and some of the beliefs that the Church
held during that time in order to “figure” this setting out. John represented everything that God desires
for His Church in the content of being separate from the world and it was those
who accepted the worldly practices into their lives that John directly shouted
and startled. There will be more people
like John, for it is necessary that we realize that once again the Church has
fallen into this trap of worldly acceptance.
When many people are asked about the life of John the
Baptist one or two common responses are heard.
The first one being and probably the most common one was that he was
beheaded by the ruler of the local government.
The second most common thing that people respond about John would be
that he dressed funny, did not bathe much and ate weird foods all in which
commuted a very scary appearance to those that he jumped out and ticked
off. Both of these answers are correct
and it is easy for one to draw a simple conclusion concerning John and what his
type of life might have been like, but if one digs a little one will find a
simple reason as to why John lived the way he did and as to the reason why he
died in the manner as he did as well.
There are many similarities between John the Baptist and Jesus, with
their messages basically the same.
John the Baptist had many followers no doubt because of
his willingness to address the abuses that the Jewish leaders had towards other
people within their land. It was not
unknown that some of the Jewish leaders, especially the Scribes, Pharisees and
Sadducees, who would generally be offensive and flat out cruel to those who
crossed their decisions and words from the pulpit. Many witnessed that their actions in the
Temple and out on the streets were different and how they had effectively
become total hypocrites in daily life.
How could one call themselves a High Priest or a holy man if they could
not keep true to the laws that they demand from others, themselves? How devastating this must have been to those
who had previously received punishment according to the same laws to which they
were breaking; all seemed to be injustices in the name of God because that was
what they were advocating.
We all know that the times of John the Baptist and Jesus
corresponded and that both knew each other, even when both were still inside of
their respective mother’s bellies. This
means that the same living conditions of both men were known and they
understood what it meant for the High Priest and his entourage to appear in
public with a certain provocative dressing.
It has never been assumed that John had fancy dress clothes or ever made
a “flashy” appearance when he was ministering to those that were listening to
his teachings about the coming of the Messiah.
John has always been acclaimed with a dirty and separatist appearance
that one would imagine him to look like; and that is exactly what he was
supposed to be, separated from the world far enough to be able to understand
how much the Jewish leaders had muddled themselves into the world.
John did not limit his scoffings to the Jewish leaders;
it was for everyone who would listen to the words of repentance. Walking was the major means of transportation
in those days so roads were well travelled.
Many of the different tribes, people and cultures would distinctly draw
themselves by their appearance so it would be easy for one to identify where
someone generally was from just by the what he / she was wearing. Now, picture if you will a person who fits
this description walking along and talking with the person or group that is
with them, and all of a sudden the bushes begin to ruffle and out jumps a dude who
is wearing basically branches, has locust wings in between his teeth and who
points his finger at them and says to them, “repent!!” How are they going to feel about this
approach?
How different would John be from the way that church
services would be conducted during those times?
How differently would John’s dress and appearance be than those who
attended service regularly? Is it safe
to say that many of those same people had no clue that God had directed John to
dress and to eat like he did and that there was a reason for this
behavior? It is safe to assume that they
did not but there was a reason and it was for a specific purpose so that God
could grab the attention of the “church” person and to show them that no matter
who you might be a person who believes in God should be separated from the
world at all costs. John did not care
who he frightened nor did he care who might take offense to his
mannerisms. John understood that he had
a message from God and that he had specific reasons as to the tactics that God
showed him to take. John was set apart
to instruct the congregations of that land that there is someone coming that
was going to change the way people looked towards God and the that God reminded
them that they had to completely separate themselves from this world, including
their general appearance.
John’s appearance and message was presented to the same
people that Jesus was about to embark upon, so why would God send a servant of
His that would routinely mimic what was already in place and had been established
for millennia? God had planned for our
restoration of the relationship between God and man for a very long time but
mankind had issues that they had accepted, especially with the concepts and
laws that God had set before them. John
was another powerful reminder to the common people and to the leaders of the
Jewish communities that God wanted a separation of His people from the world
and that they had become so like the world that they were now blinded from God
Himself.
When Jesus was asking His disciples who they considered
Him to be their answers were varied in the simplicity of the people when they
responded that some said you were this and some said you were that. But Jesus wanted to know who they said He was;
and there was a reason for this and it all stems with the same ideologies that
we church people are waving today. The
fact that the disciples’ answers varied about who others said Jesus was
confirms the fact that many ideas about the Jewish leaders and who they said
they were, who they represented and how much earthly power they had among their
constituents verified that a religious status and political ladder was in play,
just as it is today.
It was John’s calling and his message to inform the people
of this fact, including the religious leaders of the time. It is our position today to do the exact same
thing to those who believe that the Church mixing with the world is a
possibility. The church can mix with the
world all it wants to, it is free will to do so. However, the Church cannot mix with the world
for her representative is God and there is a groom that is coming for His
perfect Church. It is evident that the
Church has failed once again to realize exactly what is going on and how costly
our actions shall be one day. We have a
great example of this that we can refer to and one that has dire consequences
still being felt as of this moment.
In the year 300 AD, the early church was very young and
it was very fragile. They had persevered
many hard and torturous times and had come out smelling like the beauty of the
finest rose. There had been many people killed
because of their faith and many had lost everything they had and some even
everyone in their family, yet they continued to serve God with all of their
hearts and did not waiver. But not
everyone could say this nor could they admit to this standard, which would not
be too uncommon since after all we are dealing with humans here. With the knowledge of what their forefathers
and foremothers had to endure, some of the people within the Early Church began
to accept certain practices of the world within their lives. It was not long afterwards that some of the
people within the Church accepted positions within the empire known as Flamens.
I remind you that in only a short period of time,
approximately 250 years or so, the enemy of our lives had convinced to shake
off the heritage of the founding fathers of the Early Church and to try and
establish a “peace” between the world and God.
If John understood that this process was ongoing and occurring within
the Jewish leaders then it would have made sense to him that it would also
occur in those who are not directly within that leadership role, thus having
the commission to preach this separation from the world message to everyone.
Within a few generations in tow, the Church had some of
its people, no doubt some of its ranking leaders as well, totally engrained
into the cults of the Roman Empire. This
was exactly what John’s message was warning us about. There is no doubt that many had no real
reason or “evidence” that what they were accepting within their lives as wrong
or harmful with their relationship with God.
The Christians had been fighting with the Jews and with Rome long enough
to believe that they had due cause and belief that they were different from the
world, including the religious aspects of it.
The position of a Flamen was a very highly respected position and a Flamen
was considered to be a priest to one of the cults of the Roman Empire.
It is this position that had to create so many problems
within the Church and in its structural beliefs. Sadly, we have not learned from this process
and have once again turned our eyes upon the world in order to find our
completeness. If it took just a short
amount of time for the pagan cults to enter into the Church what kind of belief
system do we have in place almost 2000 years down the road? As I continue my pursuance through Church
History my heart cannot be but hurt with example after example of God’s Church
proclaiming to be a part of the world and of God at the same time. We have failed to understand the laws of God
and what they mean for our lives. We
have physically and spiritually told God to get out of our decisions and have
made the choice to try and have the best of both worlds.
We have taken off the coat of John the Baptist and placed
upon our backs the shirt of Judas, and it shall be the destiny of such a Church
as it was for Judas. We cannot afford to
have any type of Flamens within our congregations for if we continue to allow
such activity, our foundation shall crumble from underneath of us and the era
of the Church that we know now, shall not be around. As 300 AD rolled around the Flamen status
within the Spanish Church grew in influence and it was not too much longer
until Spain, through this compromised state, began to commit horrendous crimes
against God chosen people. Yes, our
actions have consequences and it should be kept close in our hearts of this
fact. Spain itself has never been great
as she was before that fateful year of 1492.
She has been constantly indebted to other nations, lost many wars and
has been invaded and defeated in countless ways ever since that year. More importantly she has been in a constant
state of internal war against separatists who wish to break up her historical
structure. Yes, these are the
consequences of her actions against God and it is the results of her carrying
on with the world that has led to this constant torment and struggle for
survival.
What the most frightening aspect of this example is is
that Spain considers itself a Christian nation with a high Catholic
representation each day of its physical state.
The majority of the country considers itself as “Christian” and yet
continues to harbor this mentality that it can hold on to Christ while keeping
its eyes fixed upon the world. The frightening
part is that the remainder of the Western societies, including the USA, falls
within this category as well. God does
not miss a beat, nor is He blind to the real intentions of our hearts. He did not miss a thing when it came to the
Jews that were alive in Abraham’s day, and He did not miss a moment of the
people’s hearts when His Son walked this earth, so why would we have the
audacity to believe He would change for our thinking?
Yes, John the Baptist was beheaded by a local governor
who was calling him out. Yes, Jesus was
killed for calling out the Jewish leadership.
In both instances, the evidence that these entities had with the world
was overwhelming and in both cases both entities had no desire to rid
themselves of this tie. Look at the
actions that both entities turned to as a final answer to their problem. The Roman Empire fell a few short years after
300 AD and was never reunited again. The
Jewish community that was so large and strong lost its Temple not once but
twice and were totally defeated and scattered throughout the world as a
result. What will be our result? The West and its societies far outnumber and
outreach what the Jewish world and the Roman Empire even imagined; it begs us
to ask how far we shall fall. There is
still time to change our choice, but I suggest we get into motion and get it
done NOW! Our hearts need to be as John
the Baptist was, totally separate from this world at all times.
DLB
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