It is common for those in power to use the Bible to justify their greed and hatred. The lust of the GOP to throw people off of their benefits while raiding the treasury is disheartening to me and it needs to be addressed.
I do not believe that the Bible is meant to be a guide for modern political discussions, since that is not what it was written for, but since our opponents have chosen to quote the Bible in order to oppress and condemn others, I believe I should correct a few things.
First, when the Bible says, “If a man doesn’t work, he shouldn’t eat”, Paul wasn’t teaching Thessalonians about how to avoid their responsibilities for the poor. The poor didn’t have an option about working and there were no SNAP benefits, or anything like that in the Roman Empire.
The church community had set up “food banks” to feed the poor. The “man who would not work” was the idle rich man who refused to contribute anything of value, but just sponged off of others.
Paul is giving advice on the best way to manage their stores of food and advising that maybe allowing a wealthy man who refuses to contribute to raid the pantry isn’t the best way to run a community.
And I don’t know about you, but forcing a single mom, a disabled person, a homeless person, or anyone else to jump yet another hurdle in order to eat, and using this verse to justify it, really pisses me off.
I know that the cult will just call me a communist and a ignorant heretic, so this isn’t to change anyone’s mind. It is to alleviate guilt.
If you are compassionate towards those who need help, the bible is on your side. Not the side of the oppressor.
We can change the narrative and make the community better for everyone.
Author: Sam Powell
What am I doing here?
I am an ex-Reformed pastor. I love the system of doctrine found in the confessions of the church because they lead to Jesus, exalt Jesus, and clarify the life and work of Jesus.
But I worship him, not the confessions. I will never use the confessions of the church to beat someone down or to win some kind of argument.
In Reformed and Presbyterian churches, I hear over and over again how the books of order, the constitutions, and the centuries of procedures are used to silence the abused, drive away the sheep, protect the powerful, and maintain the status quo.
If you haven't seen it, you haven't been paying attention.
On top of this, in the 1980s and 1990s, several influential and powerful men introduced a new theology in the church as a response to feminism. They called it "complementarianism". They based it on a novel interpretation of the Trinity, by introducing authority and submission into the persons of the Trinity. Doing this, they contradicted the unanimous testimony of the church since the 4th century.
And one more - in the 70s, a cult leader named Bill Gothard invented a religion which he called "Institutes of Basic Life Principles". He peddled it to millions under the guise of Christianity.
All of these streams combined into a weird, oppressive, violent, vicious mixture which has infiltrated the churches. It is a strange new religion, under the guise of Christianity, but has nothing to do with it. It has gone by different names: Moral Majority; Christian Nationalism; Patriarchalism;
It worships power and authority, it worships traditions and parliamentarian procedures, it worships celebrity, and it worships those who can argue down a liberal or a feminist. It values destroying enemies with argument, it values contempt and winning the debate.
It calls for the release of Barrabas - at least he was trying to do something about Rome-
And shouts for Jesus to be crucified.
What this new religion doesn't have is:
Jesus, the Lamb of God
Grace
Mercy
Compassion
Understanding
Listening
or Good news.
All it knows is law. And all it trusts in is power. It knows nothing of washing feet, of letting the mind of Christ dwell in us, or of taking the lowest place.
So this is why I am here. For those who have been run down by Driscoll's bus, who have been crushed by the Gothard machine, cast out by Wilson's cult (or Piper's or MacArthur's)...
...for those who are so confused that they don't know how to separate the gospel of Jesus Christ from the lies and tangles that the enemy has woven into a snare...
I offer my services. I can listen. I can help untangle the lies by pointing you to the simplicity of the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
You can find me at sampowellministries.com
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Sam Powell for Senate 