Too Big for Our Britches

There was a verse in my reading this morning that caught my eye. In Romans chapters 9-11 Paul talks about the sovereignty of God in salvation. Much of his discussion is about how God grafted in the Gentiles (non-Jews) into His chosen people. That for a time He is rejecting the Jewish people so that He may be merciful to us, all the while remembering that Israel is His covenant people. Then Paul makes a statement in chapter 11 that stood out to me. Using agricultural terms in verses 17-22, he describes how Israel, the natural olive branch, had been broken off for a time because of their disobedience and that we, the wild olive branch, are grafted in. Then , in verse 21 he says this, "For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either."

In Texas, we have a saying, "don't get too big for your britches." For you non-Texans, that means don't get too arrogant, because you can get put back in your place. I wonder if we as American Christians have gotten too big for our britches. This morning, I received another e-mail about in the influx of Muslims in America (I get several each week). And while I am concerned about the direction of our nation and its naivete of the fundamental Muslim teachings, it does not surprise me, nor should it you. A short study through the Old Testament should be a quick reminder that God frequently used the ungodly nations to discipline his people.

This reminds me of a story in the Matthew where Jesus was driving out the money changers out of the temple. For years in my immaturity, I thought that it was saying we shouldn't sell stuff at church. However, when you look up the passages Jesus quotes here, he is quoting some Old Testament passages. The first is in Isaiah 56:7. The second is Jeremiah 7:11. If you look at these passages, God is revealing His heart that ALL men were to have access to Him, and instead, these money changers were taking advantage of people prohibiting them from being able to come to Him. Have we become the new money changers? Are we preventing the lost from coming to him?

I find it interesting that those countries we were, for decades, trying to reach with the Gospel, are now sending missionaries to America to reach it with the Gospel. We who have been the senders are now being the receivers. Perhaps we are getting too big for our britches. Perhaps, God is going to, as we say in Texas, take us down a few notches. Gandhi once said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Church it is time we change some things. I believe that if we continue on the path we are on, we are asking for discipline. It must first begin with ourselves, then our families, then our churches, then our communities, and so on. As I said in a previous post, we must train ourselves in righteousness.