For I was an hungred, and ye told me to get a job: I was thirsty, and ye told me I was lazy: I was a stranger, and ye left me in the cold: Naked, and ye stoned me: I was sick, and ye condemned me: I was in prison, and ye told me I should get right with God.

Unfortunately, most can’t make the tie-in between the original statements made by Christ, and modern issues. While the original verses are indeed treated as still relevant, they are still mostly ignored by the general Church-going population. And God does take these very personally. All these things, He states, were done to Him, even though they were done to others. Because, what you do to God’s children, He takes as a direct attack on Himself. But, a little modernization helps to really drill the idea in, because, these things have been done to me directly, and to friends, by the very people that repeat the original verses on Sundays.

When we drive by a homeless person, and should “get a job!” we are shouting that to Christ. I am reminded of the TV “christian” response to the Occupy protests being “get a job.” We are told they are lazy. They are beaten, placed in tiny cages, and left out in the cold. They are condemned. And in prison, they are “bad people.” No compassion for the oppressed that we sing of on Sundays, “Come unto Me.” No love for our neighbor. And those that feed the hungry are thrown in cages also. We do these things in Christ’s name sometimes! And these are things God takes very, very personally. These are things He counts as done unto Him.

How our world would be different if a consistent application was made!

“We do not acknowledge allegiance to any human government. We recognize but one King and Lawgiver, one Judge and Ruler of mankind. Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands. The interests and rights of American citizens are not dearer to us than those of the whole human race. Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism to revenge any national insult or injury…”

Tolstoy, Leo (Quoting the Declaration of Sentiments Adopted by Peace Convention); Garnett, Constance (2011-07-12). The Kingdom of God Is Within You (Kindle Locations 91-94). Kindle Edition.

This is not a quote from the Bible, but it’s still Biblical. Jesus never fought for the cause of Rome, or even the cause of Isreal. He came down that “that the world may be saved through him” (YLT-John 3:17). What are we doing as Christians seeking vengeance against a people? We should be reaching out to them, and not killing them. How is it possible to juggle the idea of winning souls and killing them at the same time? It’s not.

It is unfortunate that 9/11 has become the excuse for nationalism and blood thirsty flag worship in this nation. Instead of using the dead to encourage more death, we should be doing the opposite.

The state is made up of men with no moral superiority to other men. When these men decide to steal from you, its called taxes. How is it that avoiding theft is called stealing? It is not! There is no difference between the thief who steals to pay for things he wants, and a government official that takes your money to pay for what he wants. Well, except maybe the petty thief is more honest about what he does for a living.

A common mistake that people make when reading judges is that Israel needed a king. People believe that Israel needed that one person to tell everyone to be good and follow God. Without that one special person, everyone would do evil just because they can. Is this really the case? 

Israel’s main point of failure is that they did not really ever follow God. They followed men. Even in the time of Moses and Joshua they followed men. Sure, they might have done the right things while those men were alive, and they might have said that they were following God, but when Joshua died, the people of the nation went right back to their wickedness. When their good judges died, they went right back to doing evil. 

And it is somewhere in that cyclical pattern of going back to do evil after the good judge dies that the people of Israel demanded a king. But is that what they really needed? No! Even God told them it was a bad idea. But they demanded a king and got what they wanted. Did anything change? No! They had a handful of good kings that happened to get everyone to do the right thing. But they also had even more of the self destructive kings that brought down their nation.

Surely, modern people have learned from the past and they realize that one person can’t fix everything for them. They must follow God themselves! Sadly, this is not the case. Christians are political, and they are divided. We try to indirectly use violence to enforce their view of what’s right on others. They pray and have rallies for political change, but rarely care about the hearts and minds, much less the souls. Some churches teach of violent revolution fixing everything that’s wrong. Others teach of using voting to oppress others into their ideal way of life. Rarely have I seen a church that would take a step back and even just ask the question, “is this the right thing to do?” And while all sides are fighting to preserve their vision of a godly nation, they’ve helped to create the very thing they sought to avoid: a Godless nation.

What we really need is not another leader to tell us to right. We to follow God. Each and every one of us. We don’t need to force others to behave at the point of a gun. We need to love one another, and teach by example before we try to teach others. What was with Israel is missing today. We tend to serve men above God. And we impose our will on others instead teaching.

1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of cloth, whose height was onescore cubits, and the breadth thereof two score: he set it up on a stick, in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image of cloth which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

3 Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image of cloth that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the cloth that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

4Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,

5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of star spangled musick, ye fall down and worship the cloth image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:

6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, and pledgeth allegiance shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the cloth image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.