Why Are Christians Not Obeying This Part of The Scripture?

 

Over the years, I discovered that we Christians jump at easy tasks as required of us in the christendom. The moment a difficult task comes up, almost everyone, including the devoted one among us, seems to be no where to be found.

In case you are yet to grasp my point, let me specifically mention the task of evangelizing, teaching and preaching the word of God. 

Actually, there used to be a time when Christians dreaded the role of preaching the word of God in and out of church, not anymore. 

In fact, preachers of the word of God once drew a big gap between preaching and teaching the word of God in attempt of evading the later. 

And to evangelizing, oh, then, lots of christians played hide and seek to avoid being chosen among brethren who would go out to evangelize in public. 

Glory be to God, today, the reverse is the case, almost every Christian will jump at these task of evangelizing, teaching and preaching the word, come rain or shine. 

However, when it comes to obeying the word of God in Leviticus 19:17; Proverbs 24:25 and Isaiah 1:17, almost every Christian seems to suddenly lose the enthusiasm they have when obeying the other parts of the Bible.

So as not to leave us wondering what each of these Bible verses tells us Christians to do, let me quote them below...

Leviticus 19:17

You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

Proverbs 24:25

But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, And a good blessing will come upon them

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow

Going through each of those aforementioned Bible verses, you will discover they are almost alike, with the use of the word rebuke, even though they are pointing at three different individuals.

How do I mean?

The 1st Bible verse (Leviticus 19:17) talked about rebuking a neighbor.

The 2nd Bible verse (Proverbs 24;25) talked about rebuking the wicked. 

And the 3rd Bible verse (Isaiah 1:17) talked about rebuking the oppressor.

To start with, it won't be a wise thing to forge ahead without first considering the meaning of the word REBUKE from the Hebrew Bible.

In the Hebrew Bible, the word REBUKE comes from the Hebrew word יָכַח ...that in a layman's language is to CORRECT someone. 

For the book of the Leviticus, correcting our neighbors was a stipulation specified in the law of Moses. So, it's not a thing to be debated about. 

In other words, if you don't correct your neighbor when he or she does wrong things, you have simply disobeyed the law of God, thereby bringing sin upon yourself.

In almost a similar fashion, prophet Isaiah revealed this to us in his prophetic book, according to that Isaiah 1:17, that we are expected to correct the oppressor. 

This prophet Isaiah take on this issue of rebuke is more or less more demanding than even the law of Moses. When God revealed to us through the law of Moses to correct neighbors, he used prophet Isaiah to make us know that it is not only our neighbors alone that we should correct, but we are also to correct oppressors, too.

Let me hope the meaning of being an oppressor comes alive to every reader here. 

For the sake of clarity, let me define who an oppressor is. 

An oppressor is someone who crushes others with the abuse of power or someone who treats others in an unfair manner.

I added the second part of that definition to it to make us understand that it is not only leaders that oppress people. Anyone who treats others unfairly is then an oppressor. 

As a Christian, prophet Isaiah expects us to rebuke this kind of people. 

Then, before I answer this question of why Christians are not obeying these aforementioned parts of the scripture, let us consider the wise saying of the wisest man in the world.

King Solomon, according to that Proverbs 24:25, also added to this rebuking part of the scripture. He revealed there is a blessing attached to rebuking or correcting wicked people. 

Altogether, from the law of Moses, with the expectation of prophet Isaiah, to the wise sayings of King Solomon, we know we are to rebuke...

1. Our neighbors

2. Oppressors

3. Wicked people

Observably, a lot of Christians are doing great at rebuking their neighbors who are doing bad things, but when it comes to rebuking oppressors and wicked people who are not our neighbors, most Christians stay afar off for the reason of not getting themselves in trouble.

Of course, everyone knows that rebuking oppressors and wicked people we don't know, even the ones we know, can lead to untimely death if care is not taken. 

And even if it leads to untimely death shouldn't be a thing of consideration for anyone willing to obey the word of God. 

This confirms most Christians are afraid of losing their lives. And that answers this title question of why Christians are not obeying this part of the scripture.

For me, it baffles me a lot when Christians are afraid of dying. How can one cherish long life over obeying the word of God. Jesus said in Luke 14:26...

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

I'm sorry to disappoint anyone seeking for a simpler interpretation of these words of Jesus in Luke 14:26. 

There is no other interpretation to it other than for anyone to put God first in everything. 

In other words, if putting God first will endanger your very own life, you still have to put him first. Not wanting to hear hard sayings like this is why Christians move from one church to another.

Truth be told, any Christian who is afraid of dying should be checked properly as such a person might not really be saved in the first place. 

So, don't assume one is a Christian because the person calls himself or herself a Christian. Being a Christian is way more than just bearing the name. 

Can I ask you when last you saw an oppressor or a wicked person?

This time around I don't even care if the wicked person is a witch or wizard or herbalist or traditionalist or cultist or politician or an employer or one's parent.

From the list above, if indeed you've seen a wicked person of recent, the question is why didn't you rebuke the person?

If your excuse is not being aware of the stipulation in Leviticus 19:17 or the wise sayings of Solomon in Proverbs 24:25 or the expectation of prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 1:17, now you know you should rebuke or correct any oppressor or wicked person you know or come across in the course of your life. 

The instruction is to obey the Lord and not to think of the aftermath of the rebuking action. 

Moving on...

Do you think John the Baptist didn't know the consequences of rebuking a leader like Herod who took the wife of his brother, Philip, to be his wife?

You know this story... Read it again below...

Matthew 14:1-12

 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus 

2 and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him." 

3 For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. 

4 Because John had said to him, "IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR YOU TO HAVE HER." 

5 And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 

6 But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. 

7 Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 

8 So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter." 

9 And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. 

10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. 

11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 

12 Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

As you can see John lost his dear life because of this act of rebuking or correcting a wicked leader in his days. 

To make this come alive, let me remind you that John was just 6 months older than Jesus. 

Luke 1:26

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

Luke 1:36

Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

Since John was just 6 months older than Jesus, it means John died between the age of 31-32 years as Jesus died at 33 years on the cross. 

To my astonishment, only John the apostle lived long among the 12 apostles. He was probably around 90 years when he died according to the traditional record we have. 

And please do not misquote me, I'm not against long life. Of course, God wants us to live long but when long life seems to be much more important than obeying the word of God, then it means something is wrong somewhere.

In conclusion, if the savior of the world died at 33 years obeying the Almighty God, why would any Christian choose to live long rather than obeying the word of God that may tend to shorten one's life?

May the Lord God Almighty help us all.