Accused and Excused

Major League Baseball is currently in the midst of its playoffs. Having lived in Minnesota most of my life, I’m rooting for the Twins who (at the time of this writing) need to make a miraculous comeback to finally get past the New York Yankees and possibly play in their first World Series since 1991. Baseball has been called America’s National Pastime. However, the sport became tainted 100 years ago due to the infamous Black Sox Scandal. 

The Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds faced each other in the 1919 World Series. The White Sox were heavily favored to win but lost the best-of-nine series five games to three. It was discovered some White Sox players intentionally played poorly to receive money from gamblers. The “Black Sox” moniker reportedly came from the dirty White Sox uniforms. Tight-fisted owner Charles Comiskey refused to pay for having his players’ uniforms cleaned.

Despite being acquitted in a public trial, eight of the White Sox were banned from professional baseball by newly-appointed commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. One of those players was Shoeless Joe Jackson (pictured here), who continued proclaiming his innocence until his death in 1951. His defenders point out Joe had the best batting average (.375) among all the players during that World Series plus he didn’t commit any errors. Joe knew about the fix but never met with the gamblers. He was often taken advantage of because of being illiterate.

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution states that defendants in a court of law are “innocent until proven guilty.” Sometimes people are imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. An advantage we have as believers is God can supernaturally vindicate us. One example is Joseph in the book of Genesis. He was imprisoned for two years under false rape charges but was exonerated after Pharaoh learned he could interpret dreams. Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” God elevated Joseph from the pit to the palace.

Revelation 12:10 says that Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Are you facing accusations for things you didn’t do? Trust in the Lord and His blood to declare you publicly “not guilty.”

“But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.” - Psalm 63:11

What About Your Friends?

There’s an old saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” The people we associate with can deeply influence our lives. 

As a boy, I had decided to stay away from alcoholic beverages. But during my late teens, many friends of mine and co-workers were into drinking beer. Wanting to have fun with them, I started going to parties and nightclubs. Gradually I fell into a lifestyle of sin. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be deceived; evil company corrupts good habits.” By the time I committed my life to the Lord, many of my drinking buddies didn’t want to hang with me anymore.

I’ve also noticed God will allow certain relationships with other Christians to end. This is so He can connect you with like-minded believers who will encourage you in your calling. Once I had a blind friend who didn’t believe it was God’s will to heal everyone. I shared Scripture proving otherwise since I wanted my friend to receive his sight. This man wouldn’t accept the truth and one day announced he didn’t want to be my friend anymore. I decided to strike back at the devil by going out witnessing that night. My former friend who rejected me was quickly replaced by many friendships made through my church’s evangelism ministry.

While God desires unity within the body of Christ, we need to be cautious being with some church-going people. Not everyone claiming to be a Christian is serious about becoming a disciple of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:11 (NLT) instructs us, “…not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.”

Another minister made this powerful statement, “Show me your friends and I will show you your future.” Think about the people you pal around with. Do they inspire you to go after God or the things of this world? Do your friends respect and honor you or constantly violate your boundaries? One thing I often pray is “Lord, bring the right people across my path and keep me away from the wrong people.” This prevents a lot of bad relationships from developing.

Good friends bring out the best in each other. What about your friends?

“There are ‘friends’ who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” - Proverbs 18:24 (NLT)

An Appeal for Unity (An Open Letter to Old Paths Baptist Church in Northfield, MN)

At UNITE Twin Cities

Dear Brothers in Christ,

I’m an evangelist who mostly does one-on-one witnessing in reaching individuals with the gospel. Still, I appreciate brethren who step out to do open-air preaching. It definitely brings a Christian outside his comfort zone particularly amongst audiences that sometimes become hostile.

This past Thursday night, the UNITE gathering led by Pulse Movement took place outside US Bank Stadium. After doing some witnessing in downtown Minneapolis that afternoon, I arrived at the stadium early to get a seat at one of the purple tables across the street. My legs were tired from walking and would have preferred not having to stand while watching the service. Just before it began, your group set up a loudspeaker and banners in front of where I was sitting. Your subsequent preaching hindered me from hearing what was being said from the stage.

As I walked closer to the stadium, one of you offered me a gospel tract. Eventually, I asked how he would feel if another Christian group held a meeting outside your church that disrupted one of your services. 

This man replied, “We’re preaching the word.” 

I responded, “So are they.” (referring to the ministers and musicians on stage who quoted Scripture and exalted the name of Jesus throughout the night) 

He then said, “They are preaching false doctrine.”

Despite this man’s claim, I perceived the presence of God at that service but chose to leave early. Your continuous preaching behind me was an unnecessary distraction. That prompted me to look up your church’s website when I got home. While I agree with many of your stated beliefs, one caught my attention:

“We believe that this statement of faith is a basis for Christian fellowship, and that all born-again men and women who sincerely accept it can and should live together in peace, and that it is their Christian duty to promote harmony among the members of the Body of Christ, who are walking separately from the world both in theory and in practice.”

Judging from your actions that night, you didn’t promote harmony amongst the Body of Christ. Other ministers I know tried reasoning with you. You persisted with your loud preaching without being considerate of those who showed up to pray and worship the Lord. Your church could have joined us instead of sowing discord and competing for our attention. I thought of what Jesus said in Matthew 12:25 (KJV), “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”

I noticed one of you wore a sign quoting Deuteronomy 22:5. It appears your ideas of “walking separately from the world” are based on the clothing Christians wear and the types of music they listen to. When someone professes Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we should believe the best about them instead of demonizing those who don’t fit our religious mindsets.

In John 17:20-23, Jesus prayed that all His disciples become one. Christian unity is not based on outward appearances but our shared life in Christ. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That includes Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, and Pentecostals as well as Baptists. I don’t agree with some doctrines taught in certain churches. Every church has imperfections (including yours). That shouldn’t stop us from coming together from time to time in reaching our communities with the gospel. We don’t need to “major on minors.”

I hope this letter doesn’t fall upon deaf ears but you will prayerfully consider what was written here. Paul stated in Romans 15:20, “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation.” Instead of “preaching to the choir”, I encourage you to focus on reaching the lost by speaking the truth of God’s word but showing more compassion and grace. Perhaps then more Christians will want to team up with you in fulfilling the Great Commission.

“Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” - Colossians 3:11