Why Jesus Is Not Your Political Mascot

During the recent protests over the election results, some protesters used Jesus' name and other Christian symbols in their march on the Capitol. But should we use Jesus as a political mascot? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity.

The Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, or email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, Adriel, we have a lighter story to share. Animal rescuers in Scotland are searching for the owners of an escaped hamster that braved freezing temperatures to make his way to a candy store. The Scottish SPCA says the hamster was caught on video clinging to a person who entered a candy store in Glasgow. The hamster jumped off the apparently unaware shopper inside the store and was soon captured and turned over to the SPCA. Animal Control Officer Amy Sturtin says the hamster is in good health, despite its journey through the streets and temperatures that reached a low of five degrees.

She says, we've named the little guy Tom Cruise, given his Mission Impossible-type attempt to get some treats. That's so funny, Bill, because I was gonna say there really needs to be a movie about this hamster, you know, weathering the storm and hopping onto somebody's leg and making it into the candy store. So it's just amazing. Would you go to those great lengths to get to the candy store? That's my question. Absolutely.

I mean, doesn't matter rain, sleet, snow, you know, to get to the candy store, you bet. Okay, well, let's get to our first question of the day. This is a call coming in from Caleb in San Diego.

Hey guys, appreciate the show. I know it's been said on the program before that Christianity isn't about us living our best life, but does that mean that it does not help us live a better life at all? I know you're trying to avoid, you know, teachings like the prosperity gospel, but when I read the book of Proverbs, for instance, it seems to tell us how to live better lives, at least in certain ways. Would you still say that Christianity is only about our place in heaven, or does it actually affect us and help us live better lives right now?

Hey, thanks for your question, Caleb. You know, I never want to communicate that for us as Christians, you know, when we talk about the Bible, when we talk about theology, that we're just focusing on, you know, the world to come, heaven, that it doesn't matter how we live our lives here on earth now, that the Christian faith doesn't actually benefit us in the present in all sorts of different ways. I think that's absolutely true, and you mentioned just the category of wisdom in the Bible, books like the book of Proverbs or the book of Job, for example, where we have principles that are given to us that help to guide us in our daily lives, just really the nuggets of information that if we live by them, generally things come out pretty good. Now that's not always the case, that's why in the wisdom literature you have the sort of, you know, the Proverbs that say, do this and this will happen, but then you also have, as I mentioned, the book of Job, where you have an individual who seems to have done everything right, and yet he experiences great suffering. And so, you know, one thing, what we don't want to communicate, and you mentioned this about the prosperity gospel, we don't want to communicate to people that if you just do these things, take these steps, God is going to bless you with health, wealth, and riches.

You know, you quoted, you know, living your best life. Now that's not the Christian faith. The Christian faith is embracing the truths of the gospel, what we find in God's word, realizing that those truths do mean something for our lives today. They do shape how we live, but ultimately it's not how we live that saves us, it's what Christ has done for us, and that's why we focus on that message over and over again on this program. But, and like I said, I want to stress this, our lives right now are transformed by the grace of God. There is a peace that we can have in knowing God here in the present, and it should shape how we relate to each other, how we live our lives, how we take care of the world around us, even our own bodies. God cares about your body, Caleb. That's what the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead teaches us. God cares about this physical world, and so Christians who have this mentality that the world is just in a lot of trouble, I mean, look at all the things happening around us, I don't care about this world, my hope is in heaven. I don't think that God wants us to have that kind of attitude. I think that we ultimately have our hope in heaven, in Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father, but that hope transforms how we live today and how we relate to our neighbors, and so I think it's really important for us to grasp that.

Caleb, thanks for your question. You know, I was thinking about this. Proverbs says to us that wisdom is shouting from the gateposts. I mean, it's just telling us this is how God designed the world to function. You made a really good point. There's no guarantees because we live in a fallen world, and certainly Satan's been given a limited amount of power on this earth, so it's not that it's a total cause and effect relationship. But most of the time, if we follow God's principles, things usually work out the way they're supposed to.

Yeah. You know, I think about what the apostle Paul said in the book of Romans. You reap what you sow. If you sow to your flesh, you're going to reap destruction, but if you sow to the Spirit, that is, if you're in the Word, praying, part of a good church, a local church where the gospel is being faithfully preached, if you're being trained in godliness, like Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy, there are going to be fruits, benefits that come from that. Now, of course, as you said, and I think we have to stress this because this is what the prosperity gospel gets wrong, they draw a one-to-one correlation between, you know, you follow Jesus, you accept him, and if you're walking in obedience, God is going to bless you with these things, with money, with power, with health. Nowhere is that promised to us in the New Testament. No, actually, we're told that as followers of Jesus Christ, we're going to experience persecution and even suffering. What we can rest assured in is our salvation, is the forgiveness of our sins through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in knowing, like Paul says, that what we reap, we will sow.

And so there's some general wisdom there for us. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Adriel, let's get to another call that came in from one of our younger listeners at 833-843-2673. Hello, this is Malka from Nevada, and I just wanted to ask about the warning passages in Hebrews 6 and 12 and 10. I'm worried that I'm too far gone for God to accept me because I feel like my sins are really, really bad and I don't know what to do. I haven't been doing spiritually well for like the past month, and I'm just in a huge mess and I don't know where to take it to.

How do I know these voices aren't talking about me, and what can I do in this situation? Thank you. Let me just begin first by praying for you.

I know exactly how it is that you feel. I remember being in a very similar place at one point in my life, and so let me pray for you. Father, I want to lift my sister up to you right now and ask for your grace and mercy to cover her. I pray, Lord, that as we open up these scriptures, your word, that she would be encouraged, that she would find comfort in your gospel, and Lord, that that confidence in what you have said through your son Jesus would help her to live a life of freedom and joy and the fruit of your spirit, Lord. Would you be with her, and would you bless her now?

In Jesus' name, amen. I mentioned that there was a point in my life where I felt the exact same way, and I can actually tell you where I was. I was in high school, and I had been reading through the book of Hebrews, and it was the lunch hour, and I was this weird high school kid who was out in the middle of the soccer field reading the book of Hebrews. And I read Hebrews 6, and I remember being overwhelmed with this sense of terror, because in the book of Hebrews, as you know, you have these warning passages in places like chapter 6 and chapter 10, and I'm just going to read the text to give us some context. The author of the Hebrews began in chapter 6, verse 1, therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

And this we will do if God permits, for it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted of the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding Him up to contempt. For the land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and I want you to note this little parable that's given to us here. I think it's important in understanding and interpreting these verses.

For the land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Now, one of the reasons I had a real difficulty with this passage, and it just struck terror in my heart, and I think this is probably the same for you, is because I had a hard time understanding what this sin was that the author of the Hebrews was referring to.

What is he talking about here when he talks about falling away? Is it just struggling with a pattern of sin as a Christian, which we all experience at times in our lives as followers of Jesus? Nobody is perfect. I mean, John says in 1 John, in his first epistle, in 1 John chapter 1, that if anyone says that they're without sin, they're a liar, and the truth is not in them. The author of the Hebrews is talking about something very specific here. He's talking about what we call apostasy. That is, completely abandoning Jesus.

That's why in chapter 10 he talks about trampling the Son of God underfoot and counting the blood of the covenant as a common thing, an unholy thing. The people that are doing this sin that the author of the Hebrews is talking about here, they don't care about Jesus or his gospel, they're trampling him underfoot, and it sounds to me, sister, like you do care about Jesus. Like you want his grace, his mercy, his forgiveness, and let me tell you, Jesus said in John chapter 6 that the one who comes to him, he will in no wise cast out. When we go to Jesus broken, weighed down by our sins, even if we've fallen a hundred times, he doesn't turn us away. When we come to him by faith, weighed down by our sins, he receives us, and what the author of the Hebrews is talking about here isn't a group of believers who is struggling with some sin, even some habitual sin, and they've just done it too many times, and so Jesus has turned his back on them. No, these are people who are abandoning the gospel, who are showing, really, that they never had faith to begin with, and the author of the Hebrews is really concerned about this, but he's also hopeful. He says in verse 9 of chapter 6, though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation. See, even for them, even for these people who are on the verge of apostasy, potentially, the author of the Hebrews is holding out hope. He's saying, no, we're confident of better things for you, of things that accompany salvation, and if the author of the Hebrews could say that to them, these people who are being tempted to trample Jesus underfoot, then I can say it to you.

If you're coming to Jesus, longing for his grace, for his mercy, know that it belongs to you and that he doesn't reject you, sister, and I think that you have to rest in that. The last thing I'll say, I mentioned that parable where the author of the Hebrews says, the land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful for those whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. What he's talking about there is the fact that the rain of God's word has been falling on the land, quote, unquote, of this church, and sometimes what happens is these people hear the word of God.

Some of them, right, they bear thorns and thistles, they abandon the faith, they reject the gospel, and that shows that they were never a part of the family of God really, truly, to begin with. But sometimes, and here's what you also have within the church, is the rain falling, the gospel being apprehended, and people growing in the body of Christ. It sounds to me like that's you calling into this program, wanting to know Jesus, wanting to know that you believe in him truly. Arrest, dear sister, in the promise of the gospel, because it's for you.

When you go to Jesus, he doesn't cast you out. Amen. What great reassurance. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, where we answer your questions about the Christian faith every day, and we have an amazing team of people behind us producing this show, people who are writing the core articles for our website, producing our core Bible studies. And these are the resources that help our listeners more fully understand the gospel and have the confidence to share their faith. Now, one thing you may not know is that we are listener-supported. We count on people just like you to keep this program on the air.

Yeah, that's right. We can't do it without your prayers and support, and that's why we're asking you to come alongside of us and become a regular supporter. With a monthly donation of $25 or more, you can join The Inner Core and be a part of the team that makes this show possible. By becoming a member of The Inner Core, we will also send you a signed copy of the book that started it all, Core Christianity, Finding Yourself in God's Story, by our founder, Dr. Michael Horton. A lot like our radio program, the book unpacks the essential beliefs that Christians share in a way that is easy to understand, and it shows why these beliefs matter for our lives today. Head over to corechristianity.com forward slash inner core to learn more, or give us a call at 833-THE-CORE. Again, that's 833-843-2673. Let's get to another question that came in, Adriel.

This is one from our Instagram account from Lani. She says, Jude seems like a very strange epistle in the New Testament. What is its significance in the canon, and why do you think it touches on topics of angels and things that Paul and others don't normally focus on? Yeah, Jude is one of those books in the New Testament that not a lot of people spend time in, partially because it's a shorter book, right? I mean, it's one of the shortest books in the New Testament. I just had someone in my church the other day say that they wanted to do a study through Jude, and I was really excited when I heard that, because like I said, it's oftentimes avoided.

And it's a very heavy book, really, because it talks a lot about false teaching. There are quite a few parallels between Jude and 2 Peter, actually, and both of these books seem like they're warnings against false prophets. And let me just say that that's actually something that you see all over the place in the New Testament.

I mean, you mentioned Paul. I mean, I think of what he said in Acts chapter 20 when he was talking to the Ephesian elders, and he was encouraging them to shepherd the flock of God because he knew that after his departure, savage wolves were going to come in not sparing the flock. And so this is one of the big concerns that you see in the New Testament, a concern to guard the truth of the Gospel, to hold fast to core Christianity, if you will, and that's one of the things that Jude makes absolutely clear. I mean, the book begins, Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

There it is right there. What's the book about? It's about contending for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints, to the Church, contend against whom? Against false teachers who are going to be judged severely by God. And that's one of the reasons why Jude brings up angels and that kind of a thing. It's really in the context of the judgment of God that came upon the wicked, and so he uses them as an example similar to Peter in 2 Peter. So that's just a real brief summary of what's going on in the book of Jude, and I encourage you to dig in because it's so important for us to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Okay, this is an email question that came in from Brad. He says, during the recent protests about the election, there were many flags being waved by the protesters with Jesus' name on them, and at one point even a cross was raised outside the Capitol building. What do you think about the name of Jesus being invoked in these acts?

I'm 100% against it. Actually, it's really tragic. It's a sign of what we call syncretism, you know, the attempt to merge the true faith of God's people, the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints that we just read about there in Jude chapter 1, with something else. In this case, you know, our own maybe political preferences, and we have to be so careful that we don't do that because when we mix the true faith with anything, what we do is we corrupt it. I think back to that story in 1 Samuel chapter 4. The Israelites go to war with the Philistines, and you know what they did?

They thought, hey, here's how we're going to have the upper hand. We're going to take God with us into battle. And they marched into battle against the Philistines with the Ark of the Covenant.

And you know what happened? We're told in 1 Samuel chapter 4 that there was a great slaughter and the Ark was captured by the Philistines. It was the Israelites essentially trying to use God in this superstitious way as a way of advancing their own sort of political power in the world. But we have to be very careful that we don't try to use God in the same way, that we don't think that, hey, we can use Jesus or the cross or Christianity as a way of advancing my own sort of political agenda. That's not what the gospel is about. That's not what the cross is about. The cross is about the atonement that Jesus Christ provided for sinners. And I think it's an absolute shame when we try to use God and the Bible and the cross, the gospel essentially, to advance our own purposes and our own means in the world.

And so I'm really concerned about this kind of thing. Now this is not to say that we ought not to have opinions about politics and things that are happening around us, and ultimately seek to love our neighbors well, but we have to ask ourselves the question, am I trying to use God as a means to an end, as a means to maybe my own sort of political view or something like that, or am I ultimately pursuing the good of my neighbor, trying to love my neighbor? And when you looked at what took place the other day at the Capitol building, that was not about loving our neighbors. And so I'm happy to have seen several prominent Christians condemn that behavior because that's just not what Christianity is about, and that's not how the gospel advances in the world today. The gospel does not advance by us marching to the state capitol and breaking in and trying to establish a Christian order. The gospel advances through the humble proclamation of the message of salvation, and that's something each and every one of us plays a part in through the lives that we live and through the conversations that we have with our neighbors. You want to see God made great?

Go to the Word. Submit to His will. Share the love of Christ with the people around you, and let the Spirit of God do the work.

It's not something that we can force. It's something that God does by His grace and by His Spirit. And so it really confuses, I think, how it is that the Church grows and advances in the world today with this idea of it primarily happening through political power or our sort of influence in culture. That's not the primary way in which the Church grows. The Church grows by God's Word and Spirit. And as Christians, that's what we're committed to.

And again, that doesn't mean we don't love and serve our neighbors and pursue policies and things that are going to be for the good of our neighbor and for society. But we shouldn't try to use the cross as a means of accomplishing that in particular. The cross is for sinners and for their salvation.

Amen. We have time for one more question, Adriel. This one comes in from Thomas, and it actually deals with an early Church heresy. He says, Jesus Christ died on the cross. Would it be true and accurate to say that God died on the cross, or did only the human nature of Jesus die on the cross?

Really good question, and I'm glad that you asked it, because there's a lot of confusion about this. And the answer is, it is accurate to say that God died on the cross in His humanity. So we wouldn't want to say that the human nature of Jesus died on the cross, because what that does is it sort of gets us into this dispute that was had by the Church a long, long time ago.

It was called the Nestorian controversy. And essentially what people were doing was they were dividing the two natures of Christ, the divine nature and the human nature, in such a way that they suggested that there were two different persons in this sort of odd way, and that really confused things. And the Church said, no, there is one divine person, the eternal word of the Father.

You think of John 1, 1, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And that divine person, here's the beauty and the wonder of the incarnation, that divine person assumed humanity. John 1, 14, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and in that humanity suffered and died for our sake. So in that sense, we can say that God Himself suffered and died on the cross for us, in that He suffered and died in the humanity which He assumed.

Now, why is this so important? Why is this quote-unquote core Christianity? Well, because God Himself offered the infinite sacrifice, the infinite atonement to do away with all of our sins so that we can rest assured that we are forgiven, and He is the perfect representative of us, because He is a true human. You see this over and over again in places in the New Testament, like the book of Hebrews, we talked about it earlier, that He was made in all ways like we are, except sin.

And because Jesus is true man and true God, the divine person who assumed humanity for us, we rest in knowing that our salvation is secure because it was accomplished by God Himself. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.