The Wrong Cross. Jesus is not your tormentor.

In a dream I saw a Christian hanging on a cross. 

I don’t remember any more detail except that the Christian had been experiencing disappointing results in his efforts to serve God.
What was the reason for this lack of success. 

The words in my dream were as clear as the sun in the sky. 

“The wrong cross!”

The Christian was nailed to a cross but it was not by God’s appointment. What could that mean?

In the dream I saw nothing more specific and God did not speak to me directly about it but as I pondered the message, many real life stories came to mind.

Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul both taught that celibacy is a calling and a gift of God given only to some people. Paul was celibate but most of the Apostles, including Peter, were married.

Yet there are some churches that require all full time spiritual workers to be celibate. We read of sex scandals in the media on a regular basis. 

Clearly celibacy is for many people “The Wrong Cross.”

Many Christian women see their husband criminally assaulting their own children or corrupting them with pornography or incest. 

When such women protest, they are often not believed by church leaders or else they are told it is their own fault for not being a sexually satisfying wife. They are often told that it is a sin to leave their husband and that: “God hates divorce,” under any circumstances. 

If these women submit to this torture, they are on “The Wrong Cross.”

There are women who are taught that contraception is a sin and they must produce as many babies as they can.

They are on “The Wrong Cross.”

There are women who are taught that they must always, always, always obey their husbands. 

They are not free to serve God as disciples who receive their calling and direction straight from God. They are on “The Wrong Cross.”


There are women who are taught that they must not preach or teach or they must not preach or teach to men. Many are called and gifted by God to do what their leaders or husbands forbid. 

Many of these women are on “The Wrong Cross.”

Many Christians are taught that submission to the leaders of their church is their first duty. To leave or join another church is sin. 

They must sacrifice their dreams for their own life and ministry to serve the vision of the Senior Pastor. This can lead to a life of passive religiosity. They are not allowed to think for themselves or express any opinions other than those of their leaders.

These people are on “The Wrong Cross.”

Catholic Priests are called Father but many non Catholics are taught to be like obedient children under the control of a preacher.

I once heard a preacher teach that we must never challenge our pastor over anything because a pastor is accountable only to God and not to any man or woman.

What did Jesus say?

But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 

Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 

And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. Mt 23:8-10 (NKJV) 

There are Christians who are taught that God uses sickness to purify us through suffering. Many people suffer sickness, believing they are glorifying God.

They are on “The Wrong Cross.”

There is only one cross which deals with sickness, the cross of Jesus Christ.

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 

that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses." Mt 8:16-17 (NKJV) 

When I read the Gospels, I see Jesus is the Healer, not the tormentor.

There are Christians who have been abused or mistreated for years. They develop a victim mentality, obsessed with injustice and their own suffering. Jesus lived, died and rose again to set you free.

Don’t stay on “The Wrong Cross.”

Don't Give Up. Hope Again.

Abraham and Sarah were way past their used by date but God had promised them a son.

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Romans 4:19 (NIV) 

 

But Abraham refused to let go of God’s promise.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Romans 4:18 

If you have a promise from God and you get tired of waiting, you need to build up your hope muscles.

Human hope is often just wishing. Wishing so often leads to frustration and broken dreams but the hope that God gives has power to change your life.

When your hope is in God, you expect God to act. God can do it. If you belong to Jesus, you have an eternal hope. 

This life is a preparation for heaven. Death is nothing to fear. 

But this life is not just waiting to go to heaven. You have a purpose and a calling from God. God put you here on earth for a reason. 

God has a plan for your life but to fulfil God’s plan on earth, you need Faith and Love but you also need to Hope. God’s plans take time.

Noah was called to build a great ship with the help of a small family. He took many years but he finished it. 

God called Moses to take 2 million slaves out of Egypt and to lead them to the Promised Land.

David was a shepherd, poet, musician, soldier and then king.
Esther was a Jewish orphan who became the Queen of Persia and saved the Jews.  

Different people, different plans. Possibly you are not called to be a ship builder, a national leader or a soldier.

Often God calls unusual people to do unusual things in very unconventional ways.

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad. He too saved Israel. Judges 3:31 

David was called to be a soldier but he won his first battle by hurling a stone at Goliath.

I knew an unusual woman who said she was called to be an evangelist. Everyone knows an evangelist preaches on a platform with a microphone, so some people didn’t take her seriously. Then she left our city and travelled around the country, making connections to other unusual people and telling them about Jesus. 

I once read a book about this. “God made you as an original. Don’t die as a copy.”

God only made one Billy Graham but He also made you as one of a kind, a limited edition of one.

What is your calling?

Do you want to see with the eyes of God?

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 8:12 (NKJV)

• If we have the light of life, we can see clearly.
• If we know our bible but are not changed by the love of God, our knowledge is worthless.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8 (NIV)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

• If this love does not dominate our thinking, we are living in darkness.

Very few people are really blind. Most of us can see with our eyes but what do we see in our hearts? How do we understand what we see?

Three men looked at a prostitute.

• One man looked and desired her. He was looking for sexual excitement.
• A second man looked and saw a bad woman. She was evil and she was under God’s judgement.
• A third man looked and saw a woman who had suffered much. 

He thought of his own little daughter, his wife and his mother. He looked at the prostitute and wondered what suffering and confusion led her into this life. No little girl dreams of a future in prostitution. He saw a woman in need of real love and the mercy of God.

• Jesus of Nazareth thought like the third man and Jesus is the same today. 

• Sadly there are some Christians who think like the second man.

In the same chapter of John’s Gospel we read how religious men brought a woman to Jesus. 

They had caught her in the act of committing adultery. What kind of man would stalk a woman to catch her in the act? But these men thought God would approve of their zeal for morality.They challenged Jesus and demanded the death penalty for the woman.

Jesus was not happy. He loved justice but where was the man she had sinned with? 

• Why should he condemn the poor woman to death while the man went free and the accusers were rewarded for their cruelty and pride?
• Jesus was not only full of love but also full of wisdom. He had the perfect answer.

So when they continued asking Him, He … said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." John 8:7 (NKJV)

The accusers all retreated in shame.

• If we live in the love of Jesus and let God lead and teach us, we can also think and react like Jesus.

John Dawson was the leader of Youth With a Mission in Los Angeles. 

Like Jesus he did not despise anyone but his heart was set on introducing everyone to the love and mercy of God.

He wanted to reach a man who owned a sex shop, so he made friends with him and met him for breakfast every Wednesday morning. 

• When Jesus did things like this, the religious people in Israel called Jesus a friend of sinners, and it was not meant as a compliment.

John Dawson explained the Good News of Salvation to the man and he understood the message completely but he was still not willing to put his life into the hands of Jesus. 

• Then John had an inspiration from God. He saw the man with the eyes of Jesus and he told the man how God saw him.

This man had the gift of mercy but he was not using it right. He was selling pornography, a kind of comfort but a false comfort. 

Jesus was offering to change him, so he could give true mercy and goodness to people in need. First he needed to receive mercy and forgiveness for himself.

The man changed his mind and asked Jesus to turn his life around.

• Are you ready to see people as God sees them?

• Are you ready to see even yourself through God’s loving eyes?

• God knows about your failures but he sees your potential.

• With Jesus we can even look at bad people with the eyes of love.

Are All God's Instructions for Ever?

The Bible does not explicitly say we should oppose slavery. In fact, several Bible texts command slaves to obey their owners.

The leader of the campaign to abolish slavery in the British Empire was William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian. A prominent pioneer in the anti slavery movement in the USA was Charles Finney, the Billy Graham of his day. However, the slave owners righteously stood on the Word of God and accused the abolitionists of rebelling against Holy Scripture which they fervently quoted.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Ephesians 6:5 (NIV)

If you study the spiritual principles of the Bible, it should become apparent that God intensely dislikes slavery.

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV)

When the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, God heard their cries and sent Moses to deliver them. 
In the New Testament, Paul said slave traders would not be accepted in heaven.

…fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching. 1 Timothy 1:10 (NRSV)

Why then, did Paul tell Christians to treat their slaves kindly but not necessarily to give them freedom?

The New Testament is God’s manifesto for the restoration of God’s glory but also human freedom, equality and dignity.

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 (NRSV)

So does Paul not order all slaves to go free immediately? In the Old Testament and the New Testament God makes rules to make a bad society more equitable and humane but He does not step in personally and take over everything. That will happen in the future when Jesus returns to Jerusalem and rules the nations with a rod of iron.

In the Old Testament there are rules which are not nice at all.

No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD. Deuteronomy 23:1 (NRSV)

Surely God Himself is authorising cruel discrimination against victims of abuse. However, God’s purpose was to prevent this abuse happening in the first place. In the pagan nations surrounding Israel, people would castrate boys, because eunuchs could be promoted to prominent positions as pagan priests or government officials.

God’s laws were made to regulate a bad world to make it less bad but they often do not reflect the ideal will of God.

When the Jews were invaded and taken into captivity in Babylon, the ablest noble born Jews were enlisted to become government officials in the Babylonian Empire, however this involved compulsory castration. It is probable that the great prophet Daniel was a eunuch but he was blessed and honoured by God.

Isaiah 39:5-7 (NRSV) 
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 
6 Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 
7 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

When God says: “Love one another” he is giving instructions now and for ever.
When God says castrated males may not attend worship, he is giving a temporary injunction to prevent abuse.
When God says: “Slaves obey your masters,” he was not permanently endorsing slavery.

When Paul says,
“And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.” 
1 Timothy 2:12 (NKJV)

…why should we assume this must be a command expressing God’s permanent judgement and eternal will?

Charles Finney was the first evangelical leader in America to campaign against slavery and also to promote women as full partners in preaching, ministry and Christian leadership. 
God’s agenda of restoring men and women it still a work in progress.

Are Men and Women Equal?

In the Old Testament all the priests were men. There were only kings in Israel. 

When Abraham looked for a wife for his son, Rebecca had to leave her home and her family and come under the authority of Abraham and her husband Isaac.

Ancient Greek men believed women were a curse. A married woman was the personal property of her husband.

A Canadian woman married an Arab man. When she tried to leave her husband, she was not allowed to leave Saudi Arabia because according to their law, she was the personal property  of her husband. 

In Bible days, women were often little better than slaves. A Roman man was the owner of his family and he could divorce his woman and kill his children or slaves.

In the Roman Empire female babies were often simply allowed to die. 

A father would order his wife to abandon her newborn daughter on a hillside. The abandoned babies either died of hunger or cold or they were harvested by pimps and raised to be prostitutes. That was normal for those days and a wife dared not disobey her husband.

In the New Testament Jesus only chose men as his apostles.

How should we understand all this? Is it the will of God that men should always have authority over women?

In Bible times it was mostly so, as it still is in some parts of the world.
The Law of Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife if he just gave her a written letter of divorce. It was unthinkable for a woman to divorce her husband.

When Jesus spoke against easy divorce for men, the Pharisees appealed to the authority of Moses and the Scriptures.They asked Jesus why Moses allowed a man to legally divorce his wife.

For the religious Jews, the Law of Moses was the perfect expression of the Will of God.

Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. Matthew 19:8 (NIV) 

For Jesus, the Law of Moses was holy and true. It was given to Moses by God. But there was a higher law, the perfect plan of God at creation, before Adam and Eve fell into sin.

"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 

and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? Matthew 19:4-5 (NIV) 

We are so familiar with these words, that we don’t realise how radical they are.

In Bible days a man married couple would live with their extended family, almost always the husband’s parents, as it still is the case in traditional societies in India, Africa and many other places. 

But Adam, whose only parent was God, prophesied the perfect will of God, that a man would leave his family and be united to his wife. Unheard of! This is not traditional patriarchy at all! 

After the Fall of Adam and Eve, God planned to restore humanity to His original design. This was to take place step by step and we have still not reached the end of the story. 

• The call of Abraham was one step. 
• The shaping of the chosen Hebrew people was another and giving of the Law was yet another but the Law of Moses was only one stage in God’s plan, not the blueprint for the final consummation.

What was God’s original design before sin came into the picture?

Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV) 26  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 

27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 

God gave the man and woman authority to rule over the earth. He gave the man no authority over the woman and the woman no authority over the man.

God’s guiding principle from the very beginning was partnership.

Spiritual Authority also for Women 1

God called Abram to leave his country and go to the promised land. He would be the father of many nations.
Abram believed God and he became the father or pioneer of our faith. When he obeyed God and left his country, his wife went with him.

Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters as long as you do what is good and never let fears alarm you. 1 Peter 3:6 (NRSV) 

Many people read Bible texts like these and assume that God ordained from the beginning that men should rule over women. They go even further and teach that no woman may lead a church or ministry and that spiritual authority is by its very nature something that always belongs to men and not women.

But in the beginning it was not so.

To see the original principle in the mind of God, we need to go back to God’s creation before the fall of Adam and Eve. 

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

• God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." Genesis 1:27-28 (NRSV) 

The only dominion or authority indicated by God is to rule over the earth, not for one to rule over the other.

When did the rule of man over woman originate?

To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." Genesis 3:16 (NRSV) 

Does this mean God ordained that man should rule over his wife? 

Some think so but others see this as a sad prediction by God of the way sinful human nature would operate.

When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the penalty and the price of sin, so that God could begin a great work of restoration, to restore human beings and all creation to conform with God’s original purpose.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray:

Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 (NRSV) 

How does see men and women from a heavenly perspective?

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 (NRSV) 

This expresses God’s eternal perspective but in the New Testament there are still concessions to a fallen world.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ ....Ephesians 6:5 (NRSV) 

Texts like these were used for centuries by Christians to justify slavery but it was Christians in the 19th Century who led the fight to abolish slavery.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many Christians also supported the political campaign to recognise women’s rights, to own property, to have custody of children, to vote in elections and be a party to business contracts.

The question is then, should we recognise spiritual authority as belonging to women as well as men? 

We have to ask the question: What is spiritual authority?

Firstly, all authority belongs to God and comes from God. 

He created man and woman in his own image, to be like himself. Male and female humans both reflect the nature of God in different ways but one is not more like God than the other.

The first aspect of spiritual authority is to create life. 

God created plants, animals and then humans and He authorised man and woman to be fruitful and multiply. This is only possible through intimate partnership between man and woman.

This suggests that the essence of spiritual authority is in partnership and agreement rather than chain of command.

Jesus said to his disciples:

I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. John 15:15 (NRSV) 

In Genesis 1, God created man and woman to rule together, partners in government of the planet. God has not changed his mind.

Should Women be Teachers or Lead Churches?

There are Christians who are happy to allow women to speak in church, to pray or even to prophesy and preach. Why not?

'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, 

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17 (NRSV) 

On the other hand, there are many who will not go so far as to allow women to become pastors, elders or to have a teaching office. Why is this? 

Of course tradition is a big factor but there is also confusion over a very strong instruction by Paul in his first letter to Timothy.

Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. 1 Timothy 2:11-12 (NRSV) 

Most women were not educated and if they were Gentiles, they had little or no knowledge of Scripture, so they must learn in silence and submission before they could be qualified to participate in the use of spiritual gifts. 

The key point to note here is that this is the only verse in the New Testament which forbids women from teaching or leading. 

When a directive occurs only once in the whole Bible, we must ask why it was considered relevant in that particular situation. Any universal commandment of God is always repeated in different contexts.

Many times in the Bible God gave a command to someone only once but few of us would think that this command would apply to everyone for all time.

• Jesus told a rich young ruler to give away all his possessions. Many other people have done this and many have been blessed for it but it is not a universal law.
• When God told a prophet to marry a prostitute, should we think this would apply to others? Of course not.
• When Moses told the Hebrews to give him their gold and jewellery to build the tabernacle, many Christians think this is a universal law against women wearing gold or diamonds. What nonsense!
• God told Moses to strike a rock to get water but no one today hits rocks to get water.

Why did Paul tell Timothy to restrict the teaching activities of at least some women?

Timothy was the Apostolic overseer in the important city of Ephesus. Ephesus was an unusual city dominated by a matriarchal cult centred around the worship a fertility goddess, known in Greek as Artemis and in Latin as Diana.
I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. 1 Timothy 2:11-12 (NRSV) 

The Greek expression translated here is AUTHENTEIN ANDROS.
 
The English translation is “have authority over a man”. 
However, the translation “have authority” is doubtful. The same word is used in many Greek texts to mean “usurp authority”.

The goddess of Ephesus dominated the culture and no doubt encouraged a spirit of domineering matriarchy. 

Before his conversion Paul had been a domineering control freak. It is not hard to find texts in Paul’s writings indicating his abhorrence of bossy control and bullying by anyone in the church.

The culture in most of the Roman Empire at that time and in later centuries was the opposite of matriarchal domination. Males were assumed to be superior and were expected to rule over women. 

The church fathers in the second and following centuries wrongly interpreted this verse in the light of their own cultural bias and this bias persists in church tradition to this day.

What Paul really meant to say was that he would not allow dominant matriarchal women to control or dominate males because of the influence of their pagan past.

From this one verse in one of Paul’s letters, it would be quite unreasonable to conclude that women should never teach men or be promoted to Christian leadership.

If there are any other texts which seem to prevent women from exercising leadership or occupying a teaching office, please feel free to respectfully point these out, so we can discuss this matter in a civilised way.