Unpacking Luke 12:51

Hey Men,
Good stuff on Monday night. I was stoked to see you all there and blessed by your words. I was just thinkging about Luke 12:51 today (the verse we prayed over and sought to understand). Not that this is a biblical explanation of what that verse means - as I think we did a really good job letting the Spirit lead us in understanding it, but there are some heavy implications as to the topic of division for us as men in today's world.

In light of walking like Jesus, here's my thoughts:

Division is so clearly an effect of sin and a central reason for the need of Jesus. We're cut off from God in our sin. That's why Jesus had to die. So isn't it natural that when the opportunity arises to choose Jesus or the way of the world, there's going to be division?

In that, we need to stand firm of the foundation of Jesus and take a stand. As men, we're called to lead. And how can we lead if we're going to compromise the truths of our Lord? Simple, we can't. We can't be effective - in our jobs, our relationships, our ministries - if we're just going to "take our hand off the plow" and foresake Jesus because it causes division.

Who's side do you want to be on when it all ends? If your answer is Jesus, then act like it, seriously. This isn't a game where we will all just laugh and hang out together when it's done. People are going to die! Should we go with what the world says and just "co-exist" and accept everyone? Could you seriously do that knowing what's going to come on the day of judgement, where billions of people are going to be thrown into the lake of fire, for eternity?

So don't let the words of men deter us from worshiping our God in "spirit and truth" (John 4:23). Don't be scared just because of division.

I plead with all of you guys, please, don't give in to the world's idea of "peace". It's such a false gospel from the pit of hell. Here, check this out. The world says "co-exist" and "accept people" and be "tollerant", right? Right. The world says that if you're at all a loving person, you will also be tollerant and accepting of people's choices, whether it be political, sexual, moral, etc. (notice that Satan has totally twisted the concept of love and made is synonymous with tollerance and acceptance) And this is all good, unless you disagree. Then you're a biggot and a homophobe and a chauvinist. Do you see the irony here?

Being racist is one thing, being unwavering in our convictions in Jesus is totally different - and should not be confused.

In today's world, division is seen as unpatriotic, unclassy, ungentlemanly, unfriendly, intollerant, and sometimes, even un-Christ-like. This is false. This is a lie straight from the father of lies that the world has swallowed hook, line and sinker.

Jesus never shied away from conflict, not because he was a jerk or didn't care about people's feelings, but because He had the deepest intimacy with the Father which lead to the clearest vision of the Father's will. This lead Him to be uncompromising in his motives, actions and words.

We as men should strive to seek the Father the way Jesus did, so that our hearts could be set on doing His will for His glory and the furtherment of His kingdom "on Earth as it is in Heaven".

Just like Jesus, this doesn't mean that we are mean-spirited, hard-hearted, or cruel in our speech towards others when division exists. Actually, we would become more compassionate (suffering with) towards those who don't know Jesus because our heart is broken for the lack of understanding that God sees every day.

Jesus doesn't cause division, people doing there own thing and disagreeing with God do. Let's live like Jesus. Let's love and be bold and speak truth. No fears. "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Love,
Kyle