Tag Archives: Discrimination

Serving the Lie

August 20, 2024 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 (NIV)

On the way home from the lake on Saturday, Wendy and I listened to a podcast interview with a Palestinian man from a small village in the West Bank who is living in fear for his life. He has been largely disowned by his own people, and many want him dead because he dared to send six tweets on October 7th questioning the unspeakable violence and terror that had been unleashed by Hamas. His first tweet simply stated, “What sad and horrible news to wake up to and out of words and unable to digest what’s going on right now. I’m Palestinian and firmly stand against this terror. I pray for the safety of my friends, colleagues, their loved ones, and everyone else affected.”

I found his entire story amazing, and it’s worth a listen no matter where you stand politically on the spectrum. As I listened, I thought to myself that he represents the kind of courage displayed in the iconic photo of the man in Tiananmen Square standing alone in front of a tank. The courage to risk everything to stand against what is evil.

When asked about October 7, he said, “Hamas’s ultimate goal was to incite hatred, create division, and make peace seem impossible.” I couldn’t help but think that this is an apt description of the Evil One’s playbook since he slithered his way through the Garden of Eden.

Today’s chapter is fascinating as Paul tells his Thessalonian disciples that Jesus will not return until “The Man of Lawlessness” is revealed. The fascinating part is that this is the only place in the Great Story where this “Man of Lawlessness” is mentioned, at least by that name. Those who go down the rabbit hole of end times prophesy have all sorts of theories. Have at it.

I don’t have a stake in identifying who this prophetic character is, but I think it’s important to think about what he represents. Like the Evil One, the Man of Lawlessness stands in opposition to God and anything God promotes:

God is love, he sows hatred.
God is life, he sows death.
God is peace, he sows chaos.
God is truth, he “serves the lie.”

As I listened to this humble man’s story, it became clear to me that he is on an incredible spiritual journey. What he knows for sure is that he can no longer stay silent about the hatred, violence, death, and chaos that he’s being told he should embrace and celebrate. Despite a life of incredible struggle in which he has repeatedly experienced discrimination, hatred, and rejection, he chooses to remain hopeful and pursue a personal path of love and peace with others.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the current state of our world. There are so many people calling for violence, protests, riots, and chaos. Hatred is not only justified but celebrated and encouraged. Discrimination is deemed acceptable and even encouraged. I personally can’t help but believe that it is the same spirit as the Man of Lawlessness. It all serves the lie.

At the time of Jesus’ ministry, the popular belief among His people was that the Messiah would come and lead an army in a war against Rome. Even after three years following Jesus, His own inner circle of disciples was having trouble letting go of this popular belief that had been drilled into them since they were born. They still couldn’t see that Jesus was establishing a very different kind of Kingdom on earth. His Kingdom is not about using power, violence, and conquest to subject others to His will. Rather it’s about individuals surrendering themselves and using love, kindness, and gracious generosity to make a difference in another life, one person at a time.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

“Every Nation, Tribe, People, & Language”

June 23, 2022 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
Revelation 7:9 (NIV)

In yesterday’s chapter, the first six seals of a scroll were opened by Jesus. Today’s chapter is an intermission before the seventh seal is opened. John describes two different things revealed to him. In the first, the four winds are held back from the earth by four angels, while a fifth angel places a “seal” on the foreheads of 144,000 “servants of God,” 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

The four winds was a metaphor of God’s wrath and judgment on the earth. The prophet Jeremiah used the same metaphor (Jer 49:36). A “seal” was used in ancient times to both protect documents from being opened and to mark who sent them. Metaphorically, this seems to indicate that these 144,000 “sealed” servants of God will be protected during the impending tribulation being held back by the four angels.

In the second part of the vision, John sees a multitude of individuals from every “nation, tribe, people, and language” who were wearing white robes. John is told that they had come “out of the tribulation.” This connects with the martyrs in yesterday’s chapter (Rev 6:9-11) who were given white robes and told to wait for the others who would join them. John is then told that they will serve the Lamb in his temple and be protected, provided for, cared for, and comforted.

There are a couple of things that stand out to me as I ponder these visions in the quiet this morning. The first is the reality that Jesus was very clear with His followers that following Him may very well be an earthly death sentence. The resurrected Christ told Peter that it would be true for him. Tradition says that this was true for 11 of The Twelve disciples (John is believed to be the only one who may have died of old age). It has been true for multitudes of followers throughout history. It’s still true for followers of Jesus today in places like Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, and China. This is both a sobering thought, and it stands in direct opposition to the “name it and claim it” televangelists or those who believe that following Jesus is the way to safety and prosperity on this earth.

The other things that stands out to me is that this is the second time in John’s vision that he describes people of “every nation, tribe, people, and language.” The greek word used for “temple” in today’s chapter specifically denotes the temple structure where God’s presence dwelt. Throughout the history of the Temple in Jerusalem, only Hebrew men could enter. People of other “nations, tribes, peoples, and languages” (along with females) were not allowed. Also, Paul was very clear that after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection a “Jew” was not someone with Hebrew DNA, but whose heart was surrendered to Christ (Rom 2:28-29). This raises the question as to whether the 144,000 “sealed servants” mentioned in today’s chapter are DNA Jews or Spirit Jews.

One again, I’m left admitting that I know that I don’t know the answers to some of these questions. There are couple of things, however, that I do know. I know that being a follower of Jesus is a path of surrender on this earth, and that very well means that it sometimes leads to suffering. I also know that heaven is a place for people of every nation, tribe, people, and language. Therefore, any thing on this earth that stirs up division, separation, and discrimination against a person or group based on nation, tribe, people, and language is incongruent with Jesus’ teaching.

Therefore, as a follower of Jesus, I enter this day endeavoring to surrender, to serve, and to love indiscriminately.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Good Samaritan Redux

October 9, 2014 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 1 Kings 9:21-22 (NIV)

I find it fascinating that throughout history almost every tribe, nation, and people on this earth have practiced some form of racial or tribal differentiation, dominance, and inequity. The systemic system of conscripted slavery described during Solomon’s reign is not unlike what the Israelites themselves experienced in Egypt, and what they would someday experience again with the occupations of Assyria and Babylon. What goes around comes around.

I sometimes hear people speak as if the world is getting better all the time, and that humanity is moving towards peace, harmony, and universal political correctness. Then I watch the evening news. Beheadings, genocide, mass graves, tribal conflict, racial discrimination, and religious intolerance are commonplace. We are all guilty.

Next to the major problems of the world that get pushed to the home screen of my phone on a constant basis, I sometimes feel small and insignificant living in my little Iowa hometown. I hear Humphrey Bogart’s voice in my head from Casablanca as Rick says to Laszlow: “The problems of the world are not in my department.”

And yet, they are in my department. I affect the people and world around me in my sphere of influence. I can recognize and fight the prejudices in my own thoughts, words, relationships, and actions. Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan was about the reality that the “neighbor” in His command to “love your neighbor as yourself” was not just your homogenous tribal group but also the person who is your tribal, racial, social and political enemy. The Jews and Samaritans hated each other the same way the Jews and Palestinians hate each other today. THAT was the whole point of the story.

This morning I wake up far from home amidst a culture very different from my own. I can choose to hold these people, who are very different from me, at arm’s length. Or, I can fight my natural inclinations and choose to understand them, listen to them, feel for them, and love them as I love the quirky white people of my Dutch American heritage back home.