Is It Christian To Be Crafty and Cunning?

Is It Christian To Be Crafty and Cunning?

Thursday, March 27, 2014

11:29 AM

This Scripture caught my eye.  These are the words of the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians. 

2 Corinthians 12:16(NKJV)

16But be that as it may, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning! 

Not really sure what to make of it.  Is he saying that he tricked those people into  being Christians?  Is that really a valid way to bring people to Christ?

Let's take a look at the definitions of crafty and cunning.

craft·y

1. skillful in underhand or evil schemes; cunning; deceitful; sly.
2. Obsolete . skillful; ingenious; dexterous.

Now if we go with the second definition which is considered obsolete, this would make more sense.  Since the 2nd letter to the Corinthians was written a long time ago it could easily be that he was using what is now the obsolete meaning. 

cun·ning

1. skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guile.
2. adeptness in performance; dexterity: The weaver's hand lost its cunning.

One other thought I'll throw in here about craftiness is that Jesus was sometimes crafty in dealing with people as well.  There were times when those opposed to Jesus would ask Him questions to trick Him.  Instead of playing their games,  Jesus replied with a question of His own.  That was pretty crafty.

So all in all I would have to say that it is at time perfectly OK to be crafty.  Jesus set the example for us to follow.

Redistribution of Wealth-Is It Christian?

The Pope said something today that I really disagree with.

"Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today.

Pasted from <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_UN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-09-06-31-28>
 

That sounds more socialist than Christian to me.  What is the difference?  Well first off, the way I read Scripture it calls on us as individuals to care for the poor.  What does that mean? 

I'll tell you what it doesn't mean.  It doesn't mean the government taking something from one person and giving it to anther.  That is not generosity.  That is simply social engineering.   
 

Nowhere in the Bible does it tells us that we need to turn the poor into middle class citizens.  The Bible tells us to feed the poor and it also gives examples to follow. 

Leviticus 19:10  ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.   10And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

Notice it didn't say harvest all the food and just give it to them.  It said leave enough food that the poor can go out and scrounge enough leftovers to feed themselves.  It doesn't say bring them a 7 course meal.  They still have an obligation to fend for themselves from the standpoint of getting the food. 

Leviticus 19:15  ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

The Bible also tells us that the poor don't deserve special treatment just because they are poor.  As I've said before, a lot of people are poor because they haven't been following God's word to begin with! 
 

Are the poor thirsting after knowledge like Proverbs instructs us?  Are they running the race to win as the Apostle Paul instructs us, or are they doing just the minimum to get by?  Are they putting God first and giving to God as Malachi instructs, or are they off doing their own thing and totally ignoring God?  If you truly follow God's plan, it's really pretty hard to be poor.

I'm not even saying that they need to accept Christ to benefit from God's plan, although I would highly encourage it.  Even if they don't believe in God, if they would simply read and put into practice all that they find in Proverbs it would be almost impossible to be poor!

Examine Yourselves….Build Your "I Believe" List!

 

2 Corinthians 13:5-6(NKJV)

5Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves.  Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 

6But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

In case you haven't noticed, there is a lot of false Christianity going around.  That's why I think it is good to pay attention to this Scripture.  Every now and then, examine yourself to make sure no false doctrine has snuck into your belief system.

One of the ideas that God has given me to do this is to start am "I believe" list.

Write down the things you believe.  Then go find Scripture to back it up.  In other words, make sure your beliefs are aligned with Scripture. 

Let me give you an example.

I believe that we all get "equal" salvation but that our rewards in Heaven are based on our service to God.  In other words, our salvation is free, everyone who wants it can have it, all they have to do is accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Ephesians 2:8-9(NKJV)

8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

9not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

Our rewards in Heaven however will be different based on the service that we have provided to God. 

Psalms 18:20(NKJV)

20    The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;      According to the cleanness of my hands     He has recompensed me.

Psalms 18:24(NKJV)

24    Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,     According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

1 Corinthians 3:8(NKJV)

8Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

Revelation 22:12-13(NKJV)

12“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 

13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the £Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

Have some fun with this folks.  Examine yourselves and build your own "I believe" list.  I'm sure you'll be blessed by doing it!

God's Justice!

 

Psalms 37:28(NKJV)

28    For the Lord loves justice,     And does not forsake His saints;     They are preserved forever,     But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

Justice.  What does the word mean?

jus·tice

1. the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause.
2. rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim or title; justness of ground or reason: to complain with justice.
3. the moral principle determining just conduct.
4. conformity to this principle, as manifested in conduct; just conduct, dealing, or treatment.

5. the administering of deserved punishment or reward.

It seems to me that many people have perverted the meaning of justice in regards to the poor.  They seem to think that the mere act of being poor is somehow credited as righteousness to the poor. 

As an example, in the US today people seem to think it is morally acceptable to take money from the wealthy and give it to the poor just because they are poor without regard to what extent their own actions and disobedience to God contributes to their being poor.   That is not justice.

There are many Scriptures in the Bible that talks about God not showing favoritism to anyone, rich or poor.  Here is just one example.

Exodus 30:14-15(NKJV)

14Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord. 

15The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves. 

To require the rich to give more just because they can is not justice. 

….vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind….

Found this warning interesting.  Especially that fact that God felt it appropriate to warn us twice in the same chapter. 

If you are on FB any amount of time I'm sure you have seen people post stuff that sounds "vaguely Christian" while at the same time not seeming quite correct from the Bible you remember.  I believe these verses are a warning about listening to people like that.

God holds us accountable to study and know His word.  If we allow ourselves to be led astray by people like that, God says it is our fault.  Be on your guard!

Colossians 2:8(NKJV)

8Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 

Colossians 2:18-19(NKJV)

18Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has £not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 

19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

Science in the Bible

Way before we had scientific studies we had the Bible.    Here is a great example.  We hear all the time about how bad stress is for you.  Where does stress come from?  From worrying.  What is another name for worrying?  Fretting.

Psalms 37:8(NKJV)

8    Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;     Do not fret—it only causes harm.

Pretty cool!  Don't fret.  Don't worry.  Don't fear.  They all cause harm and more importantly they all demonstrate a lack of faith to God.

Who Inherits the Earth? Not Just the Meek!

I found this kind of interesting.   One of the common Scriptures we hear quoted, especially by the Kumbaya Jesus crowd, is that the meek shall inherit the earth.   And they seem to equate meek with wimpy.  I had never really noticed before but Scripture tells us that more than just the meek shall inherit the earth.  Before we look at that though, let's take a look at the definition of meek and see if it means what they think it means.

meek

1. humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others.

2. overly submissive or compliant; spiritless; tame.

3. Obsolete . gentle; kind.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meek>

Now I'm not sure exactly which definition the Bible is referring to put I'm pretty sure it isn't definition 2.  I don't believe God calls us to be spiritless.  I think humbly patient is the best fit in my book. 

Now let's look at the Scriptures.

Psalms 25:12-13(NKJV)

12    Who is the man that fears the Lord?      Him shall £He teach in the way £He chooses.

13    He himself shall dwell in prosperity,     And his descendants shall inherit the earth.

Here it tells us that the descendants of a man that fears the Lord shall inherit the earth.

Psalms 37:9(NKJV)

9    For evildoers shall be cut off;      But those who wait on the Lord,     They shall inherit the earth.

Those who wait on the Lord shall inherit the earth.  Well if we use the humbly patient definition of meek that would fit.  Humbly patient sounds like waiting to me.

Psalms 37:11(NKJV)

11    But the meek shall inherit the earth,     And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

This is the one we are all familiar with.

Psalms 37:22(NKJV)

22    For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,     But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.

Those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth.  Doesn't say anything about being meek does it?  There were many warriors throughout the Bible, King David comes to mind, who were blessed by God.  There was nothing meek about David if you equate meek with wimpy.  Even King David was meek however if you use the definition of humbly patient.  He was blessed by God and based on this Scripture it tells us that King David too, shall inherit the earth. 

Also note what it says about those cursed by God.  They shall be cut off.  Who does God curse?  His enemies.  Those who have rejected His son Jesus.

Matthew 5:5(NKJV)

5    Blessed are the meek,      For they shall inherit the earth.

And here we have it affirmed in the NT.

Gives it a bit of a different understanding doesn't it? 

Humbly patient, I like that!