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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Truth
Matters Michael
Jackson died suddenly at the early age of fifty.
I bought his Thriller album when we lived in Richmond, Even
though much of the world views I
watched the memorial service on TV.
Andrae Crouch and his choir opened the service with his song
entitled "We Shall See the King".
That's King Jesus, not king Jackson. It's reported that
Crouch actually spoke and prayed with Jackson
twice in the last three months of his life. During
the service I saw the hands raised in praise, and the tears of adoration
for Jackson
by his fans. You had to have
been touched when Michael's young daughter Paris attempted to express
her love through a broken voice and tears of sorrow.
Prior
to the memorial Jermaine Jackson told Larry King that Michael Jackson
was a "gift from God," and
that he "gave his life for humanity."
I'm sorry Jermaine. I know you're grieving, but that's just not
true. We know who gave His
life for humanity, and it wasn't Michael Jackson.
From
my standpoint, those close to Michael Jackson are going out of their way
to protect his image. I
certainly nderstand their
reasoning. He's only been
gone a few days and there's tons of money to be made by keeping his name
good. We all want to protect
our loved ones once they've left us.
Maybe when the hype is over, the denials will end, but they
probably won't. There's too much at stake. All
the facts of Jackson's life and death may never be totally known.
I'm sure the investigative news media will uncover a lot of
things, but whatever the case, it sure appears there's some denial
taking place in order to protect the Jackson
image. These Jackson
denials remind me of a Biblical principle found in Galatians 2:11 to 20.
The Jackson
situation is not the same situation as seen in Galatians, but the idea
of denying the facts is the same. Verse
11 tells us that when "Peter came to Antioch, Paul opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the
wrong." Peter
was in the wrong because he was acting hypocritically by denying the
truth of the gospel. There
were many Gentile Christians in Antioch
when Peter visited their city. Peter
was a Jew and Jews would never think of eating with Gentiles.
Not so with Peter. He
ate with these Gentile Christian brothers until some Jewish brothers in
Christ came to visit Antioch. With their arrival Peter
withdrew himself from the Gentile Christians. He
was afraid of what his Jewish friends would think of him associating
with Gentiles, even if they were Christians.
Paul
could not stand to watch this denial of the truth of the gospel, so in
front of everyone he exposed
Peter's hypocrisy. This is
the Biblical principle. We
are to stand on the side of the truth, no matter what, even if it spoils
the image of a friend. Peter
understood the truth of the gospel.
He knew that when it comes to salvation, there is no difference
between Jew or Gentile, so eating with a Gentile brother in Christ isn't
a problem. Yet out of fear,
Peter denied the truth in order to maintain a good image.
On the other hand, Paul upheld the truth even though it meant
spoiling the image of Peter. While
Peter denied the truth because he feared men, Paul stood for the truth
because he feared God. If
I were to do something blatantly wrong, you should not protect me by
denying my actions. The facts of the truth comes before family and
friends. Jesus told us that
standing with Him could cause division, even among family members
(Matthew 10:34 ). In
these days when the truth of anything, including the truth of the
gospel, is being challenged for the sake of a good image, unity and a
positive confession, we should follow Paul's example.
We should stand on the side of truth, no matter the consequences.
Our loyalty is first to Jesus and the truth of His gospel, and
then to others. We
don't deny the truth to protect anyone's image, including our own.
We uphold the truth because truth matters. |