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BE COMPATIBLE WITH CHRIST

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Louis Vuitton is a high-end French fashion and luxury goods company. It’s not particularly known for selling athletic equipment or exercise mats. Why pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for an exercise mat that will cost you less than $50 elsewhere. But recently Louis Vuitton announced one of its latest items – a yoga mat made of cowhide. The price? $2,390.

Now, many in the Western world know yoga purely as a posture-based physical fitness, stress relief, and relaxation technique. But it has its roots in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. In fact, from the first millennium BC, yoga has been practiced a spiritual discipline in Hinduism through which the human spirit unites with the divine.

However, Hindus throughout the world were horrified that a yoga mat, made from the skin from cows – which are sacred in Hinduism, should even exist. According to Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, Louis Vuitton’s marketing of their yoga mat is “hugely insensitive.”  To think “of yoga … being performed on a mat made from a killed cow is painful,” he explained. In Hinduism, the two – yoga and the slaughter of cows – are completely incompatible.

There are also some common practices of professing Christians that are completely incompatible with the ways of Jesus Christ. Sadly this is even true among Christian clergy. Think about it. In Ezekiel 34 God took issue with “the shepherds of Israel,” i.e. the spiritual guides of God’s people. Among God’s accusations against them included these:  instead of feeding the flock, they fleeced and devoured them. Instead of gathering up the strays, they allowed predators to scatter them. Instead of binding up their wounds and broken bones, they bullied and abused the God’s flock. These shepherds of Israel were only self-serving rogues who took care of no one but themselves.

If you read Matthew 23, you’ll find Jesus directing the very same accusations against the religious leaders of his day – the Pharisees and scribes. What’s interesting about Jesus’ eight woes against the Pharisees is that only one of them addresses false teachings (Matthew 23:16-22). All His other accusations have to do with their obstructing people from coming into the Kingdom, their failure to practice what they preach, and their heartlessness, self-exaltation, greed, and inner corruption.

Think of the preachers who spend their time doing nothing else but pointing out the flaws of other ministers and their ministries. No one, no matter how faithful and loving is safe from their condemnation. Aren’t they like the Pharisees Jesus condemned? Think of the preachers who spend all their time talking about material wealth while they literally “devour the income of widows.”  Think of all the preachers who belittle the faith of struggling Christians. Think of all the preachers who swagger about on stage in a prideful manner. Think of all the preachers who’ve been exposed as sexual predators or downright charlatans.

Like the Pharisees and the spiritual guides in Ezekiel’s day, these preachers have nothing in common with Jesus Christ. He described Himself as “gentle and humble of heart” (Matthew 11:29). Jesus was not a self-promoter. He didn’t bring attention to Himself (Matthew 12:15-21). Again and again in the Gospels we read how he was moved with compassion at the sight of humanity’s misery (Matthew 9:13, 36; 12:7; 14:14; 15:32; 20:24; Mark 1:41; 6:34; etc.).

Jesus defined His mission in these terms: “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He taught us to lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven, not on earth (Matthew 6:19-21). And though tempted in every way as we are, Jesus never committed sin (Hebrews 4:15). He was the spotless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19). Yet He was the most maligned man ever to walk the earth. And who were His critics? The religious leaders of His day – always hounding Him and His disciples about what they did or failed to do.

Fortunately, the vast majority of Christian ministers are genuine servants of Christ. Tragically, however, they are seldom the ones Christians celebrate. Christians are too enthralled with glitzy preachers who are pathologically power- and praise-hungry. The preachers we should be honoring are the ones you’ll never see on TV or in huge auditoriums. No, the real servants of Christ are too busy fighting in the trenches and on their knees for the work of the Lord. They’re the unsung heroes of the Kingdom of God. They’ll rarely make the cover of Christian periodicals. No publisher will print or market their books. They labor in the land of obscurity and do their work exclusively to please the Lord who called them, not be noticed and praised by people.

Something is definitely wrong with the values and desires of the Christian community. Why else are we so enamored with charismatic personalities and so scornful of those humble servants of Jesus? Why else do pathological and abusive preachers always seem to have a following? Let’s get our hearts and minds aligned with Jesus. Let’s make ourselves compatible with Christ.

 

PRAYER:  Dear Father in heaven, please encourage and inspire the hearts of all Your faithful pastors who sacrificially serve, yet will never enjoy one bit of recognition or praise. Please, dear Father, breathe Your Holy Spirit into their hearts, revive them, and comfort them from Your holy word. Help them, like Jesus their Master, to focus on the joys of heaven and the rewards that await them so that they may persevere and never quit. Heal their burdened and broken hearts, O God, and surround them with other faithful servants who’ll help them carry out the work of the Gospel. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

(Information from: https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/health-and-fitness/louis-vuitton-yoga-mat-cowhide-controversy#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAn%20opulent%20yoga%20mat%20made,the%20yoga%20mat%20from%20circulation; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga)


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