Never Trample the Cross. No Matter the Cost.

“They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place.”
– Acts 21:13

During China’s Boxer Rebellion of 1899 and 1900, Chinese insurgents killed hundreds of Christians in their efforts to drive Christianity out of China. I have heard the following story about one of the many massacres that took place. The story may be embellished, but it’s based on historical fact. Insurgents captured a mission station that housed around a hundred Christians. They locked all the gates but one, and in front of that one open gate, they placed a cross flat on the ground. The people inside were told that any who trampled the cross underfoot would be permitted their freedom and life. Anyone refusing would be shot.

Terribly frightened, seven students trampled the cross under their feet and were allowed to go free. But the eighth student, a young girl, refused to trample the cross. She knelt beside the cross in prayer for strength. Then she stood up and shuffled carefully around it, and went out to face the firing squad. Strengthened by her example, every one of the remaining students followed her to the firing squad.

What would you have done if you’d been inside the mission that day? I’ll tell you what the Apostle Paul would have done: He would have prayed, walked around the cross and boldly shared the Good News of Jesus Christ until they put a bullet in his head. Regardless of what persecution came his way, Paul refused to stop telling people about His Lord who saved him. He didn’t steer clear of persecution. He faced it head-on. It was true when he was out on the mission field. And it was equally true when he stood before his fellow Jews in Jerusalem.

After finishing his third missionary journey, Paul and his missionary companions arrived in Jerusalem to celebrate the Day of Pentecost. They were received warmly by the Christian leaders in the Jerusalem church. But after several days, some of Paul’s critics from the province of Asia showed up and made a slew of false accusations against him.

A mob formed, dragged Paul out of the temple and tried to beat him to death. Immediately a military commander arrived with at least 100 soldiers, and the rioters stopped beating Paul long enough for the soldiers to arrest and chain him. Then, as the soldiers carried Paul up the steps leading to the barracks, Paul made a strange request to the Commander. Most prisoners in Paul’s sandals would have yelled, “Get me out of here!” But instead he asked, “Please let me speak to the people” (Acts 21:39).

Wow! Paul REALLY loved Jesus. And he REALLY loved his fellow Jews—even the ones who wanted to tear him limb from limb. The commander reluctantly agreed. So, bloody and bruised, Paul stood before the angry crowd and shared his beautiful testimony of how he met Jesus and what Jesus had done in his life. But as soon as Paul mentioned God sending him out to the Gentiles, the crowd erupted again.

What can we learn from this passage?

Life Lesson #1: Even when you live your life with absolute integrity , some people will still misjudge and falsely accuse you. God calls you to live a life of integrity anyway. During his first week in Jerusalem, Paul went to great lengths to demonstrate that he wasn’t Anti-Judaism, Anti-Old Testament or Anti-Temple. But he was false accused anyway. It happened to Paul, and if you are following Christ well, sooner or later it WILL happen to you.

Life Lesson #2: Whenever someone gives you the opportunity to trample the cross of Christ to save your bacon, hold fast to the cross, and surrender your bacon. I ask again: What would you have done if the Boxer rebels had threatened you? And what would you have done if the nationalists in Jerusalem had threatened you? We know what that young Chinese Christian girl did. And we know what Paul did. May God find you and me faithful to do the same—no matter the cost.

Life Lesson #3: Prejudice comes at a high price. It makes us deaf and blind to the truth that can set us free, both in this life and in the life to come. Bible commentator John Wade writes: “The tragedy of this situation [at the temple] was that prejudice against the Gentiles … prevented them from hearing the rest of Paul’s message. Had he been allowed to continue, there is no doubt that he would have conveyed to them the good news of the gospel, the good news that God has offered salvation to all men. Prejudice of any kind exacts a high price, but none higher than the price that these men paid.”

Let me say this plainly: There is no room for prejudice in a Christian’s life. Whether it’s prejudice because of the color of someone’s skin, someone’s social status or because of who someone associates with, there’s no place for it in a Christian’s life. EVERYONE needs Jesus. Therefore, God has called us to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone: Jew and Gentile, young and old, male and female. We are called to tell ALL people in our lost and dying world: “You’re a precious creation of God. You were carefully and lovingly knit together in your mother’s womb. God knows EXACTLY who you are, and He has a PERFECT plan for your life. And if you’d like to know what it is, let me tell you about His Son, Jesus Christ.”

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. Dane’s latest book, “Called to Persevere: One Man’s Journey to Overcome Pain, Disease and Disappointment with God,” is scheduled for release on Amazon in October.

What is God’s Answer to Hatred and Racism?

“God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him

and do what is right.” - Acts 10:34-35

America is hurting. We’ve just spent two and a half months on lockdown. Our favorite restaurants have been closed. Our kids’ schools have been closed. High school graduations were cancelled. Even the “Happiest Place on Earth” was shut down. Churches across America had to move their services online. And 36 million Americans lost their jobs.

Our nation is hurting—and less than three weeks ago, the pain only intensified. We were horrified by the image of a rogue police officer in Minneapolis choking the life out of George Floyd as three other officers stood by and let it happen. Then, we were further horrified by the images of Mom-and-Pop stores in cities across America being vandalized, looted and set on fire.

Many of us thought that race relations in America had come a long way. But these past three weeks have made us realize that we still have a long way to go. There is still far too much distrust, resentment and hatred between Americans of different skin colors. Our politicians can’t fix the problem. Our public schools can’t fix the problem. Even the social justice warriors can’t fix the problem. They can’t fix the problem, because the underlying root of the problem isn’t political, psychological or systemic. The root of hate and racism is spiritual. That being the case, the only lasting solution to hatred and racism is found in God’s Word.

The Bible makes it clear that God has compassion and love for EVERY person He has made. We read in Romans 2:11: “God does not show favoritism.” Peter proclaims in Acts 10:34-35: “God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.” 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “God our Savior wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” And in Proverbs 6:16-19 we find a quick reference list of seven things God hates. Those include: hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that devises wicked schemes; and feet that are quick to rush into evil.

So, if there’s any doubt in your mind about God’s stance on what has happened in our nation over the past few weeks, allow His Word to remove all doubt. God is a loving and compassionate God, and He hates it when people shed innocent blood. George Floyd might have deserved to be arrested, but he did NOT deserve to be tortured and killed. God hates what was done to George Floyd. But because God hates it when people devise wicked schemes and rush into evil, God also hates what vandals, looters and arsonists have been doing to businesses and church buildings under the cover of protest. Those who are destroying things aren’t “protestors.” They’re criminals. They’re self-centered opportunists. And their actions are detestable to God.  

Because God is love, He hates…hate. Because God is love, He hates racism. Because God is love, He hates the violence in our nation today. And because of that, I believe that God wants to make three simple but profound pleas to us.

God’s 1st Plea: Let My Word change your thinking. “From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth” (Acts 17:26). Every human being on earth is a descendent of one man and one woman: Adam and Eve. God didn’t create a black Adam and a white Adam. He didn’t create a Chinese Eve and a Mexican Eve. Every single ethnic group on earth—every nation, every person is a descendent of that one Adam and one Eve. We all have the same great-grandparents. So, when someone asks, “How many races are there?”, the Biblical answer is ONE. There is only one race: the human race. PERIOD!

God’s 2nd Plea: Let My Son change your heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). We want to believe we are basically good. But God sees the truth: Our hearts are harder than we’ve realized. And there is nothing here on earth that can soften them. A hater can’t be taught to stop hating and start loving. Just as you can’t teach someone with blocked arteries to stop having a heart attack, you can’t teach someone steeped in hate and racism to stop having a hard, sinful heart. The only cure is to receive a heart transplant—and God’s Son Jesus Christ is the only One who can perform the operation. So, God says to you and me today: Let my Son change your heart, because hatred and racism are sins of the heart. Racism is not a SKIN problem; it’s a SIN problem.

God’s 3rd Plea: Let My spirit change your actions. “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism” (James 2:1). God doesn’t treat rich people better than poor people, or men better than women, or whites better than blacks. Neither should we. So, take time to PRAY with your brothers and sisters who look different than you. Take time to LOVE and SERVE your brothers and sisters who look different than you. And take time to LISTEN to your brothers and sisters who look different from you. When a black brother or sister feels that black lives in our country are being cheapened and cries out, “Black lives matter!”–it doesn’t help to shout back, “All lives matter!” Your black sister or brother needs you to empathize with their hurt and pain. This is the time to listen—and mourn with those who mourn.

In Luke 10, Jesus tells the story of a Jewish man who was beaten within an inch of his life and left to die at the side of the road. A brother Jew—a priest—saw him and ignored him. Another one of his neighbors—a Levite—did the same. Finally a foreigner—a Samaritan—rode by, had a gut-wrenching compassion for him, and got down off his high horse to help him. Jesus turns to you and me and says, “Christians, it’s high time for you to get down off your high horse and do likewise.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our LIVE outdoor worship services Sundays at 8 a.m. or 9:30 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. at Live.GreaterImpact.cc, on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

Don't Play Favorites

“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’  you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law.”

- James 2:8-9

I was blessed to attend high school before the days of Columbine and Sandy Hook. It was, in many ways, a much more innocent time. As a teenager I attended youth group just about every week. And at one of those events, the speaker shared a story about an armed man who barged into a church service one Sunday morning. He stood in the middle of the sanctuary with rifle in hand and yelled, “I’m giving you all ONE chance to get out here. If you don’t really believe this foolishness about Jesus Christ, I’ll let you leave right now.” Ninety percent of the congregation left the building. The gunman turned to the pastor and said, “All right, preacher. I got rid of all the hypocrites. You can continue the service now.”

As a teenager, I remember thinking about that story and wondering: “Am I a hypocrite? I’ve heard the Bible verses that say I’m supposed to stand up for my faith in Christ, and I believe those verses. But do I believe them enough to actually die for my faith?” As the book of James reminds us, following Jesus has never been a matter of simply listening to God’s word. It’s about doing God’s word, obeying God’s word, living God’s word.

At the beginning of chapter 2, James gives his Christian readers a very important command: In order to be doers of God’s word, we cannot discriminate. We cannot play favorites. He writes in verse 1: “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.” Notice that before James gives this command, “Don’t show favoritism,” he reminds us who we are: “believers in our glorious Lord Jesus,” the Savior of the world who saved us from our sins.  James is essentially saying: “As I give you this command, remember that it is the Savior of the world’s command.” And this is his clear command: “Don’t show favoritism.”

The word translated as “favoritism” in the NIV is the Greek word prosopolepsia, which literally means “receiving the face.” Favoritism involves looking at someone’s face and identifying characteristics of their physical appearance or status or race—and based on the characteristics we see, choosing whether to receive them or reject them. When I show favoritism, I accept some faces and reject others based entirely on what features I like and which ones I don’t like.

I hope that most of us don’t cut people out of our lives based on their appearance. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve all struggled with favoritism at some level or another. The CEV translates Jesus’ command in verse 1, “Don’t treat some people better than others.” And the Good News version paraphrases the command, “Don’t treat people in different ways according to their outward appearance.” The truth is, in this day and age people talk a lot about equality and tolerance, but most people—even most Christians—show some favoritism. We don’t practice what we preach. We receive the faces of some, but we don’t receive the faces of others.

Now, let’s play devil’s advocate for a minute. We may say, “So, I’m more likely to talk to a guy in a suit than to a homeless guy who smells like last week’s garbage. And I’m more likely to be nice to a lady who looks like Barbie than a girl who’s tatted up and looks like a gang banger. I’m only human, right? What’s the big deal?” Well, it’s a big deal … because we are God’s representatives here on earth, and when we play favorites, we imply that GOD plays favorites. We imply that some people are less important to God and less loved by God than others. And that implication leads people to doubt that God and His word are true.

Years ago an older and wiser Christian taught me that when we are doing ministry, more is “caught” than what is “taught.” In other words, people will be more influenced by our actions than our words. It doesn’t matter how much we say, “I love you” if we treat people like trash.  And it doesn’t matter how much we quote John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If we treat someone like a reject, he or she will likely come to the conclusion that God has rejected him: “John 3:16 is for everyone else—except for me.” When we show favoritism we completely misrepresent God to our lost and dying world. And that, my friends, is a sin.

In order to be doers of the word, we cannot discriminate. We cannot play favorites. We must treat all people with kindness and love. Whether you are at home or at church or at work or walking down the sidewalk, don’t show favoritism. Show kindness and compassion to everyone equally. Show mercy to everyone equally. And no matter what someone looks like or talks like or even smells like, love your neighbor as you love yourself. James calls this second-greatest command “the royal command,” reminding us to treat every person we meet like “royalty.”

Warren Wiersbe says it well: “We only believe as much of the Bible as we practice. One of the tests of the reality of our faith is how we treat other people. Can we pass the test?” Good question! Can you pass the test?

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us for our worship service Sundays at 10 a.m. at the new Dr. Ralph Baker School in Victorville. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

The Biblical Answer to Racism

"From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth."

– Acts 17:26a

You can see it in today’s headlines. Although race relations in America have made some real headway, we have a long way to go. There is still far too much distrust, resentment and hatred between Americans of different skin colors. Last month’s events in Charlottesville, Virginia, along with many other tragedies in recent years, have demonstrated that reality.

Now, let’s be honest. Politicians can’t fix the problem; legislation does not fix hatred. Our schools can’t fix the problem; they’ve tried, with only modest success. And for the 10 people in our country who still think that Hollywood has the solutions to our most pressing problems, let me just tell you point-blank: Hollywood can’t fix the problem.

So if the answer to racism is not found in government or in our schools or even in Tinsel Town, where is it found? The answer to racism is in God’s word. The Apostle Paul addressed this point when he was describing the “unknown god” to the religious leaders and teachers in Athens. As Paul spoke to these pagan leaders, he focused on God’s role as Creator: “From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” (Acts 17:26).

Paul revealed to the Greek religious leaders a fact that many today are ignorant of: We all have a common ancestry. Contrary to the theory of evolution, our ancestors were not Curious George and the Grape Ape. Every human being on earth is a descendant of ONE man and ONE woman. Period. God made one man and one woman, and every single ethnic group—every nation, every tribe, every clan, every person—is a descendant of that one Adam and that one Eve. Which means that when someone asks the question, “How many races are there?” the Biblical answer is: ONE.

So the first Biblical answer to racism addresses the ignorance of the human mind. We’re all cousins, descended from Adam and Eve. The Bible has been saying this for 3,500 years, and yet science has only recently confirmed it. Surprise, surprise—they’ve discovered that there isn’t a “race” chromosome in our DNA. Every human being is part of one species, homo sapiens. Our differences in skin color, hair color and eye shape are nothing but minor physical differences that have absolutely no bearing on the facts: We are all part of one single race. We should stop using the term “races.” There are different cultures and different ethnic groups, but there is only one human race.

So, it stands to reason that we should start treating everyone we meet as a family member created and loved by God. Which leads us to the second Biblical answer to racism: Our hearts must be changed. No matter our age, gender or ethnic background, we are all in the same boat spiritually. Before we become followers of Christ, we are all living in spiritual darkness. In other words, we’re all drowning in sin. And the Bible is clear that one of the sins that is prevalent in the darkness of this world is hateful prejudice—racism. And racism is always, first and foremost, a sin of the heart.

Cardiologists tell us that in certain instances severely damaged hearts need to be replaced. Similarly, a spiritually corrupt heart needs a spiritual heart transplant. And only God can do that. Only God can transform a hard heart into a soft heart. Only God can strip away our hate and replace it with love. Only God can transform a hate-mongering racist into a tender-hearted man of God who loves his neighbor as himself.

From God’s perspective, there is only one race: the human race. And from God’s perspective, there are only two groups within the human race: those who are groping around in the darkness and those who are living with Christ in the light. As a Christian, you have been chosen by Christ and set apart from the rest of the world. So, when you come across people living in darkness who are filled with hatred and prejudice, what do you do?

First, you pray. Then you stand with Christ as part of the one human race. You love your neighbor as you love yourself. You love him regardless of his skin color. You love him regardless of his ethnic background. You love him regardless of how he dresses or how many tattoos or body piercings he has. You love him regardless of his personality and even regardless of whether or not he likes you.

Don’t get pulled into the hate. Don’t get pulled into the bitterness. Don’t get pulled into the prejudice. That’s part of your old life. That’s part of the darkness. And you’re not living in darkness anymore. In the words of 1 Peter 2:9, you’re part of “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,visit www.fccvv.com  and join us for worship Sundays at 10 a.m.