Parties and Principles

One is your Master…(Matt. 23:8)

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hile living on earth often requires that we take our place in a rank and order which acknowledges legitimate and rightful authority, we are never to allow our conscience to kneel to any human on this planet.  We may sacrifice ourselves, our body, our bounty, and our business for the benefit of others, but never our principles.  We may render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, but our conscience belongs to God. 

The history of religion is rife with examples of men who have relinquished responsibility of conscience.  That we were “following orders” holds no weight in the courts of Heaven.  No water on earth could wash away the blood on Pilate’s hands.  Better to have our head on the chopping block than our principles.  We must die before they do.  No Joseph Smith, nor Jim Jones will justify any wrong choice of a single mortal made in the image of God on judgment day.   

All the suicide-bombers, kool-aid drinkers, and blind followers of the blind will one day have to give an account of conscience.  “Drinking the Kool-Aid” has become a modern metaphor for madness, but there is no shortage of silly souls still ready to “swallow” anything some leader gives them in a fancy cup.  Questionable elixirs are making multitudes intoxicated in mosques, monasteries, and on Main Street.     God never asks us to do wrong, even to do right. The sale of indulgences financed the first suicide bombers at the end of the first millennium.  Knights looked for fights and the cross crossed swords with Saladin.  Luther saw indulgences as the “Junk Bonds” of his day that bound the superstitious in order to pay for chapel buildings.

Hiding behind the skirts of the Pope, the “elders,” or some President will not pass muster when the death angel passes through Goshen.   Did we stand on principle? Did we do right?  What Pilate did with Jesus will be a matter between him and God on the last day.  No one was “lost in the crowd” as they stood around the cross and watched the crucifixion of the innocent Son of God. 

The latest, most famous and popular book begins with the words “It’s not about you.”  Well,… it is about you. Judgment day will be “all about you.”  It will not be about what Pilate did, or what the elders did, or what your brother did.  It will be all about what you did. It will not be about: if you were a Lutheran, or a follower Wesley or of Woodrow Wilson.  It will not be about the Taliban or the Templar Knights. It will not be about parties.  It will be about principles. It will be about you. Martha whispered to Mary, “The Master is come, and He calleth for thee.”  It will be about who was your Master?  It will be about how much you made of Him, and what you allowed Him to make of you.     

                                                                                                     -id