The Hidden
Jesus -David's Ten Defiled Concubines
|
I became a Christian at the age of twelve, shortly after my father died. Within a year my mother remarried, but to a man who was a raging alcoholic. He was a cruel, demon‑possessed man who would go ballistic during his weekly alcoholic binges, physically and verbally terrorizing my mother, my six brothers and myself. Sometimes he would yell and scream, sometimes he would throw furniture, sometimes he would curse and speak murderous threats, and sometimes he hit us in the face to blacken our eyes or break our noses. I became a Christian during that turbulent and frightening time, and as I look back now and reflect on how my religious leaders treated me, I am both shocked and dismayed that I experienced spiritual abuse at their hands that was every bit as damaging as the physical and verbal abuse that I endured from my alcoholic stepfather. My spiritual elders talked a lot about a loving Jesus, but what I observed through their modeling was if you were a Sinning Christian, then you could expect Jesus to be every bit as irritable and unpredictable and quick to bring harm as my stepfather was! |
|
|
The Jesus of my denomination was incredibly hard to please; it seemed that only steady growth towards perfection would even begin to satisfy him. To sin willfully was spoken of in the gravest tones, being so serious as to make Jesus "go ballistic," ready to throw you into Hell if he happened to be nearby to get his hands on you. In fact, no sin was too small to get you thrown into Hell at Jesus' fickle whim! And so it was that my loving Jesus seemed to be a lot like my vile and violent stepfather! It has taken me years to realize that this view of our beloved Jesus as quick to rile himself up to punish us Sinning Christians is a despicable doctrine. If you want to see how Jesus really feels about Sinning Christians, then reread the story of David and his ten defiled concubines. When Absalom's rebellion caused David to flee Jerusalem, David left behind ten of his concubines, ten beautiful women whose sole purpose had been to delight David by making love to him. 2 Samuel 20:1-3 |
|
|
But when Absalom captured the city, Absalom raped them all. After David defeated his son, he returned to Jerusalem and to his ten defiled lovers. And how did he treat them? Did he despise them because of their defilement? Was he angry with them or want to put them to death? NO! These women who used to be his lovers, who used to delight his body and refresh his spirit, were still women that he loved, so he continued to take care of them. He provided them a place a stay and food to eat and everything they needed until each one passed away from old age. As I read this sad story of David and his ten defiled concubines, I saw Jesus, and I knew that David was modeling Jesus' own heart towards his Sinning Christians. When each one of us becomes saved, we do so because we are responding to Jesus' love for us, and by receiving him as Savior, we start loving him back, and as we show that love to Jesus, we delight and refresh him, even as David's concubines brought loving joy to their king. But over time, some of us Christians are overcome by our sins for a variety of reasons, and we become defiled by them, just as Absalom defiled those women. At that point, we become Sinning Christians. |
|
|
Yes, there is loss as a Sinning Christian: David no longer made love to his defiled concubines, and in the same way, the Sinning Christian will no longer receive Christ's most intimate and personal expressions and feelings of his own divine love, Revelation 2:4,5 but our loving Jesus will still tenderly and graciously and generously provide for all their needs. Matthew 5:45 He is not like my stepfather, looking for reasons to strike them with angry fists or violent words. NO! As a church, let us repent of this cruel image of Jesus that has brought all of us so much harm, and let us once more treat one another with love, kindness, compassion, gentleness, grace, mercy, forbearance, patience and forgiveness, Colossians 3:12-14 for that is the heart of Jesus, even for his Sinning Christians. |
INDEX
