Speaking about Hosea 7:8, which says "Ephraim is a cake not turned" confused me at first, since I was thinking about cakes being baked, not flipped like the more accurate image of a pancake. In fairness, I'm not my shiny self in the morning. The machine's running, but the software's still booting up.
Spurgeon goes on to say "A cake not turned is soon burnt on the side nearest the fire, and although no man can have too much religion, there are some who seem burnt black with bigoted zeal for that part of truth which they have received, or are charred to a cinder with a vain-glorious Pharisaic ostentation of those religious performances which suit their humour. The assumed appearance of superior sanctity frequently accompanies a total absence of all vital godliness. The saint in public is a devil in private. He deals in flour by day and in soot by night. The cake which is burned on one side, is dough on the other." (Spurgeon, "Morning and Evening" unabridged, page 350)
After the events of the past few weeks, the first thing that leapt to my mind reading this was Wesboro Baptist, the claimed "church" that speaks hatred non-stop, often finding the most horrible thing they can do to spread their message and going above and beyond. The people of this organization have been so held to the fire that they have charred black, and yet are so obviously undeveloped in any area other than their hatred for people they feel can never have God's grace and love that they can be defined only as raw; a cake not turned.
These misguided, sorry people can only scream how God will judge the world, and neglect the words of Christ such as "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35) They look spiritually much like Two-face:
For anyone unfamiliar with the D.C. villain from Batman, Two-face was a good man named Harvey Dent at one time, but through a tragic series of events became horrifically disfigured, and even worse - was driven out of his mine, now leaving everything to chance on the flip of a coin. (I won't go into the specific events; that's DC's job and they did it pretty well already)
Also half-cooked like the Westboro Baptists, Two-face loves random destruction, but unlike the Joker won't act out of pure chaos - he has to flip a coin to make any decision. Where does this tie in with Westboro?
The people in Westboro Baptist believe that God only loves some people and despises others. Which is already not biblical, but even further, they don't believe that this is based on their choices but by some cosmic flip of a coin at their birth. They believe God loves them, so long as they jump through all of his hoops and pray long enough, hard enough, they will be assured Paradise. This is called "predestination", and basically removes free-will from the human equation altogether, and makes a liar out of Christ when He said "For God so loved the world..." Not the Jews, not His followers, not Westboro Baptist - the world. Period. Any and all. They can choose not to love God, but He already loves them.
Anyone who would picket a funeral, whether of fallen armed forces, children killed in a school shooting, or the 49 killed at the Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida, does not serve a God of love. They serve only their own agenda, which is to stir up hatred and bigotry wherever they go. Seeing bikers and other people standing together forming barricades to prevent them from spreading hate and pain, people who often have little in common other than the desire to allow mourners to grieve in peace, is a powerful image of how love is far stronger than their hate.
These half-baked, charred people are not the only ones of their type though, and often Christianity is seen through the lens provided by people like this - people who see themselves as righteous, as though they deserve God's love while others deserve no consideration from God or them. Sadly, it is often the case that these will be how people interact with Christianity. Is it any wonder when we hear such things as "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ"? (Mahatma Gandhi) We serve a God who, when confronted with an adulterous woman who was to be stoned, told those present that a sinless man should cast the first stone; when all walked away leaving the shaken woman, he asked her where her accusers were. Gone? What a surprise. But what he says next should have changed history:
"Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more." The perfect, sinless man tells her HE DOES NOT CONDEMN HER!!! He doesn't tell her "God hates you and your lifestyle," He doesn't say "You're a piece of filth and lucky I don't zap you with lightning here and now." He tells her the He does not condemn her, and tells her to simply repent. So how do we, with our charred spots and our uncooked pieces in our imperfection, have the right to condemn those we speak to?
Very well said, Jamie
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