Are You Better: Amos 6:1-3
If a community claiming to follow God’s ways treats its people the same way as a community not practicing God’s ways, what message is sent? Jesus says the world will know His disciples by our love. If the world doesn’t see anything different in those who follow God, what claim can God make about how closely we follow Him?
Amos opens a new message in this chapter, but the content is largely the same. The only significant difference in this section is how Amos includes both Zion and Samaria in the message. In other words, Amos’ audience is both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. The people in Judah may not have been Amos’ primary focus in God’s calling, but that doesn’t imply they are innocent of the same transgressions.
Amos invites the nobility of the land to investigate the nations around them. He wants the nobility to realize every nation has its own elite. The elite in Judah are no different than the elite in Samaria, who are no different than the elite of Syria or Philistia. There is no discernable difference between the nobility in Judah, Israel, Syria, and Philistia.
This might sound like Amos’ message is that they aren’t going to be spared because of who they are. That’s true. God’s people are not above God’s judgment because they are His. We are all accountable for our own actions.
There is a significantly deeper meaning to Amos’ words, however. Amos turns their lack of uniqueness into an accusation. The elite in Judah and Israel are supposed to be the elite among God’s people. They are supposed to create a special community. God called them to follow His ways and not appear like the nations around them. God gave them instruction on how to create a government and society different than the rest of the world.
When Amos instructs the Hebrew nobility to visit other nations and proclaims them no better, Amos convicts them. The Hebrew elite should be using their power and wealth to influence their communities to be better. They aren’t.
I’ve quoted Jesus frequently while studying Amos. To whom much is given, much is required. If God gives people riches in material wealth, God calls them to use their material wealth to better the community around them. If God gives people riches in social power, God calls them to use their social power to better the community around them. If God gives people riches in relational power, God calls them to use their relational power to better the community around them.
Those who follow God should form communities that feel and appear different. Practicing God’s ways asserts qualities not present in communities living apart from God’s ways. If a community claiming to follow God’s ways treats its people the same way as a community not practicing God’s ways, what message is sent?
