So, I have been thinking a lot in the last two or three days about how Christians get a bad name. I know the Bible says that the world will hate us because it hated Him first, but does that really mean we ought to give them fuel for the fire? I mean...there are some crazies out there who pour gasoline by the barrel on the already roaring bonfire.
What with all of the hate-spitting abortion protesters who line up at clinics, or the whack jobs saying that God hates the gays and the reason our troops are being killed is because of homosexuality, calling people faggots and other derogatory names. Let's not even begin talking about the bigotry and self-righteousness that daily divides the body of Christ...because a guy's hair is long, or because a girl wears makeup or pants, or because a person does or doesn't speak in tongues, or because they drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes.
All I can say is: Seriously? Do we really think that God cares about makeup or skirts or alcohol consumption as much as he cares about the heart of a person? Do we really think that our God is that concerned with habits or personal preferences? You might as well say that a person who cracks his or her knuckles can't get into Heaven. It's ludicrous. LUDICROUS!
No, SERIOUSLY. What our God cares about is the heart and soul of a man/woman. And He also cares about how we represent Him to the world. We won't change the world by wagging our fingers and spewing our hatred of other religions or walks of life. When Christ dealt with all those sinners in the Bible, the whores and liars and murderers, he was kind and loving toward them. The only time he got pissed off was when people were trying to SELL salvation in the temple. It is His LOVE, His KINDNESS, that leads to repentance. It is not hellfire and brimstone, or fear, or judgment, and we have no right proclaiming what God thinks. We are not God, and we do not know the depths of his thoughts. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours.
And, guess what, people, when Christ died He set us free from the LAW, and now we have the GIFT of His Spirit. Our God is a loving God, but the Church does a pitiful job of showing and sharing and being that love. We spew judgment about homosexuality, about abortion, about alcohol consumption or drug use, or cigarette smoking. Anger flashes from our eyes and hatred erupts from our hearts. Do we look like Christ when we do this? Do we sound like Christ when we say this? And what's more, why are we so worried about what the unchurched do, when we have gossip and back-biting and anger and unforgiveness and pettiness running rampant in our churches? Do you not know that above all other sins, our God considers sowing discord among the bretheren an abomination? Read Proverbs 6:16-19. And we would have the audacity to say we're better than the person walking in for an abortion? We would have the audacity to say we're better than someone in an alternative lifestyle? We would say we're better than a drunkard or a drug addict or a murderer? PLEASE! That is selfish and hypocritical! We are not better! We have only accepted the reality that we are wretched sinners in need of a Savior. That is our only difference.
I am not saying that I agree with abortion or homosexuality or substance abuse. I believe the Bible very clearly states that all three are wrong. But it won't do me any good to fly out to DC, stand on a steps at in the Mall, and scream and shout those things to all the passersby. I'd probably get arrested for disturbing the peace. It is fine and acceptable to have our own personal beliefs, our own set of codes by which to live, but it is not fine and acceptable to rage and scream and judge others when their beliefs or set of codes differ from yours. And it is certainly not okay to claim that you speak for God when the words coming from your mouth are tainted with hatred. And that is why Christians have such a bad reputation, such a bad name. We're supposed to be about love and forgiveness. Instead we judge and we hate. If I didn't already know Jesus, and all I had to go on was that example of a person screaming against abortions and calling homosexuals faggots and saying God hated them, you can be DARN SURE that I wouldn't want to meet Jesus or join His family.
So, the next time you feel like judging someone for their look or their lifestyle choice, consider this:
"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:3-5
Love it!
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