I just came from enduring a most vile posting.
I’m not sure I’ve read as vile a post in my time on wordpress, reading “Christian” blogs. At any rate, I was so outraged and shocked by this writing and the commentary back and forth on the blog that I felt I had to comment on my own blog about this kind of writing and communicating with others. I doubt my comment will be accepted over on that blog, but whether it is or isn’t, I must address the material put forth and attempt to set the record straight.
I feel the need to correct the blatant falsehoods contained within that writing and attempt to nullify the hate emanating from it by sharing what I’ve read within the word of God– in order to counter this blotch upon what we call our faith, our walk with Jesus Christ.
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:36-40
There is no evidence of love as love is expressed and defined inside of the bible within this particular posting, and many other postings on the same blog. The damage being done to the name of Christianity is horrific and outrageous, in my opinion. I can only pray that those who love Christ as I do, will also express their opinion so that we can show Jesus in our lives and walk with Christ, instead of exhibiting the opposite of how Christ ordered us to behave.
The bible tells us clearly that if we have forgotten the love within our daily walk with Christ, we have nothing. If we are the greatest saint on the planet, but don’t have love, we’ve missed the point of what Jesus Christ called us to do via the Great Commission. If we’ve lost our way and have fallen off of the narrow path, we will know it because our daily walk with Christ will become unloving, rude, unkind, hateful, and downright ugly.
We all know what real love looks like because love is defined as the following:
13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – 1 Corinthians 13: 1-7
If we are the greatest saint on the planet but have no love within us for others, we suck! Love is not mean! Love is not unkind! Love is not rude!
The judgment and condemnation expressed in judging another’s heart while they are yet in their sin and perhaps not even saved is absolutely wrong in the eyes of the Lord. The bible is clear about the hypocrisy we engage in when we do this. Jesus did not come to condemn sinners and drive them away. Jesus came because He loves and is a redeemer for the sinner! Jesus told us that the sick need a physician, not the well. Jesus admonished us about judging others without mercy, with vile hatred.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. – Matthew 7: 1-5
The other things I want to say about this topic are that it is easy to be able to tell what is godly writing and advice given in love and what is not. I see no fruit of the spirit present within this kind of writing or many of the other writings on the same blog, but instead there is a spirit of judgment, condemnation, fear, hate, division, dissention, and ugliness.
The fruits of the spirit within someone who is walking with Christ are love, joy, peace, self control, gentleness, kindness, and patience. There are none of these fruits to be found within a hatred and condemnation of the sinner, thus such writing cannot be found to be godly and does not reflect the words of Jesus Christ or the mindset of God.
Certainly we are instructed within the Old Testament on what is good and what is bad. We are also brought out of the Law of the Old Testament through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice made on the cross for our sins. All we have to do, if we will, is simply accept Jesus Christ and believe, and repent of our sins. We are now under a new law of LOVE and servant-hood, and we are taught what this looks like in action in our lives within the Holy Bible.
5 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. -Matthew 7: 15-20
Jesus did not condemn the worst of sinners but instead loved them. He did not expect us as followers of Him to crucify the sinner who doesn’t even know Christ. We are never to angrily insult, degrade, and judge with hatred and angst the sinner because of their sin. Doing this is not Christ-like. It does not exhibit the fruit of the spirit or the nature of Jesus Christ. There is a way to teach those who want to know Jesus, who want salvation. There is a way to address their sin with loving rebuke and there is an appropriate time to do this.
Prepared as you are to instruct others, do you ever teach yourself anything? You preach against stealing, but are you sure of your own honesty? You denounce the practice of adultery, but are you sure of your own purity? –Romans 2:21
“God has shown me that I should call no man unfit or unclean” –Acts 10:28
15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” –Mark 2:15- 17
Cut sinners a break, especially when they are lost in their sin. We don’t need to put them down or reject them because of their sins. When and if they convert to following Jesus Christ, then we are to deal with them as the bible tells us, with love and teaching as one adopted Christian brother or sister to another. I think we all know the difference between love, ugly condemnation, and rudeness; no one will ever be brought to Christ like that.
Further reading on this topic:
David Wilkerson’s “Why I quit judging sinners.” (http://www.tscpulpitseries.org/english/minibook/2ofmech2.html)
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