Question 10
Sometimes I think the world has a clearer grasp of right and wrong than we as Christians do, although they try to explain it wrongly.
Christians tend to blur up the Bible in an attempt to accept everything they see around them.
"Oh, God can't have said. God didn't mean."
Well, maybe He did and you just don't want to accept it because you're putting your little code of what you think is right and wrong before His.
While our faith is based on historical facts and logical processes, most of the day to day living is a sheer walk of faith. After all, isn't that why it's called our "faith"?
Faith like a child. Trusting. Simple. Daddy loves me enough to catch me when I jump. Mommy loves me enough to keep me away from the hot iron and the cars on the road.
Faith that while we don't understand and maybe never will understand God's ways or reasoning, He is right and just.
Faith means grasping the simplicity of life and leaving the confusion in His Hands.
Faith means that we can love everybody right down to their core, no matter their sin, because that's what He commanded us to do and that's what He's given us grace to do, without accepting their sin.
Faith is strong; don't make any mistake about that. It's hard to get to that step. It depends whether your reasoning has brought you to the place that God must be Who He says He is, and your belief has accepted that He is right and worth the cost of being condemned as a fool for the rest of your life.
People expect to be attacked by us when they stand up against certain issues that the Bible condemns and proclaim their own understanding and moral code to be right (don't ask where that moral code originally came from). We need to break that by loving them anyway while still gently, kindly and truthfully standing up for what is right.
We need to pray for them and let them know they're safe with us, because although we don't approve of the sin, we love the people - for the Lord.
He loved the whore, ate with the tax collector and the Pharisee and touched the lepers, but He asked them to leave it all behind and come, follow Him. Which is how we need to live. Why do we expect to do this differently?
Christ left all for us. Why do we refuse to leave all for Him?
Several years ago, I created a survey called "Uncomfortable Honesty." In it, I asked people (anonymously - I still have no idea who took part, except for people who told me they did) to talk about issues they considered taboo, that the church considered taboo, and how these had affected them.
Question 10 was the most revealing of the pain that reactions to these issues had brought them. I'd like you to take a moment to click on the video link below.
Loving people doesn't mean beating them over their heads with a poker or running shy from them because you're too scared to handle issues. It means accepting them as they are, with all their flaws, and praying for them. Encourage them to trust without betraying it (i.e., talking about them behind their back without their knowledge or permission); help them with issues as the Lord brings them forward. Don't pretend you know all the answers to their issues; outside of what's stated in God's Word, no one does. Don't jump in the mud puddle with both feet - it tends to make nasty messes everywhere else.
For an example: I love and accept my gay friends and they, to an extent (like everyone else), trust me. I don't accept that their homosexuality is right by Biblical standards, and they know this (and agree with it, by their own decision) and have defended me against both straight and Christian people.
I think that's what it means to live Christ. Make the impact in their lives, but sound the call to "come, follow Him." If you accept the sinner along with their sin, they will have no need to come to Christ for salvation.
This is so very complex, and I've only barely touched the surface, but I hope you will understand what I'm saying.
Yours thoughtfully,
In Christ,
~Siân
Christians tend to blur up the Bible in an attempt to accept everything they see around them.
"Oh, God can't have said. God didn't mean."
Well, maybe He did and you just don't want to accept it because you're putting your little code of what you think is right and wrong before His.
While our faith is based on historical facts and logical processes, most of the day to day living is a sheer walk of faith. After all, isn't that why it's called our "faith"?
Faith like a child. Trusting. Simple. Daddy loves me enough to catch me when I jump. Mommy loves me enough to keep me away from the hot iron and the cars on the road.
Faith that while we don't understand and maybe never will understand God's ways or reasoning, He is right and just.
Faith means grasping the simplicity of life and leaving the confusion in His Hands.
Faith means that we can love everybody right down to their core, no matter their sin, because that's what He commanded us to do and that's what He's given us grace to do, without accepting their sin.
Faith is strong; don't make any mistake about that. It's hard to get to that step. It depends whether your reasoning has brought you to the place that God must be Who He says He is, and your belief has accepted that He is right and worth the cost of being condemned as a fool for the rest of your life.
People expect to be attacked by us when they stand up against certain issues that the Bible condemns and proclaim their own understanding and moral code to be right (don't ask where that moral code originally came from). We need to break that by loving them anyway while still gently, kindly and truthfully standing up for what is right.
We need to pray for them and let them know they're safe with us, because although we don't approve of the sin, we love the people - for the Lord.
He loved the whore, ate with the tax collector and the Pharisee and touched the lepers, but He asked them to leave it all behind and come, follow Him. Which is how we need to live. Why do we expect to do this differently?
Christ left all for us. Why do we refuse to leave all for Him?
Several years ago, I created a survey called "Uncomfortable Honesty." In it, I asked people (anonymously - I still have no idea who took part, except for people who told me they did) to talk about issues they considered taboo, that the church considered taboo, and how these had affected them.
Question 10 was the most revealing of the pain that reactions to these issues had brought them. I'd like you to take a moment to click on the video link below.
Loving people doesn't mean beating them over their heads with a poker or running shy from them because you're too scared to handle issues. It means accepting them as they are, with all their flaws, and praying for them. Encourage them to trust without betraying it (i.e., talking about them behind their back without their knowledge or permission); help them with issues as the Lord brings them forward. Don't pretend you know all the answers to their issues; outside of what's stated in God's Word, no one does. Don't jump in the mud puddle with both feet - it tends to make nasty messes everywhere else.
For an example: I love and accept my gay friends and they, to an extent (like everyone else), trust me. I don't accept that their homosexuality is right by Biblical standards, and they know this (and agree with it, by their own decision) and have defended me against both straight and Christian people.
I think that's what it means to live Christ. Make the impact in their lives, but sound the call to "come, follow Him." If you accept the sinner along with their sin, they will have no need to come to Christ for salvation.
This is so very complex, and I've only barely touched the surface, but I hope you will understand what I'm saying.
Yours thoughtfully,
In Christ,
~Siân
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)