I am a large green squash. Its quite fun being a squash. I get to sit in the field all day and drink nourishing milk from my vine’s bosom and soak in the glorious rays from papa sun. And when papa’s heat is too much, I can rest in the shade of my brother’s volumous leaves. Today has been a bit toasty down here in Texas, but its been worth it because I have been eyeing a foxy little eggplant down the row…. man, her curves drive me wild; and her cute little green hat perfectly frames her smooth body…. Oh baby!
OK, as off-the-wall as that was… (and no I have not lost my mind) it has a point. I am not a squash; I’m human. And if I were to make that assertion (and truly believed it) you guys would (hopefully) slap me upside the head and tell me to snap out of it. However, there are may places, where, if I stood on the sidewalk and proclaimed such, people would smile and affirm me. Many people in
Does anyone see a problem with this?
1+1 != 5 no matter how you add it up. (!= is does not equal) The sky is not green and yellow. Oxygen and helium can not be mixed to get gold!
OK, most of you are agreeing with me up to now. But here is my main point for today, many Christians have subscribed this relativism in the area of discipline. We don’t want to tell anyone they are wrong because it might hurt their feelings. We don’t want to correct people because it might make them uncomfortable. We have taken the ‘judge not lest ye be judged’ from scripture and blown it way out of proportion.
Here’s where my thoughts are coming from: 1 Corinthians 5. Paul is taking to the believers and jumping down their throats because there is sexual immorality among them. He says they should kick that person out of the church! Then he says
“9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."
Why have we gotten it in our heads that we can not correct people? Why are we so worried about stepping on people’s toes when Christ’s main message was REPENT! By the way, you can not repent if you are doing nothing wrong. The main message of our Lord was telling people that they were doing everything wrong and needed to fix it.
If your friend is driving their car towards a big cliff, are we worried about telling them they are a moron for trying to kill themselves? No! Because we know that it will save their lives. Why then, do we hesitate to tell our friend that having that attitude is rotten or that his language is unacceptable? Are those things not pushing people toward a spiritual death? So what’s more important to us…. offending them or saving their lives?
1 comment:
You absolutely right, but don't forget that there is a Biblical basis for "You catch more flies with honey."
"If I speak with all the tongues of men and angels, but have not love..." etc.
Not to mention that we are not only to be as "shrewd as serpents" but also "as gentle as doves."
The other thing is that it's GOOD news. It's not "Hey!! You're a moron!" It's "Hey! Your life has meaning!"
We desperately need to be spreading the Word to everyone who we know, but we need to use the methods that work for each person. This is where (at the risk of sounding like a broken record) the focus is on Christ and His Holy Spirit. You don't know what will work for a particular guy. You have to listen to the Holy Spirit and He will tell you. You can't evangelize and use the Holy Spirit as a tool, though. You have to commune with the Holy Spirit, and He will guide you to evangelize also.
In His image,
Hurley <><
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