I was listening to the Beatles and quickly become angered by the thought of what has been done in the name of Christianity. Did you know “Christians” protested the Beatles when they came off the plane from England? Everyone by now has also heard of the pastor in Florida who was going to burn Qur’ans in the name of “Christianity.” The pastor reasoned the Bible says to love our enemies, but that doesn't apply here because we are at war. Loving enemies doesn't apply in certain situations? Christians should be at war with the physical world? Where are those taught in the Bible? If you're having trouble finding them, it's because they are not in the Bible. The name of Christ has no business being slandered by his supposed followers protesting the Beatles, burning Qur’ans, or picketing abortion clinics for that matter. Our fight as Christians is not against the world; it is for the world. The Lord needs workers to send out into the harvest, Luke 10:2. Jesus commanded us to be in the world. Just as the Father sent Jesus into the world so Jesus has sent us into the world John 17:18. We're not to love the world as 1 John said, but the Bible does not call for a total separation. Nowhere are we taught to draw lines in the sand and say, “world, come over to us.” You want to know the types of people who are attracted to Christianity by such stunts as protests and burnings? The already hardened self-righteous “Christians” who look an awful lot like the New Testament Pharisees…
The world will know us by our love not hate.
Huge Milestones
4 months ago
6 comments:
Well said Dan, it is a very powerful thought, "Our fight as Christians is not against the world; it is for the world." .
The powers of evil in this world have been defeated by our Lord, fight for His glory by making disciples not by symbolically torching books.
thank you for this.
Dan
Thanks for writing your thoughts on this, a good read!
you should have called the florida pastor!
connie
Dan,
Please do not be too quick to pass judgment on those of us who have done what we could to stop babies from being killed. You made a hasty generalization that puts us into the same class with those who protested the Beatles or that Koran-burning nutcase. I ask you to reconsider.
We are not pathethic or hateful. Childrens lives were saved by loving Christians. We based our actions on Proverbs 24:11-12. We lovingly offered an alternative to moms.
None of us knows the activity of God in every situation (Eccl. 11:5). I agree that some misguided "believers" have done wrong and the world has noticed, but just as grace has been given to us, we need to give grace to one another. One last thing, I assume that you read the accounts of the events you mentioned and did not attend the actual events. The journalistic bias of the authors may have played a part in your perception of each event. Just saying... :)
Thanks for sharing.
Mary Alice
ha, I will try out my thought, your post get me some good ideas, it's really awesome, thanks.
- Joe
I appreciate Mary Alice's comment, which saves me the trouble of trying to articulate the very same thoughts. True, we as Christians must always guard against any self-righteous attitude, but likewise we must take care to not wrongfully judge others' motives.
Keep thinking through these things, and blogging! I enjoy reading your blog occasionally.
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