Acts 17:2 2 “And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them . . .”
but I recommend this only if you're prepared, which means studying to show thyself approved having sound understanding of scripture and the ability to argue properly using sound logic.
The cartoon above reminds me of the old saying “beatings will continue until morale improves.” Don't think we're doing any favors when we try to shame/scare/damn/insult someone into coming to Jesus. Show the love that has been shown to us.
I've been relearning that the Gospel is about the beautiful nature of Jesus. Obviously, we as believers in Christ have a responsibility to keep ourselves in line with the convictions of the faith, but we must act compassionately towards all, as it is not our goal to judge, but to love as Jesus did.
Love not legislate! Jesus did not come and lay down the law. He created relationships, provoked interest, asked searching questions and people changed.
in my field, this is the water I have to wade through every single day. I'm a pastor's wife and a therapist and social activist…yeah. i know. worst christian response EVER: “I love you just not what you do”…can be a problem when “what you do” is a part of your identity, huh?
We shouldn't judge others because they do not have the same beliefs as us. We can live by example and love everyone as if they were blood no matter what there religous choices are.
For me, the most important act is love. If I disagree passionately for something someone is doing, I won't just sit back and allow it to happen, but I try my hardest to be sure that however I react, that it's in an act of love. I find that really difficult at times when I see what the person is doing is hurting people all around them. However, I constantly think of the way Jesus loved. It wasn't always soft and gently, but more times than not it was stern and harsh. If we get so caught up in the sin of someone, then all that's going to happen is that we're going to forget we are sinners, and our actions towards that person will be covered with ourselves instead of God.
Reminds me of the beginning of a song….”The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians….Who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” No words have ever said it better for me!
I started out with a big 3 page long comment. I've pared my answer down to this…
As Christians, we need to cultivate and protect our daily personal time in the Word. This will keep us rooted and grounded in Christ. Not to mention it will also keep us falling in love with Him. And with that kind of relationship, we won't be able to help but overflow and as He is lifted up in our lives, He will draw those within our sphere of influence to Himself.
Second…we've got to stop being drawn into petty arguments over semantics. Our desire to love should supercede our need to be right.
This quote really touches me, b/c it reminds me of a story I read the day before yesterday in my local news. A town in my state recently elected a transgendered mayor. Whether people agree with the lifestyle or not, he has proven over the years to be the best choice for his community. While many of the community may not support his choices, they respect him as a leader, and see him as more than a transgendered person.
This if from part of the story:
” A large group of counterprotesters overmatched three young women and a man from a Kansas church who came to Silverton to protest Stu Rasmussen's election win. The protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church arrived with an assortment of signs, such as “God Hates You,” “Fags Are Beasts,” “Your Pastor is a Whore” and “Barack Obama: Antichrist.”
Seriously?! How can these people act this way…in the name of their religion? I think the quote speaks perfectly to this situation, and how these people have NOT managed to avoiding stepping in it. The whole situation really saddened me. It really did.
LOL, I thought that picture did a pretty good job. No really, calm yourself before you speak. I found that when I stop fuming I can certainly find a more loving way to put whatever it is I am trying to get out. And well, if there is no time for that, try not to sweat and follow with a large sigh, like you had to get it out or you were going to explode. Then of course apologize for not being able to hold it in. But never for your passion, never for your conviction. It seems that usually the other person understands. They feel just as strongly about something….
There is a difference between calling someone a pervert and calling someone out as having perverted thoughts. I would very rarely, if ever, support someone calling my friend Ashley a bitch, but she sure can act bitchy sometimes. We mustn't stop calling each-other (outside and inside the church) out when we fall. Yes we all fall, but that doesn't mean we shut up about it all together and just…fall. We work at getting back up again. It sucks, it ain't fun, but that's why we need each other. I'm sooo thirsty for some brothers and sisters to start holding me to a higher standard. I have found myself becoming gradually less moral the older I get; I have also been finding my moral integrity in correspondence to the level of moral acceptability that surrounds me.
We don't need to label each other in categories – sometimes it can be called for (ie. Jesus calls the Pharisees “hypocrites” and “snakes in the grass”) though I would suggest that the harshest language is to be reserved for those within the church – yet for all whom we respect and love, we hold to a higher standard. We, like God, love each other just as we are, yet we love each other too much to let each other stay that way.
History has taught us that there are some things that are pretty arrogant to try and “not let stay that way” for example, culture, language, personalities. It's one thing to try and change someone from being an extrovert to an introvert; it's another thing to change the desires of a friend from hard-core partying and getting drunk to social justice initiatives and charity feasts. Everything must change, our challenge it to identify what to change and what not to – the ever popular dilemma of contextualization.
There's more to say, many books are being written on this issue right now. This is an important topic.
I am reading a cool book, The (Un)offensive Gospel of Jesus… the author says we gotta show Jesus before we share Jesus. Remember that bridge illustration? Its like there is another chasm…not just sin between us and God, us Christians are a chasm between God and people.
To often we let religion get in the way of our faith. People are drawn to faith, but religion has something to protect. I saw this graphic over on an atheist blog as well and this resonates heavily with them. Most aren't anti-faith, they are anti-religion, or at least what religion has done to faith. Does that make sense?
RAIN IT DOWN
Stop telling others on how they are sinning because we are all sinners.
Instead, we tell them the actual gospel. You know… the one that is all about Jesus Christ and nothing about ourselves.
Acts 17:2 2 “And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them . . .”
but I recommend this only if you're prepared, which means studying to show thyself approved having sound understanding of scripture and the ability to argue properly using sound logic.
Totally agree here.
The cartoon above reminds me of the old saying “beatings will continue until morale improves.” Don't think we're doing any favors when we try to shame/scare/damn/insult someone into coming to Jesus. Show the love that has been shown to us.
Easy to say, hard to do a lot of times…
I've been relearning that the Gospel is about the beautiful nature of Jesus. Obviously, we as believers in Christ have a responsibility to keep ourselves in line with the convictions of the faith, but we must act compassionately towards all, as it is not our goal to judge, but to love as Jesus did.
LOVE.
Love not legislate! Jesus did not come and lay down the law. He created relationships, provoked interest, asked searching questions and people changed.
in my field, this is the water I have to wade through every single day. I'm a pastor's wife and a therapist and social activist…yeah. i know.
worst christian response EVER: “I love you just not what you do”…can be a problem when “what you do” is a part of your identity, huh?
Love one another…he who casts the first stone…
I try not to judge, and instead love and pray for them. That's it.
It reminds me of something I read once. It said that as Christians, we tend to let people know what we are against rather than WHO we are for.
We shouldn't judge others because they do not have the same beliefs as us. We can live by example and love everyone as if they were blood no matter what there religous choices are.
loving God, loving others
For me, the most important act is love.
If I disagree passionately for something someone is doing, I won't just sit back and allow it to happen, but I try my hardest to be sure that however I react, that it's in an act of love.
I find that really difficult at times when I see what the person is doing is hurting people all around them.
However, I constantly think of the way Jesus loved. It wasn't always soft and gently, but more times than not it was stern and harsh.
If we get so caught up in the sin of someone, then all that's going to happen is that we're going to forget we are sinners, and our actions towards that person will be covered with ourselves instead of God.
If that made no sense…I'm sorry.
http://interpression.wordpress.com
Reminds me of the beginning of a song….”The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians….Who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” No words have ever said it better for me!
I started out with a big 3 page long comment. I've pared my answer down to this…
As Christians, we need to cultivate and protect our daily personal time in the Word. This will keep us rooted and grounded in Christ. Not to mention it will also keep us falling in love with Him. And with that kind of relationship, we won't be able to help but overflow and as He is lifted up in our lives, He will draw those within our sphere of influence to Himself.
Second…we've got to stop being drawn into petty arguments over semantics. Our desire to love should supercede our need to be right.
This quote really touches me, b/c it reminds me of a story I read the day before yesterday in my local news. A town in my state recently elected a transgendered mayor. Whether people agree with the lifestyle or not, he has proven over the years to be the best choice for his community. While many of the community may not support his choices, they respect him as a leader, and see him as more than a transgendered person.
This if from part of the story:
” A large group of counterprotesters overmatched three young women and a man from a Kansas church who came to Silverton to protest Stu Rasmussen's election win. The protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church arrived with an assortment of signs, such as “God Hates You,” “Fags Are Beasts,” “Your Pastor is a Whore” and “Barack Obama: Antichrist.”
Seriously?! How can these people act this way…in the name of their religion? I think the quote speaks perfectly to this situation, and how these people have NOT managed to avoiding stepping in it. The whole situation really saddened me. It really did.
I believe in Atheists, so does God
LOL, I thought that picture did a pretty good job. No really, calm yourself before you speak. I found that when I stop fuming I can certainly find a more loving way to put whatever it is I am trying to get out. And well, if there is no time for that, try not to sweat and follow with a large sigh, like you had to get it out or you were going to explode. Then of course apologize for not being able to hold it in. But never for your passion, never for your conviction. It seems that usually the other person understands. They feel just as strongly about something….
There is a difference between calling someone a pervert and calling someone out as having perverted thoughts. I would very rarely, if ever, support someone calling my friend Ashley a bitch, but she sure can act bitchy sometimes. We mustn't stop calling each-other (outside and inside the church) out when we fall. Yes we all fall, but that doesn't mean we shut up about it all together and just…fall. We work at getting back up again. It sucks, it ain't fun, but that's why we need each other. I'm sooo thirsty for some brothers and sisters to start holding me to a higher standard. I have found myself becoming gradually less moral the older I get; I have also been finding my moral integrity in correspondence to the level of moral acceptability that surrounds me.
We don't need to label each other in categories – sometimes it can be called for (ie. Jesus calls the Pharisees “hypocrites” and “snakes in the grass”) though I would suggest that the harshest language is to be reserved for those within the church – yet for all whom we respect and love, we hold to a higher standard. We, like God, love each other just as we are, yet we love each other too much to let each other stay that way.
History has taught us that there are some things that are pretty arrogant to try and “not let stay that way” for example, culture, language, personalities. It's one thing to try and change someone from being an extrovert to an introvert; it's another thing to change the desires of a friend from hard-core partying and getting drunk to social justice initiatives and charity feasts. Everything must change, our challenge it to identify what to change and what not to – the ever popular dilemma of contextualization.
There's more to say, many books are being written on this issue right now. This is an important topic.
I am reading a cool book, The (Un)offensive Gospel of Jesus… the author says we gotta show Jesus before we share Jesus. Remember that bridge illustration? Its like there is another chasm…not just sin between us and God, us Christians are a chasm between God and people.
To often we let religion get in the way of our faith. People are drawn to faith, but religion has something to protect. I saw this graphic over on an atheist blog as well and this resonates heavily with them. Most aren't anti-faith, they are anti-religion, or at least what religion has done to faith. Does that make sense?