Reading the comments over at Pried Loose concerning both my blog tagline and my response to it posted here two days ago, I have to say that I am somewhat surprised. For people espousing infinite love for all people, they sure have no problem expressing hate toward one of their own. I certainly don’t envy the duality of their position, and I’m certainly not bitter for anything ill said toward me. That’s all well and good; I can say a lot worse about me than they could if I chose to. :P
But seriously, the world says that Christians will be known for their love for one another (Jesus coulda said they’d know us by our love for everyone, but He was very specific in what He said), so why is it whenever a born again believer shouts, stands for, or simply believes the truths of the Bible, His own are the first to hate on him?
I’m reminded of the fact that even Jesus was killed by His countrymen.
I don’t have a Blogspot ID (and have no desire to get one just to get into an argument on the “away team’s” turf) and thus cannot comment on Pried Loose, so I’m using my own means to comment.
For your consideration, I present to you these wonderful expressions of love (quoted verbatim) from comments appearing in reference to me on Pried Loose:
“I like Jesus and I like Elvis, it’s their fans that weird me out.” — Thanks! I do pride myself on being quite weird.
“Yeah, I’m with you. What happened to ‘love your neighbor?’ Our neighbor includes other religions (including the crazy Christians) and especially the overlooked.” — Nothing ever happened to “love your neighbor.” It is still perfectly valid. In love, Jesus said that all those who would not have Him as King would be brought before Him and slain. In love, it was declared to John that all those whose names were not written in Book of Life would be cast into the eternal Lake of Fire. In love, it was declared to Noah that because of the wickedness of the world, God was going to wipe out everyone with a flood. In love, false religions are declared damnable. In love, the shedding of innocent blood (i.e., abortions) is called abominable. If it is “in love” when God says it, it is certainly “in love” when echoed by those called to be of the same mind as He.
“Ummm, yeah. Sometimes love seems quiet compared to the loudness of hate.” — If it isn’t hateful for God to say that sinners are abominable and abhorred, it certainly isn’t hateful for me to call sins sin. ‘Kay, thanks, bye.
“Nice rebuttle!” — That was in reference to the original post about my tagline on Pried Loose. Each phrase of my tagline echoes a biblical truth; I’d hate to be the one rebutting Bible truth!
“You are not wrong Walter, you’re just an [profanity removed]!” — I’m not sure where the name Walter is, but I can only assume this refers to me. Hmmm, one member of the body of Christ (I’m assuming this particular commenter is saved) calling another member of body of Christ an expletive could kinda maybe border on blasphemy.
“. . . mean people stink . . .” — So do people who don’t wear deodorant or those who sweat a lot… Come to think of it, so does rotten food, gasoline, decomposing trash, and more… We live in a stinky world. Welcome to it. :)
“woah! check his blog out again… now he rips into you… check it out… is there something that I’m missing… He found your post about his quote on your website and slammed you for speaking the truth!!!!” — I never ripped into him; unless my memory fails me, I made no personal attack whatsoever. What about the post was offensive? And which part wasn’t biblical? Can someone reprove it using the Bible? I’ll repent when I am reproved scripturally.
“Jesus Bless that man/woman/monster
Then spank him!” — The love expressed in this one is so thick it can be cut like with a knife.
I hope you all enjoyed these as much as I did. Again, read them with joy in your heart, and it’ll be simple entertainment, much akin to those books on Bushisms or “Funniest Things Ever Said” or whatever.
And yes, I know there will be some who say I shouldn’t take them lightly, but it wasn’t as though anything of any substance was posted. I could spout off insult after insult about how many blogs I stumble upon that are written by confessed Christians are laden with profanity, lewdness, or whatever else. I’d much rather write something of substance and rebuke, reprove or admonish from the Bible when I find it is necessary.
I can’t help but wonder if you would still be like this if you had:
A) A scientific education.
or
B) A philosophical education, particularly in the principles of formal logic.
or
C) A few years of actual life experience under your belt, preferably in varied environments and with exposure to different cultures.
“In love, Jesus said that all those who would not have Him as King would be brought before Him and slain. In love, it was declared to John that all those whose names were not written in Book of Life would be cast into the eternal Lake of Fire. In love, it was declared to Noah that because of the wickedness of the world, God was going to wipe out everyone with a flood. In love, false religions are declared damnable. In love, the shedding of innocent blood (i.e., abortions) is called abominable. If it is “in loveâ€? when God says it, it is certainly “in loveâ€? when echoed by those called to be of the same mind as He.”
…I need love like that like I need a fishhook in the eye.
The love you refer to reminds me of the love an abusive father has for the children he beats.
I can’t help but wonder what my post had to do with science, formal logic, or even life experience…
Nor was I aware any of the three trumped God.
Ah well.
For what reason do you believe in Christianity if there is absolutely no proof for it? Is it just a random result of your upbringing in a Western household?
it will be a beautiful day when creation proves science,
and when science proves creation.
scripture says “every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”.
He is Lord, and He’s not above using the science that HE INVENTED to reach people
with His incomparable love. He has in the past… I know many scientists
who have come to faith in Christ becuase of the things they have seen proved with
scientific theory, which in the end pointed to God as Creator.
Who are we to say that God Creator of the Universe and all the cosmos
will NEVER use science to prove who He is? i wouldn’t dare stand before the throne of God
and tell Him that He wouldn’t think to use science to prove His existence. i wouldn’t dare.
and now i would like to quote scripture to you, rick…
matthew 7.1-5 Jesus, the One who is Lord, tells us this:
“do not judge, or you too will be judged. for in the same way you judge others,
you will be judged, and with the measure you use it, it will be measured to you.
why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers’ eye
and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
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?
you hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye,
and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers’ eye”.
i would hate to judge someone in the ways that you seem to, rick, and have that same measure of
judgement held on my head by my Lord. the measure with which we judge each other
will be the measure by which we are judged. and for the ways in which i have judged you,
i have repented. perhaps there is a speck in my eye
that makes me unable to show you the plank in yours.
in like manner, i say that in whatever way i can
show mercy, love, forgiveness, and grace to my brother,
may that same mercy, love, forgiveness and grace be shown to me.
because it is only through and by Christ that i
have any ability to love anyone other than myself with
the kind of love that has been shown to us through the Cross.
Christ COMES and teaches us to live a different way,
to put others above ourselves, and to show them love and patience in everyway
that He has shown us that same love and patience.
as to all the comments made about my ‘jesus is still lord? really’ post, yes i absolutely
believe that Jesus is STILL Lord. He has never not been Lord.
i never intended to insult, judge, hurt, rip on, or blasphemy anyone.
i find differing opinions interesting, i have choose to excercise my freedom and
comment on them.
personally, i do not believe that a tagline reading what yours does will show Christs’ love to
another person, specifically a person outside of Christiandom
(i.e. a homosexual, a mother surviving an abortion, an islam, etc).
but if you, rick, believe that your tagline is helping people
to see, touch, taste, and experience the love of Christ
that will bring every knee to the floor in confession of His name,
then God bless and be with and in you.
we are all on a journey… to find Christ, to find Truth, to love each other through
our differences, and to love everyone both inside and outside of Christiandom.
i hope that we can love each other with our differences,
and to see that Christ shines thru all of us, whether we agree with each other or not.
Jesus is still Lord. and we are still different,
pried-loose
Heya there. I’m not about to villify you because of your Blog’s tagline… I actually ran into your site searching for the lyrics to Matt Redman’s “Worthy”, which I gotta say thanks for. But a thought came to me that I hope you’ll find somewhat helpful…
While every last point of the tagline is true, and to many, uncomfortable truths– are those the first and main words the Apostles would shout at the top of a roof to those they were trying to reach with the news– of both the depths of our joint sin, every last one of us, and the depths of God’s love, justice, and forgiveness in Christ– for every last one of us? And well, if our Lord’s life is an indication of anything, are those the first words Jesus would have uttered on the Mount?
While we must speak the truth about homosexuality, idolatry, and the sanctity of life… we must also speak of them in the context of all sin– amongst which are lust (not hardly the vice of homosexuals alone), lack of compassion, and the worst of which might be pride.
It’s probably no coincidence that Jesus showed the most ire and frustration towards the Pharasees. They didn’t even struggle with the big three in the tagline… but because of their pride, they happened to get that last bit wrong.
So, we gotta ask ourselves… do we bring these areas of sin up as we plead in love to those engaged in those lifestyles to change and repent, to trust in Christ for the power to do just that– or do we do it to accuse and do we divide for division’s sake? Are our words driven by a pride that bellows, “Ha. I know the truth, so there,” perhaps even enjoying some of the ire it provokes, or do we speak it out of a real hope that folks might change, folks might turn to Jesus?
Do we speak it out of a love that’s inseparable from the truth we offer? Or do we pick and choose sins to bring up and emphasize primarily by how much anger and backlash they will generate, then enjoy the reaction as a martyr of sorts– when the reaction is caused at least partly by our own questionable choosing?
Course, that’s not something I can answer for anyone– the same words said by one person can be said by the next for different reasons and from a different heart. But it’s something that bears serious thinking about, cause the last thing we want to do is doing anything for the wrong reasons.
At any rate, I’m starting to realize that as we grow in Christ, there is neither room for pet sins in our lives that we excuse because they seem innocuous enough, nor is there room for pet sins that we make primary issues of as conveniently point at them with what we think are clean hands… because, well, selective truth isn’t.
And yep, Jesus is still Lord.
Ashley,
Sorry about the belated response to your comment, and sorry it didn’t show up immediately; I had to moderate it as my spam filter held it, and I only have access to the Net every few days.
Yes, I am aware of Matthew 7, which condemns hypocritical judgment such as was common with the Pharisees. If I have judged hypocritically, I will repent.
Also, we must be mindful of the fact that Christ does not shine through every believer; what of the one who believes unto conversion but falls back into fornication? The example of 1 Corinthians 5 comes to mind; he was given over to destruction, despite his salvation (which, praise God, is permanent and not affected by our deeds). Did Christ shine through Him?
For years, Christ never shined through me, for I had never made my calling and election sure. Converted, yes. Active in any way, no. I realize I still have a lot of room to grow; I fill my brain, but I don’t exercise my heart enough.
Anyway, thanks for your comment, and from one blogger to another, ditch the software you use, or at least make it so you don’t have to register to them to comment. :P
God bless.
Did it ever occure to all of you that wasting this much time going back and forth on these blogs
could be sinful!
Here are a list of 26 things that you could do if you ditch this whole blogging thing!
Trust me…as crazy as it sounds, any of these could be done in less time than most of you waste on blogging!
A) Serve in a soup kitchen
B) Pray
C) Meditate on Scripture
D) Tutor a little child
E) Pick up a job 4 hours a week and give the money to a needy family
F) Write an encouraging note to someone
G) Visit an elderly person
H) Call a friend and affirm them
I) Volunteer at a hospital
J) Adopt-A-Highway
K) Sit still in the sweet spot of God’s presence and just listen
L) Make a card for someone you love using pictures of them.
M) Ring the bell for Salvation Army
N) Study the book of Philippians
O) Excercise
P) Rake your neighbors lawn
Q) Write a letter to a missionary
R) Write a thank you note to a US military soldier
S) Play catch with a little kid
T) Write your own personal worship song
U) Read a Dallas Willard book
V) Make a meal for a single parent family
W) Have a real live face to face intimat conversation with somebody.
X) Visit someone who is sick
Y) Send scratch and sniff stickers to little children in an orphanage in Mexico
Z) Learn spanish! It will come in handy when you visit those little children in
the orphanage…You know…the little ones with the huge smiles who run and give
you a big hug because you cared enough to think of them instead of spending
ridiculous amounts of time reading and responding to a bunch of other self-absorbed
bloggers.
If it’s such a waste of time, why do you read blogs, why are you here, and why are you commenting?
While only a few of those things in your list actually would be less of a waste of time, I do not feel that the time spent here is wasting, nor are you in any position to judge such. My “discussion” with Ashley of Pried Loose is one of one saint to another and is no more a waste than when the apostles met and discussed in times past. Iron sharpens iron, and that happens through teaching and edification.
And when someone seemingly challenges a statement of my beliefs, I am commanded to defend my faith and give an answer for the hope that is within me. I can show Bible verses to support that. I can find no Scripture telling me to thank the military.