Pried Loose’ “A Response, In Love”

Having had not much time to reply individually to posts, comments, etc., I will try to sum everything up here.

First off, an apology. It wasn’t until reading a recent comment from Al that I realized I was wrong in the choice of my blog tagline. He was right when he questioned the motive for using it, and I respect him for presenting that to me in love. So, I have repented and changed the tagline. It isn’t anything “catchy” or whatever, but it isn’t there out of a desire to stir up controversy.

That being said…

Ms. Rebekah of Pried Loose has posted a follow-up entitled A Response, In Love which requires some attention:

he has mostly twisted scripture to support his judgemental view (at one point, i believe he wrote that our job as christians is to judge… anyone? anyone?),

An ample amount is available on the subject of Christian judging, and I wholeheartily recomment the chapter “On Judging Others” available in the book Fascinating Truths by James Knox. In multiple places Christians are commanded to judge; it is our divine right and commission to do so. The book is available here for $7.99, though I can make that chapter available in PDF for free if desired (legally; Knox allows this).

“Try the spirits, whether they are of God” and “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good” are two quotes from memory (i.e., they may not be exact) which come from the Bible and command the question to judge both things (teachings, music, attitudes, books, whatever) and people. Further, we are told to judge amongst ourselves rather than take problems before a civil court. God has granted us the discernment to be judges. It could be said to be a gift, with the Bible as its rule.

One can come up with any excuse they want to for saying that Christians ought not to judge, but it all amounts to simple Bible rejection.

and tried to debate me on something i wish to not debate on… the fact that our job is to LOVE, not to JUDGE. not worth debating in my mind.

We are commanded to grow and strive to be like Christ. Christ judged. Christ loved. If we strive only to love, we are only half like Christ. We judge when we pick our spouse, we judge when we pick our groceries, we judge when we discipline our children, we judge when we pick a home, we judge in choosing a vocation, we judge when choosing a church, we judge in choosing close friends, we judge in choosing which books to read, we judge in choosing what to believe…

Simply put, we couldn’t live without judging, so why should we be surprised that we are commanded to do it?

Now, many will point to the first part of Matthew 7. It simply says to not judge hypocritically. It is a sin to judge someone according to a standard which we would not want or allow ourselves to be judged by as well.

God judges us; if we judged Him by the same standard (Scripture), He would be free from fault. If I judge others (teachers, preachers, whatever), I am prepared to be judged likewise; and while I know I wouldn’t be found faultless, in being judged I could be shown where I need to grow.

Her post continues with a complaint that her comment here did not show up after being posted; I use preventive spam measures which cause some comments to remain hidden until I have a chance to approve them. I have deleted dozens of spam comments, but I have never deleted a legitimate comment, no matter how much I oppose the views expressed therein. Had I done that, none of Michael Wong’s posts would be here (and contrary to what many may think, I count him a friend, but it is fun and sometimes quite enlightening to argue with him…). Ashley Rebekah’s post was never deleted and is available to this day on my blog, for all to see. Sadly, commenters on her blog casted their stones and accused me of deleting her comment because I couldn’t handle it. I would rather ignore a comment than delete it.

Ashley and friends, it is wrong to accuse someone of being judgmental if you yourself are being judgmental; that is a violation of Matthew 7. Ashley, you didn’t so much do it, but your commenters did; I hope you don’t endorse their silliness?

Anyway, that’s it for her post on her blog, so now I will reply to her commenters:

First, there was Pete, who posted making it seem like he understood me completely, labeling me and saying things like “his type” or whatever. An interesting approach for someone who seems to dislike debate and judging. So, Pete, I forgive you for your prejudice against me, and I thank you for whatever prayers you can offer. :) Seriously, though, debate is not “my turf.” However, truth is, and being in Christ, I am in the Truth. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to strive to be of sound doctrine and to want to teach others that as well. After all, if truth and the defense of it was unimportant, what would the point be of teachers, preachers, the Apostles, or even the Bible? Salvation could have been outlined for us in a simple little pamphlet, but God gave us so much more, and told us to then teach the whole counsel of God.

And to Judith, I have to disagree with you on your point that love for one another was the only way the world would know us. Actually, Christ pointed to several different ways that we’d be identified as His disciples. Additionally, it’s interesting to note that the apostles and early Christians were first identified by the world as “Christians” based upon the fact that they spent a week teaching. We are identified by our beliefs as much as by our actions. And whether it is John 3:16 which the world uses to link me to the Lord or the verse that says Christ will have slain before Him those who reject His rule, that’s okay with me. I unconditionally love the Lord, even when His truths seem discriminatory, hateful, or downright wrong to the world or carnally minded Christians.

I’m going to reply to Ashley’s comment here (the one which I was accused of deleting) within the proper thread via another comment.

Thanks to all those who have commented here and over at Pried Loose regarding this. God bless you, and may we all continue to grow in Him.

Also, if anyone has a problem with me over my beliefs and practice, please contact me directly with either Scripture showing where I’m wrong or helpful advice on how to improve my approach. rick@beckman-ministries.com or commenting here. :D

4 thoughts on “Pried Loose’ “A Response, In Love””

  1. Again I ask…

    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.

  2. Rick,

    Do you really thank me for any prayers I can offer? As your brother in Christ, and as a fellow minister of the Gospel (as I assume you must be) I hope you do.

    I hold no ill will against you, and I apologize that I appeared “prejudiced” against you. All I was trying to do was point out that you are not going to be moved in your position through argument any more than Ashley, the author of Pried Loose, was–and that a better course of action might be to not argue anymore, but to pray for each other instead. I know Ashley personally, which is probably why I don’t sound prejudiced against her, while I have never met you. We might have more in common than you think.

    I sincerely apologize for the tone that I took with you on priedloose. It seems to me that nobody is actually talking to each other here, but that you and Ashley are posting rejoinders on your respective blogs, receiving comments from your readers that agree with your responses, but not actually talking to each other. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you’ve disagreed directly, via email, or through some other medium. At the time, though, it didn’t seem that way.

    I do not disagree with your point that making sound judgments is mandated by Scripture–as you’ve amply demonstrated, there is precedent for making judgment. I debated all the way through college and seminary, and I do think there is a place for debate. I just don’t know how useful it is when both sides are thoroughly convinced of their position. Does that seem fair? For that matter, I don’t disagree with any of the statements present in your original blog tagline, either. I agree that speaking the truth is important, even when people are offended by that truth. All I’m trying to say, and perhaps what Ashley is trying to say, too, is that it might be even more effective, while speaking the truth without compromise, to demonstrate love to the person you’re speaking to. Certainly, speaking the truth to them is part of demonstrating love to them, but it isn’t the only way.

  3. Wally: Looks like we both, then, have better things to do with our time. Tell me, why do you read my blog if you’re only end is to judge me for it? What makes any of those things on the list more important than a defense of the faith? Some I can understand; others have me baffled.

    Pete: Thank you for your clarification, and yes I do appreciate any prayers from a fellow believer. I too hold no ill will toward you, for the record.

    No, I have never talked to Ashley; had she emailed me from the beginning, we probably could have forgone this blog vs. blog debate; she seems to have had the bigger army anyway. :P Regardless, it went public with her blog post, and it was answered publically. And it seems to have ended publically as well, at least in regards to my blog tagline, which I have repented of using.

    So now, if we can all live in love toward one another, I’m willing to move on lest further defense need be made.

    God bless.

  4. And apparently now I’m “Mr. Jesus Is Lord”. Well, if that’s how I’m to be remembered, that’s fine with me. That Jesus is Lord is perhaps one of, if not the, most important fact one can know, for with it, all truth falls into place. Jesus is Lord, so the Gospel is true. Jesus is Lord, so His Word is true. Jesus is Lord, so we owe Him our lives. Jesus is Lord, so we owe Him our obedience.

    Jesus is Lord.

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