HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Jan. 18, 2006 I have been away on retreat and was going to write a piece about that, but I saw Brian Barbeito’s column: “I Know This Christian” and I wanted to comment. For some reason the world looks at Christians as if they are above everything. The Christian is above sin. The Christian is above temptation. The Christian doesn’t gossip. The Christian doesn’t slander. The Christian doesn’t make mistakes. All of that is wrong thinking. There is no such thing as a “perfect” Christian. The only “perfect” human to ever live was Jesus. It is true that Jesus sets an example for the Christian. Yet, it is also true that no Christian has ever been able to follow that example to the letter. There are those throughout history that have been able to further God’s kingdom on Earth. Doctors Moody, Spurgeon and Schofield come to mind as do Preachers Billy Graham and Billy Sunday among others. As history moved on from the date of the resurrection, so did the memories of those who were among the first witnesses of Jesus’ miracles. Memories fade. We see examples of that these days. How many are ignoring the history that includes the deaths of Americans on 9/11/2001? Was the Nation of Israel immune from the pollutions of idols and false gods when the True God was with them in their temple? No. God had to exact judgment many times against the Jews for ignoring the God of their temple for the idols of their conquerors. So you must ask yourself if the Christian Church is immune from the pollutions of today’s world that agrees sexual immorality is good, while the old ways are prudish and no longer meaningful. Depending on your answer you might want to reexamine your thoughts on what makes up the “perfect” Christian. Certainly the world could use a few billion Christians who have devoted everything to God against all the world’s temptations. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be but a handful over the breadth of the world that holds Jesus before everything. Jesus said that a man who loved father or mother more than him was not worthy of him. A Christian will honor his parents at all times and in all circumstances that are not a result of openly sinful practices. When it comes to love however, the scriptures talk to us of three types of love. The most important of these “agape” is that love of God that overwhelms the lesser loves of family, and friends or things. Christians put things and people in front of God all the time. Sometimes they put a love for themselves before God. We see Christians falling apart all the time. Churches split because some Christian is offended by some other Christian and because a group in the congregation loves the individual who was offended, they flee the church to set up their own congregation somewhere. What you have then are two congregations that are wrong because had they been practicing true Christian fellowship, there would have been reconciliation and blessing allowing God to control the situation. The point is that Christianity is as polluted as every other religion on the planet. If you study “Remnant Theology” you will come to understand that throughout the history of man, God has always only been able to call out the few from the many. The many prefer the lusts of the world and the pride of life to the struggles and trials of the Christian experience. Too many have just quit their calling to surrender to sin and compromise. This is also why people like Brian cannot abide “Christianity”. He equates all Christians now with this one that he personally knows that harmed him. That is sad. It is sad for Brian and it throws tarnish on the Lord that is not warranted. The Christian is to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world”. We are to give the world a different flavor from the flavor produced by the filth of sin. We are to be a light that those in darkness wish to move toward. It is not to be the “red light” of decadence and sin. It is to be a bright-white light that will overcome all shadow. I will not apologize for any Christian who is abusing his calling by mistreating those he is supposed to be supporting and bringing to faith. It is up to the abusing Christian to make the matter right. I can tell Brian that I hope he meets someone who is not so crude who is truly displaying the life of Jesus in his own walk and talk. There are still a few of those out there. ------------ Email Skip: skiptoomaloo@hotmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
