- I was called anti-Christian because of "anti Christian rhetoric" I have on my Google+ wall. No specifics were given, so I'm still trying to determine what I have posted that could be considered anti-Christian.
- I was accused of supporting the murder of children.
- I was called a liar simply because I stated that some people in very abusive situations do, at times, wish they'd never been born and/or wish they were dead.
Now yes, I do realize it is a bit rude to call someone out in public in this way. But, these accusations were brought to me in a public forum, and therefore, I think I am justified in doing the same (there re days I quite wrongly adopt the eye for an eye mentality).
Allow me to give a short bit of context... we were having a discussion regarding adoption being a better option than abortion. This is something I quite fully support. In fact, the only comment I made in support of abortion (which really isn't even in support of it) is that I stated that while I am against abortion, I would not judge anyone who chooses that path.
Apparently, this makes me a justifiable target for Christian hate.
I bring all this up because I think this is a very serious topic - Christians acting in a very anti-Christian fashion. Supposed Christians acting evil in the name of God.
Every day I am reading over what people have to say in the Christian communities I am a member of on Google+. And every day I see someone judging and condemning others for their beliefs. This is 99% of the time a Christian judging and condemning another Christian.
Some stand behind verses that say we are to correct people when they are wrong. ( I find it necessary to point out that the verse in question on correcting others - “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother." (Matthew 18:15) - says you should correct someone on a sin that was done against you, and you should do this in private. )
But, who are we to judge who is wrong? How can we honestly correct a brother or sister when we are not 100% certain of the correct way?
The correct way is God's way. But, what does this mean? What is God's way? Is God's way that we should not murder? Yes... according to the 10 commandments. Is a fetus alive to the point where it would be murder? I would say yes, but would this be with 100% certainty? No. I am not a doctor, nor am I God. Is God's way that we are not true Christians if we aren't Catholic? (Yes... this is another one I have recently been accused of...) I personally don't believe you have to be Catholic to be Christian. Am I 100% certain of this? Well... no... I'm 99.9999999% certain, but again, I am not God.
What I DO know is this...
And attacking fellow Christians for their beliefs, just because they differ from yours, is not loving one another.“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
I also know we have been told several times in several places within the Bible to not judge others.
Ephesians 4:29I am quite positive that Christianity would be much stronger, and could accomplish so much more, if we would stop bickering amongst each other... if we could stop judging each other... if we could stop calling each other names.... if we could stop being evil in the name of God.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
John 8:7
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Matthew 7:1-5
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
Luke 6:37
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
James 4:11-12
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Romans 2:1-3
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
Romans 14:1-13
14 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess[b] to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
It is true that we are not to judge which translates to do not condemn - It is God who decides who is saved or is not. There are times when we can and should address the issue of sin but that would always be done with love and most often from with in an established relationship. Jesus was clear when he told the woman at the well to go and sin no more. Sadly few people know how to do this well, via the internet is never the place. Most cases someone just misunderstands a comment, or they are just looking to find fault. Seek and you shall find.
ReplyDeleteI most often believe that I share my faith and lead forward from the positive. It really is only God who can change a persons heart.
There is definitely nothing wrong with sharing one's faith - regardless of what that faith is. Even if someone has a faith in which they worship the stars, they are doing nothing wrong in sharing this. But for you or I to attack that person, to not only tell them they are wrong, but to tell them they will not have eternal life because of their beliefs? That is not our place to say.
DeleteThank you for your comment, Jon!