Quote:
Originally Posted by BishopRidge
Just as Jesus Christ never condoned or approved of sin, Christians must not condone or approve of sin. We are called to resist evil and to avoid sin. The world wants to force Christians to give a little. Reject God a bit. Welcome some sin it it's viewed ok by the world. Christians cannot compromise with the world. That is the real issue here. It is the hatred of the world trying to force those who serve God to give in on some sin.
As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord! 
Your sin and my sin is SIN. And I have enough love to tell you the truth just as Jesus would.
I have a personal struggle with the SIN of gluttony. I try to keep it under control. But the most important thing is I recognize and am honest enough to acknowledge it is a sin. Those who deny a Sin is a Sin are liars and murderers and reject God. Plain and simple.
My earnest prayer is that all will recognize their sin and come to Christ, walk with us together as we strive to overcome sin and come to know and give the real love of Christ. Now that is Agape love in action. |
If you are a glutton, then you are no different spiritually than a liar, murderer, or, in your eyes, a homosexual. I, too battle with overeating. Any sin puts you on common ground with every other sinner---standing in need of a Savior.
Does accepting Christ as Savior lead to sinless perfection? I don't think so. And because I stand in the muck of sinfulness I need a Savior. I have no problem at all with alcoholic beverages. Does that mean I should start threads about alcoholics being sinners who are harming their families and society, and endangering their lives and, if they drive, the lives of others? Should I cry point my finger at them and tell them they will burn in hell? Will that approach make them want to turn to Jesus?
And all the while that I am self righteously telling alcoholics what sinners they are I am stuffing my face with an extra slab of barbecue ribs, harming myself, contributing to increasing the already outrageous costs of privatized health insurance and feeling good about myself for not being like those disgusting drunks. Should I be trying to set someone else straight on their sin while engaging in my own?
That's what heterosexuals are doing even if they believe homosexuality to be immoral. Every single one of you is engaged in some behavior that is not good in the sight of God. Yet you wish to self righteously berate others for a "sin" which has no pull against your moral fiber while remaining involved in your own sin.
On judgment day when all our sins come to light are we going to protest to God that we told others about their sin while still immersed in our own?
That is the fallacy and lie of all these "homosexuals are evil" threads.
I know I'm evil. I know I need forgiveness, so I treat other sinners with great care and kindness because that is how I want my Savior to treat me. Just as Jesus will not see my sin, I try to not see sin in anyone else.
The only "open season" Jesus had was with religious people who saw themselves as better than others. If one is pointing out another's sin, it is only because he doesn't wish to face his own. It is an attempt to ameliorate the ugliness in one's own soul by claiming someone else is worse.
People are won to Christ not by anyone pointing out how sinful they are--God doesn't need our help in convicting others of their sin. People are won to Christ when one openly admits "I am a sinner, too, and if God can rescue me He can rescue you. He is the one who will guide you in the direction you should go. And if you spend the rest of your life treating others as you wish to be treated, you are well on your way to walking in the steps of Jesus."
I love you if you are a leper. I love you if you are a prisoner. I love you if you in spite of your alcoholism, your gluttony, or your homosexuality. I'm going to treat you with the same respect I wish for myself.
About 400-500 posts ago I related how after the death of my wife's sister one of her daughters eventually came to live with us. She had been with us (at age 12) for about six months when she told our son (same age) about another uncle with whom she had a "secret." He had molested her off and on for two years following her mother's death. Our son, God bless him, told her that was not a secret he could keep and she would either have to tell us or he would.
She finally came to us and there were many tears and much heartbreak in my wife's greater family as we had to face her other sister's husband. He admitted to sexual molestation. The greater family wanted to see the other uncle "get help" from a psychologist and keep it from the authorities. As my niece's guardian I knew that I had a moral obligation, and as it turned out a legal obligation to report it to the police. I sat with my niece as she had to relate numerous incidents that involved everything but intercourse. And she had to relate it to a police officer, a prosecutor, a representative of the cabinet for human resources, and finally a psychologist on different occasions.
My wife's family stood up for her brother-in-law because, they said, taking him away from his family would just mean more misery. On the day in court my wife and I sat with our niece on one side of the courtroom and the rest of her family (my in laws, her brother and other sister) and all my wife's brother-in-law's family sat on the other. We were there in case my brother-in-law recanted and we had to have a trial. But he confessed and the judge sentenced him to five years in the state penitentiary.
And do you know who visited him in prison? His parents? My in-laws? Even his own wife. No they did not. I visited him and prayed with him and took him cigarettes. My niece asked why. I told her I visited him because I loved her and didn't want her to mistakenly believe that anyone's evil action would ever cut them off from God. That treating others with respect and compassion, even if they have harmed us, is the only way to show others that following Christ is serious business. Calling him a pedophile and telling him to rot in prison wouldn't help him look introspectively.
Was it tough for us? You betcha. We were no longer invited to family events--my niece and son basically lost their maternal grandparents for awhile because one son-in-law was "responsible" for sending the other one to jail. I did not fret over it. About three years into his sentence, out of the blue my wife's brother-in-law sent my niece a letter apologizing for what he had done and telling her that she was in no way responsible for anything that had occurred. And that was a huge relief because our niece carried a great deal of guilt that she was partly responsible for the intermittent molestation (she was ten when it began) and she thought she was the reason for our greater family splitting.
But guess what? When you love and don't finger point, when you follow Jesus' command to love even your enemies and treat them with respect, good things happen. At the H.S. Graduation of my niece and son, we invited our in-laws-----and they came. The healing process began in our greater family.
Telling others how awful they are is never an effective way to demonstrate Christ. Loving, respecting, and caring are the path to Christ for the lost, and the road to a closer walk with Jesus for the practitioner.
There is never, ever a reason for a man or woman of God to call any other human being an abomination for anything that person may have done, or to feel justified because somebody wrote it in a codified book two thousand plus years ago. It reflects more on the one doing the name calling than it does on the one it is directed towards.
If I'm going to make a mistake, God grant me the inner strength to make my mistake in loving, accepting, and forgiving. Jesus seemed to do a lot more of that than anything else.
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