I'm troubled.
I'm bothered.
I'm verklempt.
Please click here to read today's blog post from the Friendly Atheist. Read the blog and the comments as well. And then come back, and we'll discuss amongst ourselves. Ya know.....Coffee talk.
All "Coffee Talk with Linda Richman" jokes aside, this post really got me thinking this morning.
What are we (the church) doing wrong? What are we doing right? What are your thoughts about Hemant's blog? Talk to me.
I don't know where to begin, except on my knees for these lost people.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are jumbled right now, but it's definitely got me thinking, too. I'm going to let it sit before making further comment.
Thanks for sharing this
I think the very hardest thing about living in today's world as a Christian is being able to both stand up for truth, and to show grace. Jesus was perfect at it ("The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14), so we should work harder to be good at it. But it goes against our human nature, I think. We can usually do one or the other, but doing both at the same time is hard. This is why there are Christians out there that are gay-bashing, and there are Christians out there ignoring the truth about the sinfulness of homosexuality. They are only focusing on one side of this coin. (I use homosexuality as the example, since that was the focus of his post...)
ReplyDeleteThe way I feel about it (which isn't necessarily right): Is the Church failing to keep people (especially young people) engaged? Probably. Is it because of it's stance on issues like homosexuality? Maybe. Do we need to work harder to get the message of Jesus Christ to people? Definitely! But at the same time, we need to remember the truth:
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." — 2 Timothy 3:1-5
There comes a time when we just focus on obedience to Jesus, and let the ones who chose to go astray go astray. It's sad, but true...
I feel like my last comment was a bit harsh - don't know if that's the Spirit convicting me, or if I'm just a pansy and can't stand up for what I believe in.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'll say this - Christie is exactly right - we need to pray for all lost people, because God loves them and desires that none be lost, but that all should come to repentance. Forgive me if my previous post didn't keep in tune with this truth...
Troubled Tuesday is most def a fitting title...after reading this my spirit is troubled.... and I now have a stronger urge to pray for our world as a whole. I think that this age we are living in is a result ( I was tempted to use culmination-but don't think this is the end yet) of many generations of tolerance and sometimes promotion of sin by the church as a whole. I agree with Jeremy as to our inability to both stand up for truth AND show grace. Which is exactly what we need to and should have done all along. We are either turning a blind eye or stoning someone to death. Both of which do a multitude of harm. Who wants to be affiliated with a hypocrite or bigot? I also agree with his comment about engaging youth..too often Christianity is portrayed as being boring and a ritualistic with little room for personality or freedom. Do these youth actually believe what they are saying or do so in ignorance, not realizing the detriment. Youth tend to rebel...and as each act of rebellion loses its shock factor the ante is upped- maybe this is the thing that brings the most controversy these days. I am certain this is the tip of the iceberg and we should continue more soundly in love...being burdened for and praying earnestly for lost souls...not to mention being sure to let our lights so shine before men and doing our best not to pose a stumbling block to anyone.
ReplyDelete