This is in reply to a comment made on my post entitled “All In A Days Blog” that really got me thinking.
The Church is full of people who either A. Are Christian but don’t act like it or B. are not Christian at all but try to act like it and this produces a problem for C. the people who really are Christian and try to act like it.
Most people have this ridiculous expectation that they place on Christians of today in order to justify not being one. People will claim that Christians are fundamentalists and they are arrogant and they are not tolerant and they push their beliefs on others and they don’t accept all people and they don’t love and they don’t live up to what I think they should so they are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites and should be ignored.
In our society and in the minds of those people who are against it a Christian has to be perfect in order to reach the world and to not be a hypocrite. *NEWSFLASH* There is no Christian in the world except for Jesus who has or will exist who is not a hypocrite. Every single person who can honestly claim to be a born again believer will at some point or another be a hypocrite. Why? Because we all sin. Every last one of us sins because we are not perfect, and because we are not perfect we therefore do not live up to the expectations that the world places on us which gives the world leverage to pass Christianity off as nothing more than a crutch for those to weak to embrace real life. They scream “hypocrite!” simply for the fact that they don’t want to believe Christianity because it goes against the way they want to live and so they will find any way possible to reject it and what better way to do that than to claim that they do not practice what they preach. Hypocrites!
If every single Christian in the world began to practice humility, compassion, sacrifice, forgiveness, and meekness it wouldn’t solve the problem because we would all still be hypocrites and people who do not whish to accept Christianity would still find ways to condemn us. The fact that we do sin does not give us an excuse not to peruse humility compassion and sacrifice and all of those things that we should become and don’t get me wrong I am not knocking anyone who has this attitude, but I am saying that we are IN THE PROCESS of sanctification. This means that it is an on going change, something that occurs over time and something that will not be complete until the return of Christ which means I cannot be perfect until I am resurrected with my savior. If perfection is a requirement that people place on being a Christian then that is a requirement that no one will complete while they still live on this earth.
My point? Yes you can influence people by the way you live, but that doesn’t change people. Yes you can witness to someone by being humble and kind and compassionate and all of the things that God has commanded us to be, but that doesn’t change people. Bottom line, people don’t save people, God does. It’s God’s word, presence, and power that changes people and it is God who saves them, we are simply ambassadors, we simply carry the message, but we don’t do the changing. We have an obligation to God to live holy and to love people, but we will never be perfect enough to fill those obligations to the fullest, which means people are always going to find problems with Christians. But that is ok because it isn’t the Christian who is in control, nor is it the Christian who is the one who saves people, we simply present the message regardless of what people say and do about it. It isn’t our job to change the world, it’s our job to tell the world about Jesus.
I think that is where many Christians get confused. We focus to much on our own problems and sickness and we remove the focus from Christ. The church will always have sinners in it, the church will always have hypocrites in it, the church will always have lost people in it, which means the church will always have problems in it. You can’t expect a bunch of Christians and hypocrites and lost people and sinners to get together in a big group and not have problems. We are simply humans and cannot be completely perfect, so why should we waste so much time complaining and focusing on the obvious problems that will always be there and spend more time focusing on the message of Christ? It is good to want to change the church and it is wonderful to want to help Christians become more like Christ. It is an awesome thing to help others to become more humble and compassionate and loving. We have so many baby Christians in our churches who don’t know how to act and don’t know how to be more like Christ and it is a wonderful thing to disciple them and help them, but don’t get so caught up that you lose focus on the reason for doing it. To glorify God. It’s not about us, its not about me, it is about God. We are becoming sanctified not for the world but for God in order to glorify him more an more. Compassion and love for others and humility and kindness are not just learned behaviors that we must discipline ourselves to do but they are behaviors that stem from a loving relationship with God. The more we love God, the more we glorify God and the more and more we become like him then the more compassionate we will be and the more humble we will be and the more love we will show. It’s all about the savior and our increasing relationship with him. We love God first with all of our heart, mind, and soul and out of that then we love people. Will we still be hypocrites? Yes. But not for long… soon enough we will be with our savior, and I cannot wait for that day!
Pressed
Whenever I encounter someone who condemns Christianity on the grounds of people being hypocrites, I remember the words to one of Steve Taylors old songs: “You’re hypocrites, your such a bore!/Well come on in! There’s room for one more!”
Excellent post. Thanks for this.. it is so true.
I’m assuming the comment you referred to was mine. I think you misunderstood my point. Every single Christian out there is sinful, including myself. I know that. I’m probably worse off than anyone. But can we really blame people who have such negative opinions towards Christianity when so often love and forgiveness are given the boot in favor of a religious smack-down? If churches can preach against sexual sin so forcefully, why is it then evil to mention that God desires mercy?
I think that a lot of people have “negative opinions towards Christianity” for very good reasons. I never said that. It’s obvious that people can view Christianity in a negative light especially since we have so many different kinds of people in so many different levels of christianity. Being a christian happens in a stage. People don’t get saved and immediatly become perfect examples of Christ, that takes time and discipleship. So we have strong christians, baby christians, mediocre christians and non-chrsitains acting like christians all in the same group so people are going to mess up and do stupid things and yes others who view Christianity will have a negative opinion on it and no I don’t blame them.
But does other people haveing a negative opinion about christianity mean I should flush my values down the commode and accept what people do as ok without saying anything about it? That is what people want. In order for me to be loving to the world I would have to let people do what they want and not say anything about it, otherwise I am a biggot and I am a hater simply because I say what they do isn’t what God wants. How do you really show love to people? By trying to tell them what they are doing isn’t right and will hurt them so that they can have a better life or do you love them by not telling them what they are doing is wrong, let them do whatever they want and let them destroy themselves? People want me to be tolerant for the simple fact that they don’t want to be told what they are doing is wrong, but I dare say it would be wrong for me not to tell them.
If by telling people that what they are doing is against the absolutes that God has in place for people is what you call religious smack-down then by all means everyone should be doing it. That is exactly what the Bible does, it tells people what is right and what is wrong. But it also talks about forgivness and compassion and love I agree. And I am more than willing to forgive and have compassion on a repenting sinner any day. But how can forgivness take place if there is no repentance? Do you mean by forgivness that tolerance and acceptance is needed? God’s mercy is not evil to speak of, but it is conditional…
–But does other people haveing a negative opinion about christianity mean I should flush my values down the commode and accept what people do as ok without saying anything about it?–
My question is, if convicting other of sexual sin and the like is okay, why the big blowup when one speaks up about the lack of love, compassion, forgiveness and mercy? Is not being unmerciful also a sin we must address, or should be all keep quiet about that because “nobody is perfect?”
Maybe you are misunderstanding my point. I am not saying that having mercy, love, compassion, and forgivness is something that should be slighted. And you are also mis-understanding who is doing the convicting of sexual sin. The Church and the Christian does not have to condemn sexual sin because the Bible does it for us. The Bible directly mentions the evils of sexual sin over and over again and the effects it has on those who practice it. Showing mercy (in the sense that I think you are mentioning it.) does not in anyway mean refraining from telling others that their sexual acts are wrong (or Religious Smackdown as you previously called it.), because if that were the case then the Bible itself shows no mercy. Mercy is in fact the act of not giving others what they do deserve. Sexual offenders and sinners in general deserve death, but God shows us mercy by allowing us to live. I think mercy is the act of giving others a chance to correct their wrongs without instant condemnation. They do nothing to deserve the chance, but by mercy they get it anyway. By telling someone that what they do is sin is a way for us to help them to repent of that sin and turn from it. By giving people the chance to change I believe we are showing mercy, love, compassion, and kindness.
If I am doing something wrong and I don’t really believe that it is wrong then someone who comes along and lets me know that my action is wrong whether I want to hear it or not is showing me love, compassion, and mercy. The person cares enough for my life that they want to let me know of my wrong. Someone who cares nothing for me will just let me go on doing what is wrong and in the end I suffer the concequences of something that may have been prevented. That person does not love me, but in fact cares nothing for my life. Mercy, Love, Kindness, and compassion work together with correction and conviction. It all comes in one big bundle.
What I feel you are saying is that we spend so much time bashing those who do wrong that we don’t show them love, kindness, gentlness, and mercy and therefore they hate christianity because of it. What I am saying is that telling others what the bible says about sin and letting them know that their actions are against the holy standard of God is not bashing them but showing them love, compassion, kindess, and mercy, and it is because of simply telling them the truth that they hate christianity because it would force them to give up the lifestyles they currently live in order to live according to God’s standards.
It seems as though you are saying we ought to speak up about other sins, as we should. But when I dared to speak up about the sins of the lack of mercy and forgiveness in the church, you countered me with “well no Christian is perfect, so there!” This is a terrible double standard that non-Christians recognize and see clearly. We can’t speak about one sin and ignore another.
By the way, I never said (nor did I mean) that bashing should be defined as telling others that what they’re doing is wrong. But bringing light to one’s sin is not the same as lusting after control of others, which unfortunately the church has struggled with.
Actually this post was not a counter to your comment at all. Your comment basically got me thinking about hypocrisy and I decided to write a blog entry on it. I never said “well no Christian is perfect, so there!” as you have falsely quoted me saying. But now that you keep mentioning it I have decided to go back and take a look at your original comment.
“Much of the reason that conservative evangelicals are hated in America is not because of simple beliefs.” - I would disagree. Most people hate conservative evangelicals because of their beliefs. Speaking out against abortion, homosexuality, liberalism, and speaking up for biblical inerrancy, expository preaching, and conservative theology will get you hated fast.
“Unfortunately, the stereotype of the nasty power-seeking fundamentalist did not come out of the air.” - For someone who is condemning Christians for double standards here you are speaking about the lack of mercy and forgiveness in the church and at the same time slandering conservative Christians by calling them a bunch of power-seeking fundamentalist.
“Arrogance of the religious kills the seeds of faith.” - What do you call Arrogance? Most would say that arrogance is when a Christian claims to be right over someone else’s belief. So if claiming that God’s word is inerrant and true above all other things is arrogance then yes I am arrogant and every Christian should be. If arrogance is presenting absolute truth to people who do not believe in it then I will continue to be arrogant. I would like to know where you find in the bible that non-believers have a seed of faith. Aren’t people who do not know Christ spiritually dead? You can’t kill a seed that is already dead.
“In today’s church humility, compassion, sacrifice, forgiveness, and meekness have no place.” So by “today’s church” do you mean all churches? That is a mighty big claim that all churches in the world have absolutely no place for humility, compassion, sacrifice, forgiveness, and meekness. Or maybe by “today’s church” you simply mean believers. That is another mighty big claim to say that all believers have no place for those things. I think no matter which way you look at it the statement that you made is false. Now I would agree that some people do not practice those things, but certainly not all.
“For this reason, many are not persecuted for their Christianity, but their lack of it.” - I agree, many people are persecuted for their lack of Christianity as should be, but not as much or as many who are persecuted for simply standing up for truth.
“My question is, if convicting other of sexual sin and the like is okay, why the big blowup when one speaks up about the lack of love, compassion, forgiveness and mercy? Is not being unmerciful also a sin we must address, or should be all keep quiet about that because “nobody is perfect?” - I agree that mercy and forgiveness should be practiced by Christians and by the churches, but I do not agree with the reason you are implying that it is not in the church today. What is being implied by you is that the church speaks out against sexual sin and yet in doing that it does not show forgiveness, compassion, and mercy and I completely disagree with that. By speaking out against sin I am not being unmerciful, but in fact I am showing mercy, love, compassion, and forgiveness. That is the bottom line, but I have already said that.
I was quoting your attitude, not your exact words. And yes, many Christians today do not practic love. They believe love is nothing more than telling others they are sinful. Should people convict others of sin? Absolutely? Is this all of what love is? Absolutely not.
When Christ died on the cross he used one his very last breaths to whisper a prayer of forgiveness for those who had put him there. He did not say, “Father forgive them if they come back to you on their knees and beg.” He said, “Father, forgiven them, for they know not what they do.”
Love is praying for the souls of your enemies, doing good to those who hate you, and returning evil with good. Love is bold, radical, and sacrificial. True love today has been replaced with an eye-for-an-eye mentality that Jesus spoke out against. I will pray for you.
I feel like what you have been saying this whole time is that I should give up my convictions and my witness in order to show love and mercy and so I have been trying to defend that this whole time even though that may not even be what you were saying.
What I think you think that I am saying is that convicting others of sin is the important thing and love isn’t so you have been defending love even though that is not really what I was saying.
But it seems like we both agree that love, compassion, kindness, gentleness, and conviction are all part of the christian life and so there is really no argument. It’s really difficult to understand peoples intentions and motives on the internet when you don’t see facial expressions or hear the tones in their voice.
I know nothing about you really so for me to say that you are giving up moral christian convictions in order to love is wrong of me and I apologize. You also know nothing about me so to say that I am throwing away love in order to practice the eye-for-an-eye mentality is also wrong of you. Seems as though we are bearing false witness against each other, and as I read through the comments we agree on most of it. You agree that conviction of sin is important, and I beleive that love is important and yet we accuse each other of the opposite.
I never said convicting people of sins is all of what love is, that is a twist of my words. I work with teenagers every week and I have to show love, compassion, gentleness, kindness, patience, mercy, and by golly a little conviction too. And I know people in our church who do love and pray for their enemies and who do practice these things and who are genuine in their faith. I agree that there are many christians out there who do not practice these things because there are many christians out there who simply don’t know how because many churchs have stopped dicipleship for emotionalism. I understand that there are people who do not show love and mercy and compassion and I do not disagree with you when you say that these things are important and that in many cases they are not practiced, I agree with all of that.
You make it sound like I go out and get in some homosexuals face and tell him that he is wrong and that he is a worthless peice of scum who needs to go rot. That would not be showing love at all and I never do that. Simply sharing the word is not at all using love as a whippin stick as you have so accused. But I am sorry that you feel that way.
Bottom Line: God commands us first to love. The greatest commandment is to Love God with all of you heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as you love yourself. He also commands us to be holy as he is holy. He has created a new life in us, the old is gone and the new has come. He has also started the process of sanctification in us, slowly but surely making us more and more like his precious son, though we will never be perfect until the day we are with him. Jesus showed us how to both convict and love those who are sinners in a perfect way. Both things are a part of the christian life, sharing the word of truth and love. The greatest of these things is love!
I was raised a Christian/Pentecostal my mother was a rageing Pentecostal so It flowed over to me but I am not what I seem to be. I go to church every Sunday but I am very mean willed toward my family and the people they know If I don’t like them. I even abused one of my sons and abused his childern. But I still went to church and alot of people think I am GREAT so I would rather live like this so I will have It to hide behind If It comes out about the abuse then noone will believe It.
I was raised a Christian/Pentecostal my mother was a rageing Pentecostal so It flowed over to me but I am not what I seem to be. I go to church every Sunday but I am very mean willed toward my family and the people they know If I don’t like them. I even abused one of my sons and abused his childern. But I still went to church and alot of people think I am GREAT so I would rather live like this so I will have It to hide behind If It comes out about the abuse then noone will believe It.
I just had this almost exact conversation with my dad tonight. Pressed I said to him exactly what you said here “You make it sound like I go out and get in some homosexuals face and tell him that he is wrong and that he is a worthless peice of scum who needs to go rot. That would not be showing love at all and I never do that. Simply sharing the word is not at all using love as a whippin stick as you have so accused. But I am sorry that you feel that way.” i personally think in my case that he(my dad) is trying to make me come up with the bible verses which states we are to judge inside the church and not those who are not inside the church. Which does not mean I believe that we should not tell others what the bible says with love and compassion, kidness, gentleness, conviction. It is not us that’s making them mad and hating christians it’s GOD’S WORD the world hates it. Believe me when I say this, i’m not yelling. How else do you share Gods Word with the non-christian, one might say well like this, Hi how are you doing today, do you have a minute? Sure what’s up. Do you know Jesus Christ? No man. Well let me tell you that He came to this earth sent by His Father in heaven to save man from death because of our sins. Every one born into this world is born in sin, did you know that? End of Story. Well that man/women could have turned to the christian and said “why are you accusing me of sin(because he did say) ” because of our sins. Every one born into this world is born in sin”, and “who do you think you are telling me I’m a sinner” but yes the christian did say that verblely but God spiritualy said it. And that’s what made him get mad not the christian. That could have most definetly turned to be a good outcome, where the man says, “REALLY, TELL ME MORE”. God bless and look to Him for the answer. By the way does anyone know what verse I was referring to earlier ” i personally think in my case that he(my dad) is trying to make me come up with the bible verses which states we are to judge inside the church and not those who are not inside the church.”
I would greatly appriciate it. Oh yeah and when my dad was trying to tell me it is wrong to witness that way, he was witnessing to me the exact way I witness. I love my dad alot and I know he loves me, and that’s really what matters. I witness this way because of love for the other person. If I didn’t love the other person than I would’nt even care. By the way does anyone know what verse I was referring to earlier ” i personally think in my case that he(my dad) is trying to make me come up with the bible verses which states we are to judge inside the church and not those who are not inside the church.”
I would greatly appriciate it. Thanks your friend in Christ.
Mark
Looks like I said something twice in there sorry.
If you are looking for the bible verse that says we should judge inside and not outside, that is in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. It’s at the very end of the chapter. Paul says, “what buisness is it of mine to judge those outside the church.” Which to be honest, I agree. I agree based on what the definition of the word judge means in this passage. However, if you define the word “judge” as most people define it when they think of this passage and others like it then no I do not agree. Judging someone is not telling them they are a sinner. That is pointing out the obvious! Judging is comdemning someone or casting a verdict upon them. What Paul is talking about here is Judging the man inside the church who is sleeping with his fathers wife. To judge this man is to kick him out, “church disipline.” When I say to someone who is living in sin, “hey you are living in sin” I am not judging them, i’m simply informing them. If I were to go up to them and say “hey you are nasty sinner and you deserve to die” and shoot them in the face, then I have passed judgment upon them… It is God who will judge those outside of the church, but it is our job to take care of those immoral brothers inside the church.
I agree, thanks. Hey Pressed I have a question for you, kay you know this verse “Romans 14:13-18
“Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men” (NIV), right, so my friend has a Islam symbol hanging in his window, you know the one with the cresent moon and the five point star inside the cresent of the moon, so is that a liberty he has, to have that symbol hanging in his window or should I let him know that that is the symbol for islam. Is it possible that he will say well it is just a moon which God created and a star which God created so… How do we know what, libertys are or not? I hope I made sense. Thanks.
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