Christian Love's extension to Homosexuals and Abortionists
As Christians we are called to Love, in fact it is considered by Jesus to be the second most important commandment next to loving God.
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, *perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
29 Jesus answered him, "The *first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' *This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'* There is no other commandment greater than these."(Mark 12:28-31)
By the Apostle Paul it is considered to be the greatest of all Spiritual gifts by saying that no matter what of the spiritual gifts you have if you are without Love you are nothing!
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body *to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.(I Corinthians 13:1-3)
And again he says:
For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," *"You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet,"* and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."* 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.(Romans 13:9-10)
Often times when you hear people speak about why they came to Christ it is because of how they felt Loved by the church or one or two or so people in the Church (body of Christ), as well as seeing the Love these people demonstrated, through their life, to others. At my great-grandmothers funeral a woman got up and spoke about how my great-grandmother had been influential in her life, especially in her coming to Christ. When she spoke of the things about my grandmother that helped bring her to Christ she spoke of the love my great-grandmother had shown her and this was the big thing that had lead her to Christ. She did no however say it was because she told me I was sinning or that I needed to stop, but of the love that was shown her by Christ through my great-grandmother.
At this point you are probably thinking "Well duh!! Tell me something I don't know!" The reason I bring this up is that today many Christians spends a greater amount of their time and energy talking about the fact that abortion is evil because it is the murdering of babies, and or Homosexuality is evil because it is against God's Will. I quite agree with both of these points, Homosexuality and Abortion are evil, but what is the point of arguing this with those outside the church? Is not the fact that they are immoral slightly insignificant in comparison with their current separation from Christ? Is it not more important that they find Christ than just to do the things he would consider right? I answer that it is far more important to bring people to Christ than to force them or even convince them what is right and wrong. It all starts with Christ, because if we can show him true and right then through doing that we can show the bible true and right and it goes on and on, but it starts with Jesus!!
If having Love is more important than any Spiritual gift as Paul describes in I Corinthians 13, isn't that what ought to be pursued especially concerning those who are hurting and rejected and need it the most? These people are the very people we are preaching against, calling immoral, and withdrawing ourselves from. Is this the Love of Christ or our own ambitions to avoid difficult relationships and remain judgmental as well as creating our own little society, but there is a huge problem with this mentality. Namely it isn't what we are commanded to do by Christ!!
I am not saying that we should ignore the fact that these things are wrong but have faith in God to change these people who come to God in these conditions and become friends with them and in the manner discussed in the bible bring it before them and show them the scriptures indicating what it is they are doing wrong, and why its wrong. But when dealing with non-Christians it becomes more difficult because you can’t just open your bible and say the bible says it so its true, they don’t believe the bible or else they would be Christians. Therefore to be their friend and try to help them we must not treat them like heathens for living the way they think is right. We need instead to live our lives in a good Christian manner and take advantage of the opportunities God gives us to witness to them in whatever way we can without being overbearing and pushing them away rather than bringing them closer to God. I have had many conversations with non-Christians about homosexuality being wrong and without using the bible, which is what you have to do with non-Christians because if they believed the bible they would in fact be Christians, it is very difficult to show them why homosexuality is wrong. But if you are speaking with a Christian and a close friend at that, then they will be more willing to listen to you for one because they know that you care and will also be more receptive to what the bible says because they believe in it. But I would say that its something you say once, maybe twice and then let it go. Some people would not like me saying this but it is what I believe to be true, and for this reason: If you continually hassle them about it they don’t see the love of Christ in you, they see the condemnation, and while God is about Truth, which is something we must leave to him. We do not convict people of sin, as we read in the Gospel of John speaking of the Holy Spirit or the helper who is to come when Jesus is gone: "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment :"(John 16:8 NKJV). Therefore we need not think that God needs us to convict people of their sins with our many words. God may in fact do this, but many times he will use our actions to show others what they should be doing.
We hear they are dating the wrong guy so we have the youth group talk about bad relationships. We describe him and call him trouble. Shortly there after she gets pregnant and we say "I told you so." Then she decides she can't bear this burden alone and she is not going to ask those people who are constantly looking down on her for a mistake she made and can't change. She can't bear to feel the judgment once a week, that’s why she stopped attending church, why would she want to have it full-time. As a result she takes, what seems to her, her only remaining option, because the guy doesn't want it and refuses to support her if he hasn't run off yet, and goes to the clinic and has the problem removed. Before the word reaches our ears at the church he has already begun shouting "murderer" and she can hear it before she comes into the church.
I find it quite amazing what Love is shown by the church to those who need it the most. I mean it seems like we do exactly what Jesus would do, tell the woman at the well she’s too immoral for us to be around, put the man who was tormented by demons in solitary confinement, send the women caught in adultery to the electric chair as an example. Wait a second that’s not what Jesus did at all. No not only did Jesus not do these evil things to these people, he reached out and said come to me, for even if no one else will I will Love you. We as Christians are supposed to mirror Christ, we are his representatives to this lost world so we are required to do as he would do or we are not really his followers, but a group of modern day Pharisees.
Then suppose there is this girl who was abused as a child, but even though we all know this was not her fault at all we always kind of look down on her. Also as a result of this abuse or other form of abuse she has desires for other women, or even possibly just as a result of the way she was made (""footnote"" I realize this last comment is going to upset many of you and I would like to point out that I am not in the least saying people are born gay or anything of the sort but I do believe people are born with unnatural desires, if you disagree think of the unnatural desire a man has for a woman who likes women, or ask yourself if men have a desire to sleep with only one women their whole lives). Now growing up in the church or no she realizes the views held by most Christians today that her desires are not just unnatural but evil, but more than that anyone who has then is themselves evil, and whenever it is talked about everyone gets quiet and listens intently so they know who to avoid or who is the big sinner leading everyone to hell, not that I think that is what people actually believe but you could easily get that impression the way it is talked about in church. She would probably come to the conclusion that it is one of the worst things in the world to have done in the eyes of churchgoers, which is not biblical because it is not sin that keeps us from heaven but our being out of sync with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a result she keeps quiet about her feelings around her churchgoing friends and especially their parents and either holds the feelings in, which is not healthy, or talks about them with her more accepting friends, these tend to be the more liberal crowd. And they know no more about the truth then anyone but tell her just the same that there is nothing wrong with it and that she should not be ashamed of it. We think of these people as evil, when in fact they are only ignorant of the truth while we are ignorant of love. They have love and they show it to her but accepting her and because of their love for her they lie, maybe not knowing they are lying but regardless they do, so that she feels better about herself, now while what they did was wrong they did it because they loved her. Even though she never said anything to her churchgoing friends they either find out or suspect something so she always feels their judgment on her. As a result she spends more of her time if not all of it with those people who accept her. Who wouldn't? Who really wants to be constantly judged and under pressure, especially to follow the rules of something they don't believe? I wouldn't!! As a result these people, out of a combination of Love and ignorance, continue to nurture this feeling along and the desires are becoming stronger and stronger. Although she has had boyfriends from time to time, because in high school it is very dangerous to be openly gay, because high schools judge people almost as much as the church does. As a result she takes advantage of the high school excuse that seems to work for everything, which is simply being drunk, and on a few occasions experimented with other girls, most of whom were only trying to get the attention of some of the guys at the party because they know the effect it has on them. These experiments only affirm her feelings, although bringing along the baggage of her conscience telling her it is wrong. Her friends continue to comfort her and whets more to tell her those feelings of the conscience were only their because of the thoughts and ideas from the church people. As a result not only does she think it is right more and more but all her feelings of guilt turn into anger toward Christians and the church. As a result she even refuses to attend church on holidays, a time in which she normally wouldn't have minded going with her friends in the past, but now all she feels is judgment when she is their.
At this time she turns away from Christ because of his earthly representation because all she sea’s them doing is showing their hatred toward anyone who does not agree with them and even to some who agree with them. She decides that she does not want to worship or even know a God that hates her or anyone.
At this point she heads off to college where she again falls in with the crowd which is accepting of her, which the Christians call the wrong crowd. In this crowd she meets other girls like herself, and a short while later she begins dating girls. The relationships always start of great, but after a while something is lost. She is continuing to blame all of her guilt and shame on the Christians who make her feel bad about doing something which is right. Her sexuality is well known on campus as she had been very open about it and even kissed a bit in public, I mean straight couples do it so why should they be any different, and she remembers the looks she would get from the Christians on campus. She is struggling with her sexuality again, wondering if she really is gay. She begins talking with some of her friends, but makes sure to avoid the Christians because she knows their answer and fears their condemnation. While the debate rages on in her head she meets another girl and decides to give this life another try, afraid it is right but at the same time fearing it to be wrong.
During this time of questioning the debate grows about "Same-Sex Marriage" and all of the anti-homosexual movements. She also notices, as would be impossible not to, that the majority of people fighting against it are Christians, claiming God is on their side. So she continues to take her questions, not to those who should be Christ’s representatives wanting to help her out of this nightmare, but to the friends who seem to love her unconditionally. She goes where she sees love.
Now I would hope that this story would end with her meeting some Christians who showed her true love, unconditional love, and helped show her what Christ is all about. Yes I said show her and allow her to see the Love of Christ, and see these people not judging her. Now this story is speculative, but I hope to have a real one, about the anxieties put on these people by the Christian community. I also believe that while it is speculative that it represents a lot of the fears and reasons people of that community turn away from Christianity, which is supposed to be about Love and truth but has become a springboard to condemnation.
Now of course many of you are thinking, okay he's got a point but we can't condone their behavior, God tells us its wrong, and you would be quite right in saying this. But at this point I would say: what is it that brings people out of sin? That brought you out of sin? That is still bringing all of us out of our sins more and more each day? Is it out of a fear of condemnation from others in the church? If so I am sorry for you because that is not what Christ intended. Or is it the conviction of the Holy Spirit, which not only shows us we are wrong but helps us change? Do we want to give people a leg up or kick them while their down in yelling at them? What would Christ do? I think you know the answer!
Now don't get me wrong I have been right their with you holding up the sign that says "guilty" and "stone him, stone him!!" but the Lord has shown me how he led me out of my sin and to his side, and this was through Love and encouragement. But believe me when I start thinking about people growing in Christ, it never comes fast enough, I am never satisfied, or I never used to be but since the Lord showed my the truth I have slowly become more content with the progress others have made in their walks and more satisfied. He led me to think about how long it took me to start living for him after I decided to, how I didn't just all of a sudden do a 180, but instead slowly stopped doing wrong and slowly began doing right, it was gradual. Now there are some people who seem to make 180 degree turns and it seems sudden but I think in many cases it’s just sudden concerning their action and they really have been thinking about it for a while and finally made a decision, but in reality it was a gradual process of being shown the truth.
Since the Holy Spirit is the sin reducing factor what must we do to cleanse them of their sins? Well we have asked the wrong question, the question we should have asked is how can we help these people find Christ and the freedom that he brings? The answer is the same for both questions, it’s a four letter word called LOVE!! Or as one of our church fathers said "‘Preach always,’ said St. Francis of Assisi. ‘If necessary use words.’"(Rabey pg.29)
Now an excuse I have heard from many people regarding this issue is that the reason we are trying to instill these laws is that we love them and don't want them to have to deal with the pains that accompany these sins. While I am moved by this statement every time it is made because this is the kind of Love God has for us, and he wants us to avoid evil because he knows the effects it will have upon us. But if God were to act the way we would then he would have made us robots, because not wanting us to sin he would make us incapable of sin. But regardless of this if we don't allow them to do this sin which they want to do, we are in no way bringing them closer to Christ, which is the end to which we should be working! Even if they aligned themselves with our beliefs about what is right and wrong they still are without God, so our main effort needs to be to bring them to Christ not force them to stop sinning, especially since its their position with God that is the real problem. They are still in their sin, further from you, further from Christ, which is true love "" another CS Lewis quote!!"", "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."(I John 4:8 NKJV) But since they have never known this true love, but have been seeking love, in one form or another, they will continue to seek for it in places in which they know love to be hoping to find it, and in places where they feel love. So they will stick with their notion of love until we show them the true love of Christ that "which passes knowledge."(Ephesians 3:19b NKJV) This is a love that says without saying, I love you, no matter what your past is, I love you, no matter what you ever do, I love you even if you hate me, I love you and I always will. If you need a hug, I’m here, if you need to cry, my shoulder is available, if you just need to talk, I’ll listen, if you want advice, I’ll talk. Whatever it is that you may need I will be there for you. This is the love of Christ and by this we are compelled because that is how he loves us!! "We love Him because He first loved us."(I John 4:19 NKJV)
I believe that our attempts in recent years to fight gay rights movements have been and still are a vain attempt to legislate morality. While I wish it were that easy I know in my heart that it is not. Looking back through history you find that morality is not something that can be legislated. During a Mike Heath speech at the University of Maine at Farmington, I heard him say that up until 2 years ago 15 or 17 states had laws against sodomy. It’s funny that he was fighting to keep gay marriage from being legalized in Maine, because this piece of evidence seems to help my case that you can't legislate morality, which is what he is trying to do. I say my point when in fact it was something I heard and then further developed from Ross Hickey. It’s clear that regardless of the laws people who want to have homosexual relationships with each other are going to continue to have them regardless of laws. This is why we as Christians need to do our part and help to instill the law of Christ, which people actually listen to, and to do this we show love and represent him here on Earth.
You could also take a look at the Hebrews in the book Judges, or the entire Old Testament but we will focus on the book of Judges. Judges came after the law was given in which was stated "You shall have no other gods before Me."(Exodus 20:3) ""find where it says the penalty for committing this sin"". And yes as we look through the book of Judges what do we see? We see the people continually rebelling against God and going their own way even though not only do they have the law but they also have experience, knowing that they keep rebelling against God and bad things happen and yet they continue to do it. This is yet another example of how people are not going to be reigned in by laws but by the Love and Truth of Christ!! If all we needed was laws then Christ would have come in vain. Morality cannot be legislated by human law but by Christ's law which comes in belief and trust in Jesus Christ.
Another man who lived half a century ago and wrote some well known books on Christianity voiced his own opinion of the relationship between marriage as seen by the church and the state. This is what he wrote:
"The Christian conception of marriage is one: the other is the quite different question - how far Christians, if they are voters or Members of Parliament, ought to try to force their views of marriage on the rest of the community by embodying them in the divorce laws. A great many people seem to think that if you are a Christian yourself you should try to make divorce difficult for everyone. I do not think that. At least I know I should be very angry if the Mohammedans tried to prevent the rest of us from drinking wine. My own view is that the Churches should frankly recognize that the majority of the Brittish people are not Christians and, therefore, cannot be expected to live Christian Lives. There ought to be two distinct kinds of marriage: one governed by the Church with rules enforced on all citizens, the other governed by the State with rules enforced on all citizens, the other governed by the Church with rules enforced by her and her own members. The distinction ought to be sharp, so that a man knows which couples are married in a Christian sense and which are not."(C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, Book II Chapter 6 entitled "Christian Marriage")
John Locke has similar views and if you don't already know John Locke was a Christian who lived around the 17th Century and is partly famous because he was one of the big advocates for separation of church and state and probably a big reason we have our system of government we have here where the church and state aren't in conjunction. It also important to note how a person attains salvation:
Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Here it seems not to indicate that you are saved as a result of your belief in God. I do understand that the proof of this must be and is seen through works, so people who are sinning will continue to sin less and less as they grow closer to Christ, but that won’t be instantaneous. Not to mention that many of these people, if not all, are not saved in the first place and as a result should not be expected to live as if they did as C.S. Lewis stated earlier.
I ask these questions not in an attempt to offend you, but instead in an attempt to show you a truth which I have discovered and would like to share. But where in this passage, or any other passage in the bible for that matter, does it say that we are to force people not to sin. I have not found any passage in the bible that says anything of the sort. I am aware that in the book of James it clearly states "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is *dead?"(James 2:20 NKJV), and again "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also," (James 2:26 NKJV) but in Ephesians Paul says "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God."(Ephesians 2:8 NKJV)
A man named Ira hall has used this illustration about the real difference between Christians and non-Christians:
"I had a friend once who smoked, drank, swore, and had sex with his girlfriend out of wedlock. A Christian friend of mine asked me why I didn’t attempt to get him to stop swearing so much and I responded ‘If I got him to stop swearing, smoking, drinking, and engaging in sex with his girlfriend, what would he be?...Unsaved."
The point Ira is making here is that we should not focus on cleaning up the person’s sins when their salvation is what’s most important. An outwardly perfectly sinless person who doesn’t believe in Jesus goes to Hell. I would also add that a good amount of the time we want them to stop sinning for our own benefit, so we don’t have to hear the swearing or the evil that comes out of them. If we don’t hear or see the evil we imagine it isn’t their and it makes us rest easier thinking they are okay or something. Also it makes us feel better about spending time with them because our friends would look down on us if they knew we hung out with sinners.
I would also, unwisely maybe, add that most of our attempts to fight the gay marriage and pro-choice movements are out of self-centeredness, because we don’t want our children to get confused about life. And I would agree that we do not want our children getting confused about life, but watch out because you open the door for a new kind of confusion. If all non-Christians obeyed the same moral code as Christians how would you tell the difference? Your children may even come to believe that there is no difference, and this is a dangerous thing to believe because if there is no difference what is the sense to waste all this time following.
But it is very important to teach your children what is right and wrong as we see in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." But if you were thinking of letting schools teach your children in the ways of truth you are very ignorant. The training up of your children in the areas of truth and relational things is far too important to be left to the school systems. I don’t care if your children go to a Christian school you need to be involved and know what your children are learning and straighten them out when their teachers aren’t truthful, yes it even happens in Christian schools.
3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, *this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now *Moses, in the law, commanded us *that such should be stoned. But what do You *say?" 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, *as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He *raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being* convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up *and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers *of yours? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord."
And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go *and sin no more."
What is Jesus reaction to her Sin? His reaction is just as it ought to have been and still should be (obviously I mean he is Jesus). He begins by saving her life and thus showing her his love for her, and then tells her to "leave your life of sin."
As Christians we should know what is right and wrong but we are also called away from being judges.
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.(Romans 2:1)
What is this verse saying. Is it saying that if you are judging someone who commits adultery then you also commit adultery and are guilty before God for it? One thing it may be saying, and I have seen this in my own life, is that we tend to judge others of the things which we ourselves are guilty of in the first place which is why we notice it in them and why we are guilty of it. Another possible meaning, although not necessarily the correct one, is that if you are judging others you are judging them of sin, no matter what the individual sin is called, and since no everyone is guilty of sin and we also sin since we are part of everyone, thus we are guilty of not only sin but also hypocrisy.
In order to understand how best to reach these people and show them the love Christ has for them what must we do? I agree that in our churches and amongst those calling themselves Christians we need to make it clear what the bible says are good and right, but when relating to those on the outside we have a different and important responsibility.
I believe that this responsibility we have is to do what Christ told us to do in Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go *therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." *Amen.
So what does that entail? Well we should start with preaching the gospel right? And what is that gospel? That "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23 NKJV) and "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,"(Romans 6:23 NKJV) but "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,"(John 3:16 NKJV) and that as a result of this we are reconciled to the Lord if we believe in him. This is only the beginning but the point I am making here is that we are supposed to be preaching the Gospel or Good News but instead we are preaching about sin and death, and it is not our Job to convict the world of sin but the Holy Spirits as Jesus says here:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me;"(John 16:8,9). The Holy Spirit does work through us and as a result will in so doing convict some of sin but I see no where that we are supposed to convict them of it by our own effort. Just by us doing the things that God calls us to do, such as not stealing, not speaking evil of others, being honest, and things of the sort will be what the Holy Spirit uses to convict the world of sin. It will be our righteousness not our wordiness that the Holy Spirit uses.
Some want to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop with a yard of hell. C.T. Studd (Rabey pg.68)
Another reason I believe people in the Church fight against homosexual marriage and things of the sort are out of selfishness. I say this because I have heard people say things like "I don’t want a gay person teaching my children" or "I don’t want to have them as a tenant" and I am sure some of you side with them. The reason this is wrong is because God has called us to be in the world but not of the world. How can we be in the world if we withdraw ourselves from the world. If Jesus lived today he would probably treat us just as he did the Pharisees and we would probably treat him as they did. I say this because he would probably be eating the with the prostitutes and wait…homosexuals. No way this can’t be right, but their such sinners… are you getting the picture yet?
10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Matthew 9:10-13 NKJV)
We all know this passages and we scoff at the Pharisee’s here, when we are the present day Pharisee’s. I say we on purpose because I quite often find myself scoffing at the Pharisee’s and how dumb they are and then going out and hearing that so and so has been spending time with those people. Then I read this passage and realize that I do the very same things the Pharisee’s did and were condemned for. I believe that God wants us to be out their in the world or else how would we be salt and light?
Some want to live within the sound
Of Church or Chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop
within a yard of hell.
C.T. Studd (Rabey pg.68)
And as William Booth said "Go for souls, and go for the worst" (Rabey pg.72). And this was exactly what Jesus did when he was on earth. He did not seek out those who were close to the Kingdom of Heaven but those who were so far gone their was no hope for them, at least so it seemed and then Christ showed us their was. And the point is that what we have done before we find Christ is unimportant as to whether we were worthy of being saved, since none are worthy.
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, *perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
29 Jesus answered him, "The *first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' *This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'* There is no other commandment greater than these."(Mark 12:28-31)
By the Apostle Paul it is considered to be the greatest of all Spiritual gifts by saying that no matter what of the spiritual gifts you have if you are without Love you are nothing!
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body *to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.(I Corinthians 13:1-3)
And again he says:
For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," *"You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet,"* and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."* 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.(Romans 13:9-10)
Often times when you hear people speak about why they came to Christ it is because of how they felt Loved by the church or one or two or so people in the Church (body of Christ), as well as seeing the Love these people demonstrated, through their life, to others. At my great-grandmothers funeral a woman got up and spoke about how my great-grandmother had been influential in her life, especially in her coming to Christ. When she spoke of the things about my grandmother that helped bring her to Christ she spoke of the love my great-grandmother had shown her and this was the big thing that had lead her to Christ. She did no however say it was because she told me I was sinning or that I needed to stop, but of the love that was shown her by Christ through my great-grandmother.
At this point you are probably thinking "Well duh!! Tell me something I don't know!" The reason I bring this up is that today many Christians spends a greater amount of their time and energy talking about the fact that abortion is evil because it is the murdering of babies, and or Homosexuality is evil because it is against God's Will. I quite agree with both of these points, Homosexuality and Abortion are evil, but what is the point of arguing this with those outside the church? Is not the fact that they are immoral slightly insignificant in comparison with their current separation from Christ? Is it not more important that they find Christ than just to do the things he would consider right? I answer that it is far more important to bring people to Christ than to force them or even convince them what is right and wrong. It all starts with Christ, because if we can show him true and right then through doing that we can show the bible true and right and it goes on and on, but it starts with Jesus!!
If having Love is more important than any Spiritual gift as Paul describes in I Corinthians 13, isn't that what ought to be pursued especially concerning those who are hurting and rejected and need it the most? These people are the very people we are preaching against, calling immoral, and withdrawing ourselves from. Is this the Love of Christ or our own ambitions to avoid difficult relationships and remain judgmental as well as creating our own little society, but there is a huge problem with this mentality. Namely it isn't what we are commanded to do by Christ!!
I am not saying that we should ignore the fact that these things are wrong but have faith in God to change these people who come to God in these conditions and become friends with them and in the manner discussed in the bible bring it before them and show them the scriptures indicating what it is they are doing wrong, and why its wrong. But when dealing with non-Christians it becomes more difficult because you can’t just open your bible and say the bible says it so its true, they don’t believe the bible or else they would be Christians. Therefore to be their friend and try to help them we must not treat them like heathens for living the way they think is right. We need instead to live our lives in a good Christian manner and take advantage of the opportunities God gives us to witness to them in whatever way we can without being overbearing and pushing them away rather than bringing them closer to God. I have had many conversations with non-Christians about homosexuality being wrong and without using the bible, which is what you have to do with non-Christians because if they believed the bible they would in fact be Christians, it is very difficult to show them why homosexuality is wrong. But if you are speaking with a Christian and a close friend at that, then they will be more willing to listen to you for one because they know that you care and will also be more receptive to what the bible says because they believe in it. But I would say that its something you say once, maybe twice and then let it go. Some people would not like me saying this but it is what I believe to be true, and for this reason: If you continually hassle them about it they don’t see the love of Christ in you, they see the condemnation, and while God is about Truth, which is something we must leave to him. We do not convict people of sin, as we read in the Gospel of John speaking of the Holy Spirit or the helper who is to come when Jesus is gone: "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment :"(John 16:8 NKJV). Therefore we need not think that God needs us to convict people of their sins with our many words. God may in fact do this, but many times he will use our actions to show others what they should be doing.
We hear they are dating the wrong guy so we have the youth group talk about bad relationships. We describe him and call him trouble. Shortly there after she gets pregnant and we say "I told you so." Then she decides she can't bear this burden alone and she is not going to ask those people who are constantly looking down on her for a mistake she made and can't change. She can't bear to feel the judgment once a week, that’s why she stopped attending church, why would she want to have it full-time. As a result she takes, what seems to her, her only remaining option, because the guy doesn't want it and refuses to support her if he hasn't run off yet, and goes to the clinic and has the problem removed. Before the word reaches our ears at the church he has already begun shouting "murderer" and she can hear it before she comes into the church.
I find it quite amazing what Love is shown by the church to those who need it the most. I mean it seems like we do exactly what Jesus would do, tell the woman at the well she’s too immoral for us to be around, put the man who was tormented by demons in solitary confinement, send the women caught in adultery to the electric chair as an example. Wait a second that’s not what Jesus did at all. No not only did Jesus not do these evil things to these people, he reached out and said come to me, for even if no one else will I will Love you. We as Christians are supposed to mirror Christ, we are his representatives to this lost world so we are required to do as he would do or we are not really his followers, but a group of modern day Pharisees.
Then suppose there is this girl who was abused as a child, but even though we all know this was not her fault at all we always kind of look down on her. Also as a result of this abuse or other form of abuse she has desires for other women, or even possibly just as a result of the way she was made (""footnote"" I realize this last comment is going to upset many of you and I would like to point out that I am not in the least saying people are born gay or anything of the sort but I do believe people are born with unnatural desires, if you disagree think of the unnatural desire a man has for a woman who likes women, or ask yourself if men have a desire to sleep with only one women their whole lives). Now growing up in the church or no she realizes the views held by most Christians today that her desires are not just unnatural but evil, but more than that anyone who has then is themselves evil, and whenever it is talked about everyone gets quiet and listens intently so they know who to avoid or who is the big sinner leading everyone to hell, not that I think that is what people actually believe but you could easily get that impression the way it is talked about in church. She would probably come to the conclusion that it is one of the worst things in the world to have done in the eyes of churchgoers, which is not biblical because it is not sin that keeps us from heaven but our being out of sync with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a result she keeps quiet about her feelings around her churchgoing friends and especially their parents and either holds the feelings in, which is not healthy, or talks about them with her more accepting friends, these tend to be the more liberal crowd. And they know no more about the truth then anyone but tell her just the same that there is nothing wrong with it and that she should not be ashamed of it. We think of these people as evil, when in fact they are only ignorant of the truth while we are ignorant of love. They have love and they show it to her but accepting her and because of their love for her they lie, maybe not knowing they are lying but regardless they do, so that she feels better about herself, now while what they did was wrong they did it because they loved her. Even though she never said anything to her churchgoing friends they either find out or suspect something so she always feels their judgment on her. As a result she spends more of her time if not all of it with those people who accept her. Who wouldn't? Who really wants to be constantly judged and under pressure, especially to follow the rules of something they don't believe? I wouldn't!! As a result these people, out of a combination of Love and ignorance, continue to nurture this feeling along and the desires are becoming stronger and stronger. Although she has had boyfriends from time to time, because in high school it is very dangerous to be openly gay, because high schools judge people almost as much as the church does. As a result she takes advantage of the high school excuse that seems to work for everything, which is simply being drunk, and on a few occasions experimented with other girls, most of whom were only trying to get the attention of some of the guys at the party because they know the effect it has on them. These experiments only affirm her feelings, although bringing along the baggage of her conscience telling her it is wrong. Her friends continue to comfort her and whets more to tell her those feelings of the conscience were only their because of the thoughts and ideas from the church people. As a result not only does she think it is right more and more but all her feelings of guilt turn into anger toward Christians and the church. As a result she even refuses to attend church on holidays, a time in which she normally wouldn't have minded going with her friends in the past, but now all she feels is judgment when she is their.
At this time she turns away from Christ because of his earthly representation because all she sea’s them doing is showing their hatred toward anyone who does not agree with them and even to some who agree with them. She decides that she does not want to worship or even know a God that hates her or anyone.
At this point she heads off to college where she again falls in with the crowd which is accepting of her, which the Christians call the wrong crowd. In this crowd she meets other girls like herself, and a short while later she begins dating girls. The relationships always start of great, but after a while something is lost. She is continuing to blame all of her guilt and shame on the Christians who make her feel bad about doing something which is right. Her sexuality is well known on campus as she had been very open about it and even kissed a bit in public, I mean straight couples do it so why should they be any different, and she remembers the looks she would get from the Christians on campus. She is struggling with her sexuality again, wondering if she really is gay. She begins talking with some of her friends, but makes sure to avoid the Christians because she knows their answer and fears their condemnation. While the debate rages on in her head she meets another girl and decides to give this life another try, afraid it is right but at the same time fearing it to be wrong.
During this time of questioning the debate grows about "Same-Sex Marriage" and all of the anti-homosexual movements. She also notices, as would be impossible not to, that the majority of people fighting against it are Christians, claiming God is on their side. So she continues to take her questions, not to those who should be Christ’s representatives wanting to help her out of this nightmare, but to the friends who seem to love her unconditionally. She goes where she sees love.
Now I would hope that this story would end with her meeting some Christians who showed her true love, unconditional love, and helped show her what Christ is all about. Yes I said show her and allow her to see the Love of Christ, and see these people not judging her. Now this story is speculative, but I hope to have a real one, about the anxieties put on these people by the Christian community. I also believe that while it is speculative that it represents a lot of the fears and reasons people of that community turn away from Christianity, which is supposed to be about Love and truth but has become a springboard to condemnation.
Now of course many of you are thinking, okay he's got a point but we can't condone their behavior, God tells us its wrong, and you would be quite right in saying this. But at this point I would say: what is it that brings people out of sin? That brought you out of sin? That is still bringing all of us out of our sins more and more each day? Is it out of a fear of condemnation from others in the church? If so I am sorry for you because that is not what Christ intended. Or is it the conviction of the Holy Spirit, which not only shows us we are wrong but helps us change? Do we want to give people a leg up or kick them while their down in yelling at them? What would Christ do? I think you know the answer!
Now don't get me wrong I have been right their with you holding up the sign that says "guilty" and "stone him, stone him!!" but the Lord has shown me how he led me out of my sin and to his side, and this was through Love and encouragement. But believe me when I start thinking about people growing in Christ, it never comes fast enough, I am never satisfied, or I never used to be but since the Lord showed my the truth I have slowly become more content with the progress others have made in their walks and more satisfied. He led me to think about how long it took me to start living for him after I decided to, how I didn't just all of a sudden do a 180, but instead slowly stopped doing wrong and slowly began doing right, it was gradual. Now there are some people who seem to make 180 degree turns and it seems sudden but I think in many cases it’s just sudden concerning their action and they really have been thinking about it for a while and finally made a decision, but in reality it was a gradual process of being shown the truth.
Since the Holy Spirit is the sin reducing factor what must we do to cleanse them of their sins? Well we have asked the wrong question, the question we should have asked is how can we help these people find Christ and the freedom that he brings? The answer is the same for both questions, it’s a four letter word called LOVE!! Or as one of our church fathers said "‘Preach always,’ said St. Francis of Assisi. ‘If necessary use words.’"(Rabey pg.29)
Now an excuse I have heard from many people regarding this issue is that the reason we are trying to instill these laws is that we love them and don't want them to have to deal with the pains that accompany these sins. While I am moved by this statement every time it is made because this is the kind of Love God has for us, and he wants us to avoid evil because he knows the effects it will have upon us. But if God were to act the way we would then he would have made us robots, because not wanting us to sin he would make us incapable of sin. But regardless of this if we don't allow them to do this sin which they want to do, we are in no way bringing them closer to Christ, which is the end to which we should be working! Even if they aligned themselves with our beliefs about what is right and wrong they still are without God, so our main effort needs to be to bring them to Christ not force them to stop sinning, especially since its their position with God that is the real problem. They are still in their sin, further from you, further from Christ, which is true love "" another CS Lewis quote!!"", "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."(I John 4:8 NKJV) But since they have never known this true love, but have been seeking love, in one form or another, they will continue to seek for it in places in which they know love to be hoping to find it, and in places where they feel love. So they will stick with their notion of love until we show them the true love of Christ that "which passes knowledge."(Ephesians 3:19b NKJV) This is a love that says without saying, I love you, no matter what your past is, I love you, no matter what you ever do, I love you even if you hate me, I love you and I always will. If you need a hug, I’m here, if you need to cry, my shoulder is available, if you just need to talk, I’ll listen, if you want advice, I’ll talk. Whatever it is that you may need I will be there for you. This is the love of Christ and by this we are compelled because that is how he loves us!! "We love Him because He first loved us."(I John 4:19 NKJV)
I believe that our attempts in recent years to fight gay rights movements have been and still are a vain attempt to legislate morality. While I wish it were that easy I know in my heart that it is not. Looking back through history you find that morality is not something that can be legislated. During a Mike Heath speech at the University of Maine at Farmington, I heard him say that up until 2 years ago 15 or 17 states had laws against sodomy. It’s funny that he was fighting to keep gay marriage from being legalized in Maine, because this piece of evidence seems to help my case that you can't legislate morality, which is what he is trying to do. I say my point when in fact it was something I heard and then further developed from Ross Hickey. It’s clear that regardless of the laws people who want to have homosexual relationships with each other are going to continue to have them regardless of laws. This is why we as Christians need to do our part and help to instill the law of Christ, which people actually listen to, and to do this we show love and represent him here on Earth.
You could also take a look at the Hebrews in the book Judges, or the entire Old Testament but we will focus on the book of Judges. Judges came after the law was given in which was stated "You shall have no other gods before Me."(Exodus 20:3) ""find where it says the penalty for committing this sin"". And yes as we look through the book of Judges what do we see? We see the people continually rebelling against God and going their own way even though not only do they have the law but they also have experience, knowing that they keep rebelling against God and bad things happen and yet they continue to do it. This is yet another example of how people are not going to be reigned in by laws but by the Love and Truth of Christ!! If all we needed was laws then Christ would have come in vain. Morality cannot be legislated by human law but by Christ's law which comes in belief and trust in Jesus Christ.
Another man who lived half a century ago and wrote some well known books on Christianity voiced his own opinion of the relationship between marriage as seen by the church and the state. This is what he wrote:
"The Christian conception of marriage is one: the other is the quite different question - how far Christians, if they are voters or Members of Parliament, ought to try to force their views of marriage on the rest of the community by embodying them in the divorce laws. A great many people seem to think that if you are a Christian yourself you should try to make divorce difficult for everyone. I do not think that. At least I know I should be very angry if the Mohammedans tried to prevent the rest of us from drinking wine. My own view is that the Churches should frankly recognize that the majority of the Brittish people are not Christians and, therefore, cannot be expected to live Christian Lives. There ought to be two distinct kinds of marriage: one governed by the Church with rules enforced on all citizens, the other governed by the State with rules enforced on all citizens, the other governed by the Church with rules enforced by her and her own members. The distinction ought to be sharp, so that a man knows which couples are married in a Christian sense and which are not."(C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, Book II Chapter 6 entitled "Christian Marriage")
John Locke has similar views and if you don't already know John Locke was a Christian who lived around the 17th Century and is partly famous because he was one of the big advocates for separation of church and state and probably a big reason we have our system of government we have here where the church and state aren't in conjunction. It also important to note how a person attains salvation:
Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Here it seems not to indicate that you are saved as a result of your belief in God. I do understand that the proof of this must be and is seen through works, so people who are sinning will continue to sin less and less as they grow closer to Christ, but that won’t be instantaneous. Not to mention that many of these people, if not all, are not saved in the first place and as a result should not be expected to live as if they did as C.S. Lewis stated earlier.
I ask these questions not in an attempt to offend you, but instead in an attempt to show you a truth which I have discovered and would like to share. But where in this passage, or any other passage in the bible for that matter, does it say that we are to force people not to sin. I have not found any passage in the bible that says anything of the sort. I am aware that in the book of James it clearly states "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is *dead?"(James 2:20 NKJV), and again "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also," (James 2:26 NKJV) but in Ephesians Paul says "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God."(Ephesians 2:8 NKJV)
A man named Ira hall has used this illustration about the real difference between Christians and non-Christians:
"I had a friend once who smoked, drank, swore, and had sex with his girlfriend out of wedlock. A Christian friend of mine asked me why I didn’t attempt to get him to stop swearing so much and I responded ‘If I got him to stop swearing, smoking, drinking, and engaging in sex with his girlfriend, what would he be?...Unsaved."
The point Ira is making here is that we should not focus on cleaning up the person’s sins when their salvation is what’s most important. An outwardly perfectly sinless person who doesn’t believe in Jesus goes to Hell. I would also add that a good amount of the time we want them to stop sinning for our own benefit, so we don’t have to hear the swearing or the evil that comes out of them. If we don’t hear or see the evil we imagine it isn’t their and it makes us rest easier thinking they are okay or something. Also it makes us feel better about spending time with them because our friends would look down on us if they knew we hung out with sinners.
I would also, unwisely maybe, add that most of our attempts to fight the gay marriage and pro-choice movements are out of self-centeredness, because we don’t want our children to get confused about life. And I would agree that we do not want our children getting confused about life, but watch out because you open the door for a new kind of confusion. If all non-Christians obeyed the same moral code as Christians how would you tell the difference? Your children may even come to believe that there is no difference, and this is a dangerous thing to believe because if there is no difference what is the sense to waste all this time following.
But it is very important to teach your children what is right and wrong as we see in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." But if you were thinking of letting schools teach your children in the ways of truth you are very ignorant. The training up of your children in the areas of truth and relational things is far too important to be left to the school systems. I don’t care if your children go to a Christian school you need to be involved and know what your children are learning and straighten them out when their teachers aren’t truthful, yes it even happens in Christian schools.
3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, *this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now *Moses, in the law, commanded us *that such should be stoned. But what do You *say?" 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, *as though He did not hear.
7 So when they continued asking Him, He *raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being* convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up *and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers *of yours? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord."
And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go *and sin no more."
What is Jesus reaction to her Sin? His reaction is just as it ought to have been and still should be (obviously I mean he is Jesus). He begins by saving her life and thus showing her his love for her, and then tells her to "leave your life of sin."
As Christians we should know what is right and wrong but we are also called away from being judges.
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.(Romans 2:1)
What is this verse saying. Is it saying that if you are judging someone who commits adultery then you also commit adultery and are guilty before God for it? One thing it may be saying, and I have seen this in my own life, is that we tend to judge others of the things which we ourselves are guilty of in the first place which is why we notice it in them and why we are guilty of it. Another possible meaning, although not necessarily the correct one, is that if you are judging others you are judging them of sin, no matter what the individual sin is called, and since no everyone is guilty of sin and we also sin since we are part of everyone, thus we are guilty of not only sin but also hypocrisy.
In order to understand how best to reach these people and show them the love Christ has for them what must we do? I agree that in our churches and amongst those calling themselves Christians we need to make it clear what the bible says are good and right, but when relating to those on the outside we have a different and important responsibility.
I believe that this responsibility we have is to do what Christ told us to do in Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go *therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." *Amen.
So what does that entail? Well we should start with preaching the gospel right? And what is that gospel? That "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23 NKJV) and "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,"(Romans 6:23 NKJV) but "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,"(John 3:16 NKJV) and that as a result of this we are reconciled to the Lord if we believe in him. This is only the beginning but the point I am making here is that we are supposed to be preaching the Gospel or Good News but instead we are preaching about sin and death, and it is not our Job to convict the world of sin but the Holy Spirits as Jesus says here:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me;"(John 16:8,9). The Holy Spirit does work through us and as a result will in so doing convict some of sin but I see no where that we are supposed to convict them of it by our own effort. Just by us doing the things that God calls us to do, such as not stealing, not speaking evil of others, being honest, and things of the sort will be what the Holy Spirit uses to convict the world of sin. It will be our righteousness not our wordiness that the Holy Spirit uses.
Some want to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop with a yard of hell. C.T. Studd (Rabey pg.68)
Another reason I believe people in the Church fight against homosexual marriage and things of the sort are out of selfishness. I say this because I have heard people say things like "I don’t want a gay person teaching my children" or "I don’t want to have them as a tenant" and I am sure some of you side with them. The reason this is wrong is because God has called us to be in the world but not of the world. How can we be in the world if we withdraw ourselves from the world. If Jesus lived today he would probably treat us just as he did the Pharisees and we would probably treat him as they did. I say this because he would probably be eating the with the prostitutes and wait…homosexuals. No way this can’t be right, but their such sinners… are you getting the picture yet?
10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Matthew 9:10-13 NKJV)
We all know this passages and we scoff at the Pharisee’s here, when we are the present day Pharisee’s. I say we on purpose because I quite often find myself scoffing at the Pharisee’s and how dumb they are and then going out and hearing that so and so has been spending time with those people. Then I read this passage and realize that I do the very same things the Pharisee’s did and were condemned for. I believe that God wants us to be out their in the world or else how would we be salt and light?
Some want to live within the sound
Of Church or Chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop
within a yard of hell.
C.T. Studd (Rabey pg.68)
And as William Booth said "Go for souls, and go for the worst" (Rabey pg.72). And this was exactly what Jesus did when he was on earth. He did not seek out those who were close to the Kingdom of Heaven but those who were so far gone their was no hope for them, at least so it seemed and then Christ showed us their was. And the point is that what we have done before we find Christ is unimportant as to whether we were worthy of being saved, since none are worthy.
posted by Chuckles | 7:29 AM
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