Someone asked me this question today.......
"When are going to write something new on your site?"
Well, that's a very good question. There seems to be so much going on in my life, my head, my heart right now that I'm just not certain what to write about......yet. I have so very little to say, yet I feel like have a lot to say. Pondering and muling over so many things.
Here is just one of my random thoughts that is flooding my mind at the moment.........
(Please note when I use the word "we" I am including myself first and foremost.)
I have been visiting numerous blogs and a consistent thing I see is Christians getting irritated at other Christians when they explore their faith. Here's a question. Why is it when Christian #1 has different views than Christian #2, Christian #1 gets so angry and upset to the point of saying such things like "You're evil," "you're an unbeliever", "way to go twist scripture", "you work for Satan" "you're going to hell or "you're a damn liberal".
Aren't we really just saying "You are not a Christian" because you don't think like I do?" And really, what kind of example are we really setting for everyone else? We are just making asses of ourselves when we act like this. (Yes, I said it.) We look like immature little children pitching a fit when we don't get our own way.
I wonder when do we back off from one another and actually begin to trust that the Holy Spirit will guide that person through their faith? I hear "have faith and trust God" a lot. If we tell someone that, shouldn't we be ok with them searching and testing things? Don't we have enough faith and trust in God and the Holy Spirit that people will find their way to truth? Or are we just so arrogant enough to think that that person will not find the truth unless we beat it in to them?
If that person doesn't come to believe like we believe about a particular subject, so what! Big deal! Get over it! This does not give us a free pass to treat that person like garbage or a second class citizen, does it? No. I think not.
Now please understand what I'm saying. I'm not talking about two mature adults, sharing their differences with one another in a conversation. I'm not talking about people sharing different ideas with one another. I'm talking about those folks out there who take the competition attitude with one another and can't even hear each other because they are too busy trying to think of another insult to hurl at the other person.
I'm certain if we lay our differences down, we may be able to have some wonderful conversations where iron actually sharpens iron. Instead of tearing each other down, I hope we can continue to work with one another, allowing room for each other's differences.
I think there is a huge difference between trying to be more like Jesus and trying to be Jesus himself and that is a whole other post within itself.
I'm not really mad, just a bit frustrated. It's heartbreaking to see people tear each other down just so they can feel right or superior.
Let us be sensitive and have love, mercy, grace and compassion for one another.
Seems simple enough, doesn't it?
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5 comments:
AMEN sister!! Well said!!
I had thoughts along this line recently. I distilled it into what MAY be a title of my next book: "If we are all cracked pots, then why are we all walking around with hammers instead of glue?"
Wow Steph, well said. And I agree with you that sometimes good Christians do act like two year olds when there is a difference of opinion. I hope and pray that we can learn to play well with others, even when we disagree. Oh by the way, It is great to read your thoughts. Keep them coming (in between everything else on your plate right now).
Wendy- Yes, I'm all about the glue!
Kelli-Thanks. I hope and pray we al learn to play well together too. I think we can....I think we can.
Excellent post, Steph!
My experiences with this kind of thing (in a supposedly Christian context) have been... difficult, though in my case, it happened as a result of my simply saying that most Muslims are not terrorist, but normal people who do normal things just like everyone else. (And that lots of them have grown up to be normal, responsible citizens of the US and Canada, etc.)
I had no idea what I was in for - and not me per se, but what anyone from that religious/cultural background would be in for should they end up trying to talk with many of us (I include myself here) who say we are followers of Christ.
It is so hard to see how the gospel is being distorted. (But my story about this deserves its own post elsewhere, I'm thinking...)
Yep, we really all are a bunch of "cracked pots," like someone else stated so eloquently....
- e2tc
Amen. I feel something like your indignation---or manybe a tired resignation colored with a tinge of indignation---too. You voice it better than I could, though.
And to comment on what Wendy commented--my sister said once (actually, frequently) that the biggest problem with Christians is that we're the only ones who shoot our wounded. It seems to me, we wound each other, and then shoot them, to boot.
Bon
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