Monday 6 October 2014

Perhaps an apology is in order?

Perhaps an apology is in order

I feel sometimes  the Christian community needs to apologize to the secular community in general and particularly the LBGT community for judging them.
Some preachers in the media here in North America have become very confrontational to the gay community and to others they disagree with.
Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with anyone, even a preacher presenting what they believe. Be it right or wrong in the eyes of someone else.
We live in a free society with the right of free speech that permits such a thing.
Sadly however many ministers and evangelist look at the LBGT community and seem to think they have “special sins”. They do not.
My Bible tells me
“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
                                                                          Romans 3:23
That “all” means, ministers, priests, evangelist, laymen and everyone else who has ever lived.
My Bible also tells me not to judge,
Jesus said,
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 
                     Matthew 7:1,2
Individual ministers, and evangelist both in the media and out of the media need to in all humility go to the secular community and say “I’m sorry for judging you.”
Jesus and the Apostles never confronted and judged secular society. They spoke against wrong practices within their own religious community, but never against those outside their faith.
Tony Campolo an evangelist said,
“We (Christians) ought to get out of the judging business. We should leave it up to God to determine who belongs in one arena or another when it comes to eternity. What we are obligated to do is to tell people about Jesus, and that's what I do.”
                                                                                Tony Campolo
The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians said,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 
                                                                              1 Corinthians 5:12,13
In other words stay out of the judging business and keep your own house clean.
It is the Christians duty to tell people what they believed. Not to judge who is and who is not going to heaven or hell.
Only God knows truly what is inside a person.
The Apostle Paul gave us an example of how to preach the word of God.
In his travels he went to Athens. The book of Acts describes what happened. What he said is what I as a Christian truly believe. Is how we should be presenting the word of God.
The book of Acts states,
“So he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.  
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.  
Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  
You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.  
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” 
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”  
At that, Paul left the Council.  
A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
                                                                                         Acts 17:17-34
Note Paul at no time in his speech did he ever call them sinners. He never judged them. He simply told them about the saving grace of Christ.
To the Christian who believes the words above, I ask that you consider looking carefully how Paul presented the word of God in a none judgmental fashion in Athens, perhaps one of the most culturally diverse cities of the ancient world.
A place where there were many things that would have been disagreeable to both a Christian and a Jew of his day.
think about it.

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