I had an interesting evening yesterday.
I went to a meeting in which they used a fairly challenging response card. Basically, they proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves and then they had us fill out response cards which asked “will you do as Jesus commanded or not?”
So I thought today I would ask you two simple questions to which I ultimately believe there are only two possible answers. I think the questions themselves say more than I could ‘teach’ in a thousand words…. So how will you answer:
Question 1:
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Question 2:
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Wow, Peter. Way to convict people…
Hey, I'm not convicting anyone… If they're convicted by their answer to the question though….
I applaud your boldness, Peter, on this post and the last one.
Now to go recover from both …
Boldness?
I just asked a question.
😉
You asked two.
And I'm adding just one more reply to see if I've successfully eliminated ubiquitous gray (grey to you brits) shadow.
You keep using that word… I do not think it means when you think it means.
ubiquitous >adjective present, appearing, or found everywhere.
-ORIGIN from Latin ubique 'everywhere'
Then again, I suppose there's nowhere I'm not willing to go with the Gospel, so maybe I shouldn't mind being confused with ubiquitous gray shadow man, who shows up everywhere.
;D
Gaaaa! Seriously? Dang.
You should read The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns. You'd be saying that every few paragraphs!
Can I somehow win a copy of that book on RTC?
I answered the questions based on faith, not my ability 😉
I don't have any plans to give it away right now… but if someone wants to donate one for a giveaway, I'd love to!
by the looks of the results, you're preaching to the choir. But a humble and broken choir are we….great questions, Peter!
Um… don't you kind of HAVE to say yes to these, even if you don't mean it? I don't know anyone in church who would say no.
Ahhh… and there's the big problem.
So many of us don't mean it but will say it anyway. That's when we're seen to be hypocrites and liars.
If someone doesn't mean it, they should be honest with themselves and those around them and then , finally, we can start moving forward.
What if your neighbor stole from you and killed your dog? And what if god wanted you to give up drinking and eating? Would you starve to death?
Since I believe that God loves me and wants good for me, I can safely do whatever He asks. Moses gave up drinking and eating. For forty days. And he saw God's glory.
As for my neighbor … since I belong to God, and everything I own belongs to God, my neighbor would be stealing from God. Sometimes God gives, sometimes He takes away. Either way, I'll bless His name and love my neighbor.
Therein lies the essence of 'Christian' love.
For the Christian, love is not based on what someone does but rather on who they are, or more importantly, WHAT they are. To the Christian, every person is a unique creation of God, one of his ultimate creations. If we base our love for people on that, we love them because they were created by God and are loved by him then what they DO doesn't change that.
We all fail time and time again to achieve that kind of love but that's just because we're human.
As for what if God wanted you to give up eating and drinking…. I can't see a circumstance in which he would say that… but if He did… then the answer would be YES. I just can't see that he would ever do that!
so would you call the cops on the neighbor? I mean, if it's gods will for the neighbor to take then why rat him out to the cops and make him suffer, right? And if you would call the cops, then wouldn't that be punishing the criminal for doing what god wants?
Ah, but she said the neighbor was stealing from God, not her… theft is still a crime, whoever it's against.
However… It depends on the situation. Why did they steal? That's where mercy and grace come in.
There are times when calling the cops is totally appropriate though!
Sensico, I just realized that I posted replies to the blog instead of to your comment (in case you didn't get the other replies forwarded to you). Sorry for any confusion.
That smile's for your bold questions, Peter!
Accountability is a principle of God. If we fail to hold a criminal accountable to human authority, we fail to uphold justice, and we fail to show the example that God is just. Parents do it all the time by punishing the children they love, as part of their love.
And in loving my neighbor, I forgive him. I am willing to bless him, no matter what he has done to me, even as I hold him accountable.
If it adds any weight to my words, I have fully forgiven and extended love to a person who has done to someone I love far worse than kill a dog. I also helped bring that person to justice, and in doing so helped make great changes for the better in the course of the person's life.
I actually have difficulty with the second question. I was raised by Christian parents who were so committed to God that I was second to church and their god-centered, church-related activities. It was hurtful and I’m still dealing with problems that stem from that, and since I don’t think I could do that to anyone else, I voted no.
In my opinion, an honest no because of specific reservations in one's heart is worth more than a dishonest yes.
I guess what I am saying is that I like the fact that you are honest about it.
Jason made a good point on twitter yesterday when he said that the answers to these questions need to be examined daily, not once and for all. When I answered yes yesterday, I was honest for yesterday. But if God blesses me with a child, I could hope that I would still put God first, but who knows?
Misty,
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply, I wish I had replied earlier but it slipped my mind and then got lost in the sea of comment replies.
There is a big difference between following the call of God and getting caught up in 'church life'.
I am so sorry that your parents got their priorities wrong and fell for what the western church sees as being the way to live as 'good Christians' which really has little to do with Christianity and more to do with man-made religion.
I completely understand how much it must have hurt you, I see it all the time. All I can say is that being prepared to give up everything for the call of God is not the same as neglecting your responsibilities to answer the call of man to do stuff in the church.