Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Your speech and your posts betray you ...
OK. Some of the things I hear and read really bother me. And not just because I may disagree with what is being said. Sometimes I am offended by posts and things I hear that I actually agree with.
I am tired of people saying things under the guise of Christian conviction when all they do is talk, write, or complain about it. But there are some who put their money and time where their mouth is. And they are worth listening to, but since some are wearing me out ...
Here are a few thoughts and observations about your speech and posts.
If you are going to rant and complain about abortion and people who support abortion, stop it. Unless you are writing checks to orphanages, doing foster care, working in pregnancy centers that are willing to provide options. Or helping Christians with unwanted pregnancies to accept and believe in God's grace and forgiveness. Or helping with appropriate repentance, not just guilt and condemnation.
So unless you have dirty diapers in your hand, or a baby on your lap, or tears running down your cheeks from healing a broken spirit ... maybe you ought not to be so vocal.
If you are going to rant about immigrants and aliens in our country, you better be heavily involved in your church's refugee ministry. Better not be changing school districts or moving neighborhoods. Our church had a significant ministry for Bhutanese refugees. Some of you hauled furniture, taught them to cook and drive, found them jobs, taught them English, studying the Bible with them, baptized them and well, invested your life in them. Other churches have similar ministries.
Unless you have been in their homes, had them in yours, shared coffee and tea, shared meals and celebrations, struggled with them in tears of frustration and tears of joy, well... maybe you ought to stop your blasting out your "I'm certain I'm right" talk.
For those of you who are vocal about how to -- or not to -- do evangelism, maybe you ought to just listen to yourself. If your talk about missions and service starts with "I got so much out of this project...", maybe you are doing it for yourself instead of the people you claim to want to help. And yes, I know that you did get a lot out of it, but please God do not let that be the reason we help people. If not careful, we end up just using them to make us feel better. So unless you have lived in a hard place, had a conversation with a non-believer about Jesus, poured your life into helping someone know the message of Jesus ... maybe you just ought not to talk about it.
And for those who want to blast the church for not treating people well, or for "running off" someone... be very careful. Unless you have been down in the much and mire of broken lives, unless you have cried with those broken by sin, unless you have gently opened God's word for guidance and instruction, unless you have been there in the middle of the night... maybe you ought to dial it down a notch.
But for all you who are doing it. God bless you. Speak up. I'll listen. Even if I don't always agree, you have my deepest respect.
So maybe this is why most of my rants and talking/posting is about helping people get into the Kingdom and keeping them there. Because there are a lot of things I am not doing. So I better be careful too. After all, I do try to look in the mirror after I write these things.
And feel free to call me on it when I get self-righteous and arrogant about things with I am not willing to do myself. Not because you disagree. But because I putting my mouth somewhere my life won't go.
I am tired of people saying things under the guise of Christian conviction when all they do is talk, write, or complain about it. But there are some who put their money and time where their mouth is. And they are worth listening to, but since some are wearing me out ...
Here are a few thoughts and observations about your speech and posts.
If you are going to rant and complain about abortion and people who support abortion, stop it. Unless you are writing checks to orphanages, doing foster care, working in pregnancy centers that are willing to provide options. Or helping Christians with unwanted pregnancies to accept and believe in God's grace and forgiveness. Or helping with appropriate repentance, not just guilt and condemnation.
So unless you have dirty diapers in your hand, or a baby on your lap, or tears running down your cheeks from healing a broken spirit ... maybe you ought not to be so vocal.
If you are going to rant about immigrants and aliens in our country, you better be heavily involved in your church's refugee ministry. Better not be changing school districts or moving neighborhoods. Our church had a significant ministry for Bhutanese refugees. Some of you hauled furniture, taught them to cook and drive, found them jobs, taught them English, studying the Bible with them, baptized them and well, invested your life in them. Other churches have similar ministries.
Unless you have been in their homes, had them in yours, shared coffee and tea, shared meals and celebrations, struggled with them in tears of frustration and tears of joy, well... maybe you ought to stop your blasting out your "I'm certain I'm right" talk.
For those of you who are vocal about how to -- or not to -- do evangelism, maybe you ought to just listen to yourself. If your talk about missions and service starts with "I got so much out of this project...", maybe you are doing it for yourself instead of the people you claim to want to help. And yes, I know that you did get a lot out of it, but please God do not let that be the reason we help people. If not careful, we end up just using them to make us feel better. So unless you have lived in a hard place, had a conversation with a non-believer about Jesus, poured your life into helping someone know the message of Jesus ... maybe you just ought not to talk about it.
And for those who want to blast the church for not treating people well, or for "running off" someone... be very careful. Unless you have been down in the much and mire of broken lives, unless you have cried with those broken by sin, unless you have gently opened God's word for guidance and instruction, unless you have been there in the middle of the night... maybe you ought to dial it down a notch.
But for all you who are doing it. God bless you. Speak up. I'll listen. Even if I don't always agree, you have my deepest respect.
So maybe this is why most of my rants and talking/posting is about helping people get into the Kingdom and keeping them there. Because there are a lot of things I am not doing. So I better be careful too. After all, I do try to look in the mirror after I write these things.
And feel free to call me on it when I get self-righteous and arrogant about things with I am not willing to do myself. Not because you disagree. But because I putting my mouth somewhere my life won't go.
