Loving Sinners & Religion VS. Jesus
Here is a thoughtful comment from my "California has 2 Mommies" post:
JTL said...
The "love the sinner, hate the sin" thing is a weird and tricky line to walk; it gets tougher as you think about it more.
But, as I thought about it today, a potential pratfall came out of the fog, which mixes psychology and theology...
Let's say you have a gay sister. You love her because she's your sister, but disapprove of who she finds attractive. Because (some interpretations of) Christianity see "lying with man as with woman" a sin (and ostensibly "lying with woman as with man"), that means unless your sister repents for her apparent transgressions, she's destined for hell.
Now, because you love your sister, you don't want to see her go to hell. So you try to get her to (a.) change her ways (which is genetically predetermined, and don't even try to argue this one), or (b.) repent for her apparent sin. Either way, if you're playing by the rules, you're going to be filling up her answering machine with messages pleading one or both of those cases.
The thing about Christianity that gives it a bad rap in some circles -- especially the evangelical flavours -- is that it actively tries to foist its opinions into everyone's life. Sure, it's written to "spread the Word far and wide" or something along those lines -- Jehovah's Witnesses take it very literally -- but this can lead down a very dark path, such as people like Ann Coulter suggesting we "kill [Muslim countries'] leaders and convert their people to Christianity."
And that ain't nice.
My response:
Jesus was very specific and only his answer is correct-or HIM as THE answer is correct. Sure there are frustrating situations out there, but here is the solution to your question:
We are NOT called to judge.
We are NOT called to condemn.
We are not called to choose for someone else .
We are not yet PERFECT but are being shaped by Jesus
Our calling is this:
speak confession that Jesus as lord and savior
Love your enemies
Tell everybody
Do not confuse religion with Jesus. Religion is ritual created by man-and thatwon't get you into heaven. (Sorry Mormons & Muslims!).
Will some go to hell?Sure, and there really isn't much you can do to control someone else. That's between them and God- even if it is your own mother! Quite frankly, I'm worried about mine!
There really isn't any more to it than that. Yes, if a fellow Christian is having problems you offer a hand (so-called Christians are known for "shooting the wounded" or being harsh and judgmental). Like when Pat Robertson shot off his mouth the other day. Pat had a stupid moment and said something that definitely was not what Jesus would approve of. He apologized and we move on. I don't know if Ann Coulter is a Christian but she sure has a sharp tongue that is mostly good but sometimes bad.
As for the Gay issue specifically: I've had gay family, friends and co-workers in my past. I don't think their sin is worse than my addiction to online porn. God hates all sin, period.
As an aside about the Jehovah's Witnesses: they used to believe that there would only be 144,000 people getting into heaven (ref: Revelation 7:1-4 & 14:1-3 ). I always wonder what they say to the 144,001 member: "sorry #144,001, you're out of luck dude but we have this lovely set of steak knives for your trouble."
JTL said...
The "love the sinner, hate the sin" thing is a weird and tricky line to walk; it gets tougher as you think about it more.
But, as I thought about it today, a potential pratfall came out of the fog, which mixes psychology and theology...
Let's say you have a gay sister. You love her because she's your sister, but disapprove of who she finds attractive. Because (some interpretations of) Christianity see "lying with man as with woman" a sin (and ostensibly "lying with woman as with man"), that means unless your sister repents for her apparent transgressions, she's destined for hell.
Now, because you love your sister, you don't want to see her go to hell. So you try to get her to (a.) change her ways (which is genetically predetermined, and don't even try to argue this one), or (b.) repent for her apparent sin. Either way, if you're playing by the rules, you're going to be filling up her answering machine with messages pleading one or both of those cases.
The thing about Christianity that gives it a bad rap in some circles -- especially the evangelical flavours -- is that it actively tries to foist its opinions into everyone's life. Sure, it's written to "spread the Word far and wide" or something along those lines -- Jehovah's Witnesses take it very literally -- but this can lead down a very dark path, such as people like Ann Coulter suggesting we "kill [Muslim countries'] leaders and convert their people to Christianity."
And that ain't nice.
My response:
Jesus was very specific and only his answer is correct-or HIM as THE answer is correct. Sure there are frustrating situations out there, but here is the solution to your question:
Our calling is this:
Do not confuse religion with Jesus. Religion is ritual created by man-and that
Will some go to hell?
There really isn't any more to it than that. Yes, if a fellow Christian is having problems you offer a hand (so-called Christians are known for "shooting the wounded" or being harsh and judgmental). Like when Pat Robertson shot off his mouth the other day. Pat had a stupid moment and said something that definitely was not what Jesus would approve of. He apologized and we move on. I don't know if Ann Coulter is a Christian but she sure has a sharp tongue that is mostly good but sometimes bad.
As for the Gay issue specifically: I've had gay family, friends and co-workers in my past. I don't think their sin is worse than my addiction to online porn. God hates all sin, period.
As an aside about the Jehovah's Witnesses: they used to believe that there would only be 144,000 people getting into heaven (ref: Revelation 7:1-4 & 14:1-3 ). I always wonder what they say to the 144,001 member: "sorry #144,001, you're out of luck dude but we have this lovely set of steak knives for your trouble."
posted by Possum at 10:10
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