Community Action
So I am worried about two sides of an argument. I was recently indirectly insulted and said to be on one extreme. I personally know where I stand in Values and am not afraid to point out right and wrong. There seem to be two sides two this situation. There are some people who are just either not caring about God's dream or are scared to express what is right and wrong. There are also those who want to battle the people and not the sin. I consider myself a man who desires to see hearts changed but to be in love with the people that, considering what is in the Bible, God's showed extravagant love to.
To the people who need to show courage, there is a way to love someone and confront them. Tell them that they are wrong, but tell them why. Tell them God has dreams for them, if they would just follow him. It is agreeable to my mind that loving them enough by itself will not save people. Loving them with intetionality is. I know that relationships are wonderful, but show the kind of love that seeks to edify and not just make happy. Remember that you are a servant of Christ and not of Man. You are a servant TO man because Christ was one as well, but you are a servant OF God. It is okay if you are heartbroken of the loss. It show that your heart yearns for the lost, but it is not okay to send these people to hell. If a situation comes up that is of a private manner and can the person can be restored gracefully, as is Biblical, then do. If it is out in the open and the way to handle it is out in the open, then you do what must be done to bring the brother back to his original passion for Christ's will.
To the people who show lack of discipline in their enthusiasm, I encourage you to take step to Christ's love instead of leading on with a sword. I know Christ challenged the Pharisees, but He said turn and repent. He did not kick them out. Let us not forget how Christ treated the adulteress. The Pharisees were reasoning that they should stone becuase she opposed the values that Jesus stood for. Instead of condoning this type of punishment, he asked the ones with no sin in their lives to throw first. None did, and Christ lifted her up and told her to go and sin no more. That my friends is an extravagant love. Some say this is cheapening Grace. I say not at all. It is loving into the Kingdom. This is what is meant by that term. This is not a spineless tactic. Spineless is leaving a fight worth fighting when all stands against you. Love is actually finding something worth fighting for. If failure becomes the epitome of spineless, then we all are hell-bound. If the Church body was meant to perfect in morality, then we are not the Body, nor do we deserve to be. Love is the pre-requisite to a passionate style of fighting. I challenge you to reflect on the things in scripture that may oppose your view, and to be open to it if not acceptive of it. If you have not found any to oppose your views, you simply are not looking hard enough. Look for examples on campus that oppose your view, if you can't find them, you probably are not involved enough in the ministry, but you are putting blame on someone else when you are being exclusive and not seeking opportunity. Remember that Judas was a disciple. The man that betrayed Jesus. That alone says that our religion is filled with hope for somebodies possible salvation. If it is unorthodox to do things like that, then Christ was unorthodox, as am I.
The majority of us know the reason for this post. I'll leave in your minds to think about. The only thing I cannot agree with about the post I am in response to is to call us ineffective. With over thirty people coming to Christ in this semester alone, I challenge the viewpoint. This method has actually proved more effective than hell-fire and brimstone tactics. I know that some people read Eldredge and McManus and see multiple fighting references. I challenge that on two different levels. The first and foremost is that neither are God, and their works are not Gospel. They would whole-heartedly agree. The second is that they might have some questions about either side of the extreme if not against it.
One thing we must never forget is that we must never alienate ourselves from sinners. Think of the Samaritan Woman. All that Jesus did was state the facts of her actions and let conviction do it's work. Morality is set in us. We do have to address immorality, but with fierce love. It is people we are focused on. As far as back sliders are concerned, we should be people oriented again, and give open doors of grace for them to walk through to re-enter the Body. This does have implications of change, but we should work with them and bring them to change. Remember that the Church is not supposed to just accept people who look like themselves and act like themselves, but we accept and then push people to move like Christ.
To the people who need to show courage, there is a way to love someone and confront them. Tell them that they are wrong, but tell them why. Tell them God has dreams for them, if they would just follow him. It is agreeable to my mind that loving them enough by itself will not save people. Loving them with intetionality is. I know that relationships are wonderful, but show the kind of love that seeks to edify and not just make happy. Remember that you are a servant of Christ and not of Man. You are a servant TO man because Christ was one as well, but you are a servant OF God. It is okay if you are heartbroken of the loss. It show that your heart yearns for the lost, but it is not okay to send these people to hell. If a situation comes up that is of a private manner and can the person can be restored gracefully, as is Biblical, then do. If it is out in the open and the way to handle it is out in the open, then you do what must be done to bring the brother back to his original passion for Christ's will.
To the people who show lack of discipline in their enthusiasm, I encourage you to take step to Christ's love instead of leading on with a sword. I know Christ challenged the Pharisees, but He said turn and repent. He did not kick them out. Let us not forget how Christ treated the adulteress. The Pharisees were reasoning that they should stone becuase she opposed the values that Jesus stood for. Instead of condoning this type of punishment, he asked the ones with no sin in their lives to throw first. None did, and Christ lifted her up and told her to go and sin no more. That my friends is an extravagant love. Some say this is cheapening Grace. I say not at all. It is loving into the Kingdom. This is what is meant by that term. This is not a spineless tactic. Spineless is leaving a fight worth fighting when all stands against you. Love is actually finding something worth fighting for. If failure becomes the epitome of spineless, then we all are hell-bound. If the Church body was meant to perfect in morality, then we are not the Body, nor do we deserve to be. Love is the pre-requisite to a passionate style of fighting. I challenge you to reflect on the things in scripture that may oppose your view, and to be open to it if not acceptive of it. If you have not found any to oppose your views, you simply are not looking hard enough. Look for examples on campus that oppose your view, if you can't find them, you probably are not involved enough in the ministry, but you are putting blame on someone else when you are being exclusive and not seeking opportunity. Remember that Judas was a disciple. The man that betrayed Jesus. That alone says that our religion is filled with hope for somebodies possible salvation. If it is unorthodox to do things like that, then Christ was unorthodox, as am I.
The majority of us know the reason for this post. I'll leave in your minds to think about. The only thing I cannot agree with about the post I am in response to is to call us ineffective. With over thirty people coming to Christ in this semester alone, I challenge the viewpoint. This method has actually proved more effective than hell-fire and brimstone tactics. I know that some people read Eldredge and McManus and see multiple fighting references. I challenge that on two different levels. The first and foremost is that neither are God, and their works are not Gospel. They would whole-heartedly agree. The second is that they might have some questions about either side of the extreme if not against it.
One thing we must never forget is that we must never alienate ourselves from sinners. Think of the Samaritan Woman. All that Jesus did was state the facts of her actions and let conviction do it's work. Morality is set in us. We do have to address immorality, but with fierce love. It is people we are focused on. As far as back sliders are concerned, we should be people oriented again, and give open doors of grace for them to walk through to re-enter the Body. This does have implications of change, but we should work with them and bring them to change. Remember that the Church is not supposed to just accept people who look like themselves and act like themselves, but we accept and then push people to move like Christ.
posted by Russell Purvis at
7:37 PM
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