Can there be a "gay Christian"?

Can there be a "gay Christian" is a question that is now controversial and provoking. Some people answer differently, and others simply want a reasonable answer for it. My answer may shock you. So, I am writing this article for no other reason than to answer this question clearly, concisely, and biblically. Some sincere believers and seekers out there may not know the true biblical answer to this question. And so I'd like to share it, hopefully without inciting a cyber-riot.

For Your Clarification
Before we go on, let's get the obvious question out the way. Does the Bible condemn homosexuality as a sin? Yes, God Himself says do not commit homosexual acts, and that it is an abomination (Heb. toebah)---that is, it is disgusting and immoral in God's eyes (Lev. 18:22; 20:13, cf. Rom. 1:26-32, 1Tim. 1:9-10). But it is a sin no different than any other sin. Does it have different consequences in an individual's life or society? Yes, but all sin still ends in further rebellion, lawlessness, destruction, and eternal separation from God.

Now, allow me to clear up a misunderstanding, one that is typically unaddressed but assumed to be the same, and that is between the concepts of "struggle" and "lifestyle". Some people may ask this question (can there be a "gay Christian"?) no differently than asking can someone be a fornicating Christian, or a Christian liar, or a prideful Christian, or a Christian addict, and so forth. This thought implies a "struggle" rather than a "lifestyle". So, someone asking this question in this context may very well be asking can there be a Christian struggling with homosexuality ("a gay Christian")? And the answer to this is...of course! The same way there can be Christians struggling with sin or carnal desires such as porn, or lying, or false teachings, or drugs and alcohol, or conceitedness, or idolatry, and so on, there can be Christians that struggle with homosexuality.

"Struggling" insinuates resistance, which means in order to call it a "struggle" one has to be desiring and striving against 'said' sin/temptation/carnal desire. On the other hand, "lifestyle" insinuates no resistance, which means one is living in 'said' sin/carnal desire (i.e. practicing it willfully/ presumptuously) with no desire to change or please God and no disgust for the sin/carnal desire. See the difference? So before we're quick to answer anyone who asks this question about being a "gay Christian", let's be sure to get more understanding of what they mean first. They may be speaking about something different than what we assume, and we may very well answer their question wrongly and cause harm in someway.

Fruit From Which Tree?
Christians "struggle" with many things, because we're in this body of sin/sin nature (Jam. 4:1, 1Pet. 2:11), but there will be evidence/fruit in a Christian's life that they have been truly born-again as a new creation in Christ (2Cor. 5:14-17, 1Pet. 4:1-3, Matt. 3:8-10; 7:21-23; 12:33-37, Prov. 12:12b). All true born-again Christians possess the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:16-17, Rom. 8:16, 1Cor. 6:11), and there will be evidence/fruit of the Holy Spirit in that person's life (Rom. 8:13-15, Gal. 5:16-18, 22-25, 2Tim. 1:7). If there is no evidence of the Holy Spirit (i.e. a desire for His desires, a desire to please God, the attitude that Jesus is Lord over your life, bearing His fruit, and a disgust towards sin) in a professing Christian's life, the Bible says that person is not truly saved (Rom. 8:5-9). You can "say" you're saved because you made "a confession of believing in Jesus' death and resurrection", but the Holy Spirit is the confirmation/the assurance of the sincerity of your salvation. So to think, believe, or profess to be born-again/a new creation in Christ, yet living/practicing a "lifestyle" of sin, and exhibiting no evidence of the Holy Spirit is a misnomer (Eph. 4:17-24, 2Tim. 2:19). It is biblically and logically incompatible, and for a person to continue to insist that this contradiction is not a contradiction but a true statement is deceived or *schizophrenic.

"4 Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking, violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect—being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will). 5 You know that He appeared in visible form and became Man to take away [upon Himself] sins, and in Him there is no sin [essentially and forever]. 6 No one who abides in Him [who lives and remains in communion with and in obedience to Him—deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him, or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him]. 7 Boys (lads), let no one deceive and lead you astray. He who practices righteousness [who is upright, conforming to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action, living a consistently conscientious life] is righteous, even as He is righteous. 8 [But] he who commits sin [who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the divine law) from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done]. 9 No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God. 10 By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in Christ)." (1Jn. 3:4-10, AMP)

Some may say, "What does this mean for the Christians that may fall into rebellion, are they really a true born-again believer or a misnomer?" True believers do fall at certain points in their life. This has happened to David, Peter, myself, and many other faithful people of God throughout the centuries. "The marks of a true believer will stand true compared to those of a poser. Though a true believer will fall---i.e. to certain temptations (lust, anger, pride, self-righteousness, etc) or at worse into temporary rebellion---they will get back up again just as the Bible says- Prov. 24:16, Ps. 37:23- 24. Repentance is ever present with a true believer, but not so with a poser."**

Can There Be...

So, can there be a "gay Christian"? Yes, a true born-again believer can "struggle" with homosexuality. Yes, true born-again believers can fall to temporary rebellion in a homosexual relationship the same way one can fall to temporary rebellion in a heterosexual relationship. But repentance (an evidence of the Holy Spirit) will be ever present with a true believer for the Holy Spirit's role is to convict and sanctify believers, and complete His good work (Gal. 5:17, Phil. 1:6, 1Thess. 5:23-24). However, to claim or sincerely believe oneself to be gay (and/or believe you were born that way) and to be living in/presumptuously practicing a homosexual "lifestyle", the answer is no, a true born again believer cannot be a "gay Christian". To claim to be a "gay Christian" (not a Christian struggling with homosexuality) would be equivalent to someone claiming to be a Christian Muslim or a Christian Satanist, it's oxymoronic. Two opposing identities cannot coexist as one agreeable identity, that is schizophrenia. It is God's will that His born-again children be pure from sexual immorality, and anyone who rejects this rejects God (1Thess. 4:1-8). You cannot be a "gay Christian".

I believe we have drifted too far from clearly understanding the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus, because of His amazing grace and unconditional love for His creation, came (when He didn't have to) into His creation to be crucified for God-hating, God-rejecting, rebellious, self-centered, and sinful humankind---that's all of us, no one is a good person in God's eyes, we're all sinners deserving of His judgment regardless of any "good things" we may do. Jesus received the full weight of God's righteous fury for our sin, that eternal wrath we all deserve. He didn't simply give His life for His enemies as an act of chivalry, He sacrificially stood in the place of His enemies' deserved eternal punishment. Think about that....He jumped in the electric chair for---murderers, rapists, molesters, that is what every sinner is, we're all the vilest things you can think of---us who deserved to be in the electric chair, while we're all spitting at Him and ridiculing Him and screaming at Him telling Him to move out the way and mind His business..."this is my life, I'm the only 'god' around here, I can live and do as I please", He was willingly strapped in and electrocuted (without limitations) for us. He became our sin for us, our scapegoat. Then, after being crucified and receiving the fullness of God's righteous fury for His enemies sin, He conquered death for those same enemies/sinners by rising from the dead. But only those who recognize their sinful and unrighteous standing before God and sincerely believe and trust in what Jesus did for them will be rescued/saved from this righteous fury of God on sin. This gospel is the power of God unto salvation! One cannot say they believe this and not be changed (1Pet. 1:13-25).

Choose Your Destination
So here's where we land...

1. If you are a professing or closet homosexual, this is your destination...a one-way trip to God's righteous wrath for eternity. If you die today you will find yourself in the face of God's judgment, unless you repent and believe (Jn. 3:36, 1Cor. 6:9, Eph. 5:5, Rev. 21:8). I hope and pray that you do.
2. If you are a professing or closet homosexual who believes you are a Christian, it is a psychotic*** thing to believe that you truly understand this reality of sin, sin's eternal penalty, Jesus redeeming you from sin's penalty and power, and the Holy Spirit which raised Jesus from death living within you and making you a new creation, and still believe or claim to be gay and live that lifestyle (Rom. 6:1-23, Gal. 5:19-21). You my friend are deceived and are destined for God's righteous wrath for eternity. If you die today you will find yourself in the face of God's judgment, unless you repent and believe (Jn. 3:36, 1Cor. 6:9, Eph. 5:5, Rev. 21:8). I hope and pray that you do too.
3. For my brethren who are struggling with homosexuality, remind yourself daily of the gospel which saved your souls, remind yourself what He did to save you and why He saved you, cry out to the Holy Spirit to give you a desire for His desires and to break you and make you more into His likeness by any means necessary, immerse yourself in His Word and prayer, and also connect with other mature believers who have experienced consistent victory in this struggle. Do not allow this struggle to pimp you out like it did before your were redeemed. You have the power and presence of the Holy Spirit within you, and you have been called to sanctification. You run and fight until exhaustion for the glory of your risen King and what you know is laid up for you (1Cor. 6:18-20; 9:24-27, 2Cor. 5:9-10; 6:14-7:1).

I know some will not like what I have written. I'm sure some may label it hate speech, and say I'm being intolerant, judgmental, and a fundamentalist. But I call this article "love speech", because I love you enough to tell you the truth. And if I am intolerant, my intolerance is toward the deception of the sin not you personally. I want you to be rescued from your sin, and bondage, and deception. I am not passing judgment either, I have no reason to judge nor am I the Judge, I'm simply explaining the truth. If you feel judged, then the truth is that which judges you not me (Jn. 12:48). Also, I know some may say, "God is love and well God loves me and accepts me just the way I am." And to you I say, yes, God is love, but God is holy love not unholy love. And yes He does love you, but He loves you to the point of transforming you into His likeness. God's holy love cannot nor will not allow you or enable you to remain the same sinful, rebellious enemy He was crucified for. God's holy love was the motivation which poured out His righteous wrath on His Son for your sin, not so you can continue to live in that sinful lifestyle and use His love as a justification for it (Jn. 3:16-21). That is a lie and it will cost you your eternity believing it. Repent and believe the truth.


I hope this article has answered this question clearly, concisely (ok, maybe not concisely), and biblically. I hope I have helped believers and seekers out there know the true biblical answer to this question.

__________
*1. Schizophrenic, in general usage, is a mentality or approach characterized by inconsistent or contradictory elements.
**2. Discipleship State of Mind, p. 114
***3. Psychotic: denoting or suffering from psychosis---a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.

5/7/13

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One of the Hardest Things about Church Planting

One of the hardest things in planting this church has been, up to this point, the lack of support we've received from people (i.e. church family & friends) that I just knew would support us. I've received love and support from some folk who I least expected, from some folk out the blue, and from some who genuinely care. But, I had people (i.e. church family & friends) tell me, once they heard about the plant, that they were coming along with us, only for them to never make it to either of the two vision castings we had. Some of those same people sat right out front of the church doors while we were sharing what the church plant was about. They never came in or asked. It appeared as if they could care! I haven't got any emails, or phone calls, or messages, nothing (at least not up to this point). Where's the love! Where's the love in action! Maybe these folk assume, "Chris and them got this, they don't need no help or support. Chris won't mind if I renege on what I said." I am a man. I bleed, get hurt feelings, and cry like the rest of the human race. And I am hurt, deeply. I have to admit this. And it's not just because of the people, but of some leaders too. I set myself up gullibly believing that leaders would act like leaders and be enthused about seeing other leaders lead and would want to help God's kingdom advance in that manner (especially when its someone you're not opposed to). I mean, we are all working toward the same goal! But my gullibility set me up for disappointment with no one to blame but myself.

I know we're all consumed in our worlds. Life is happening so fast around us. There something here, something there, then this happened and that happened. I get it, I really do. Life "be like that" some times. But when I see people I know, some of which have said out of their mouth that they "got us", spend money on events or certain pleasures and never offer to pray or help us, it's like a slap in the face. Or I see them and they never ask how it's going, or how can I help, or how can I be praying, it's like a slap in the face. Or when leaders don't offer to pray for you, or call you, or check-in on you, or send a note saying "Hey, I'm praying for you", it's like a slap in the face. I'm sure I'm guilty of doing this very thing too. So at least now, if I never knew how it felt, I do now. And it's not a good feeling. It's actually a dark place your emotions go. You start to question people's loyalty and integrity, like I have been there for you, prayed for you, stayed up late with you, opened my house for you, counseled you, served alongside you, defended you, encouraged you, remembered you, and so on. Then I get convicted. The Spirit reminds me that I don't do the good things I do to/for others for their sake only or for a repayment, but unto Him for His pleasure. How fine of a line is that to ride! I now have a much better understanding of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:38-48. This is not only for those who are your enemies, but even those who you believe are on your side. Are we willing to walk an extra mile with that person once we start to question their sincerity? Are we willing to give them our other cheek to slap, or clothes off our back once we question their loyalty? Are we willing to let them betray us like Jesus let Judas? Talk about radical! While I was ready to call folks selfish and self-centered, and how this "me" driven society has brainwashed us into only living and looking out for our own self-interest and self-gratification, before I could type those words I was convicted guilty of the same things, probably towards some of those same people.

These paragraphs were more for me than for anyone else. I just needed to clear my head and see what I was thinking. And I'm glad I did because it allowed me to see my own selfishness and be reminded that whatever I do in my life or for another should always be motived by God's love and for God's pleasure, even if the person takes advantage of it (I'm not speaking of being a doormat or an enabler, but of Christ-centered sacrificial love). I'm not doing it for them, I'm doing it for Him. Am I still hurt? Yes. But those emotions that are in a dark place have been exposed. What do I do now? I leave it at the altar. I cannot afford to hold this venom inside. I held onto the wrong word, the word of others, when I should have held onto His word in Psalm 118:8, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." So I have to release them of keeping them to their word. I have to choose to give them my other cheek.

Just to let ya'll know I am in a good place in my soul actually, and I'm surrounded by some good people. But it's hard being a leader in the church, especially hard being a pastor, and even more so as a church planter. I'm not sure people understand how fragile we are. But praise God He is the Potter! He's a specialist at fixing and firming fragile things! So I'm in great hands!

I know me sharing this runs the risk of some kind of backlash. It's always a thin line for us outspoken and transparent leaders. Give me mercy Lord. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone. But if I did, please forgive me.

4/24/13

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A Journey of a Church Plant, Week 10-16

The most adequate opening I can suffice to why I haven't journaled about our church plant journey since March 6th is...it must have been a lot going on to miss almost two months. I'm not going to break down the weeks like I did in my last entry. And this probably won't be chronological either. It's simply so much to cover, the best I can do is just give the highlights...and lowlights (is that a word or did I just make that up?).

Since my last entry, the Lord has increased us from 13 to 19-20 now! It may not seem like a lot, but when you start out with just my family of 5 and experience what appeared as a slow start, to have around 20 adults and 7 children with two months left until our official launching is cause for celebration! I'm thankful for the group that we have! Oh and guess what else? The Lord brought us another pastor! That was one of my earlier and most consistent prayers, finding another guy with the same vision, heart, and is doctrinally and philosophically like-minded. My fellow brother Joe Montoya has come on board as our Executive Pastor. A funny guy with a great big ol' heart. He is a called and gifted evangelist! Which is sweet, because my passion is discipleship. He's great at catching fish, I'm great at cleaning and cooking them up! That's a killer combination. Bubba and Forrest ain't got nothing on us! I'm excited to see what God has in store. At one of our previous monthly meetings we announced our officers. We're coming along. We're still in need of other key components, one of which is a Praise/Choir Team Director, or at least some folk with musical gifts and skills until we get a director. In the meanwhile we have no problems with someone leading us as a congregational choir, even though we may only sound good to God.

This past Sunday we had service in the park. We sung some songs together, got in the Word together, had a picnic together, played, talked, and re-did our vision video. When it was time to record Joe, this dude had me laughing so hard my ribs were hurting. We did take, after take, after take. It was so bad but so funny. Then he couldn't stop laughing. People walking past started laughing. Too funny! 

We've started to meet weekly as a small group. Today will be our second week. We're went through "what we believe", that is what are our core doctrinal beliefs and why. Today we'll be going through "what we need to know", that is what does our membership mean and entail, what about church discipline and restoration, what are the responsibilities of the pastors and deacons/deaconesses, and other church officers, our "CarePot" fund, and so forth. This week will be good because we have encountered our first couple of personnel problems, with one of the people no longer remaining with us. So going through and understanding these things will be good for us to discuss and walk through. 

If I can recall correctly, two weeks ago we registered with the State and IRS to become a 501c3. We are clear to receive tax-exempt donations! So right now we're in a crunch time phase. We have to raise $12,000 by July to be operationally safe for the first two months. We just launched our fundraiser site. If you'd like to help us, and we sure need you to, please partner with us in planting this church!! You can donate as little as $10 or as much as you'd like, but we're asking that you donate something. There is more information on the fundraiser site. We're also doing a fundraiser showcase concert on May 17th to help raise funds. We've been meeting to get that together and were pretty much done. But then some snags for that just recently came up. Not sure how much this may hurt us, but we'll see what God has up His sleeve. You'll see why I say that in a minute.

We also finished our church website. Everything a person would want to know about us is on our site. We'll be adding pictures and our vision video soon. But besides those, our site is complete.

It's about that time for us to start looking into buildings and places we can rent for us to meet. We have two months left. So check out what God did. Yesterday I had a meeting at Biola University with the Vice Provost of Multi-Ethnic and Cross-Cultural Engagement. In the meeting she asked what was I doing now. I proceeded to tell her about the church plant and our vision. She gets up and goes and makes a phone call. She comes back and tells me she just called the director of her denomination's something like property management. She said she knows they have some buildings in our target area that they may not be using, and told me to call the gentlemen and see what he can do. Oh come on! That's not what our meeting was suppose to be about, but that's where it went. I'm thinking to myself, "God whatever You're up to I can't wait to see it!" I spoke to the gentlemen today, guess what? He lives in Los Angeles but is from Baltimore, MD (so am I), is a former Marine (so am I), and has a vision for reaching the urban context (so do I). Now what are the odds of that! Only God! I love kingdom connections! The Vice Provost prayed over the plant and told me to keep in contact, said she may even stop through during our launch in July. How exciting!

That's pretty much it. Believe me, there are more details. For the most part you've been caught up. I'd like to say I'll be able to write every week going forward. But that probably won't happen. I may have to do so every other week. That would be more realistic for me. Please continue to cover us in prayer. And please, please help us by donating, $12,000 is a lot to raise in 72 days. We're trusting God, and we know He's going to use His children to help out His other children!

4/24/12

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Do Mormons & Christians Believe in the same God?

A fellow brother in the Faith, added me to a Facebook conversation about Mormonism and Christianity. His heart was to win back another fella we all mutually know who has drifted back again into the Mormon belief. In the process of him trying to do so, the fellow Mormons invited another Mormon. So my fellow brother invited some friends too. I happened to be one of those friends. I told myself I wasn't going to say anything. I resisted the early urges to read the thread between them. But this morning, the Spirit drew me to respond. The Mormon men were arguing that Mormons are nothing more than another denomination in Christianity...we all believe the same essentials just differ in the non-essentials. My response was an attempt to simply draw a line in the sand and show how we are not on the same team just with simple differences. 

Here are my responses:

__________

"I'm not sure what all the going back [and forth] is for. Mormons and Christians believe in two different Gods.

1. Mormons deny the Tri-union of God---God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), God the Holy Spirit, all 1 God yet distinct in their divine personhood, and yet co-equal in nature and characteristics, and co-eternal. | 1. Biblical Christianity fundamentally holds to the essential truth of the Tri-union of God [see http://bit.ly/11WrVSB for more info on the Holy Trinity]. This is not a non-essential, it is [an] essential to salvation.

2. Mormons are polytheistic, they believe in multiple "Gods" not simply multiple little "gods". (Which those verses and terms mentioning men as "gods" [in the Bible] are taken way out of its original and historical context; but that doesn't change the fact the Mormon theology inherently believes and teaches polytheism). | 2. Biblical Christianity is monotheistic. The Bible only supports and teaches monotheism. There is only One God, only One (Deut. 6:4, Isa. 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:5, 22, Rom. 3:30, Gal. 3:20, Revelation). This too is not a non-essential, for it too is [an] essential to salvation.

Just from these two, and not mentioning the numerous other things we fundamentally disagree on, we believe in two different Gods. We cannot be the same. It is logically incompatible. That's the same as saying nothing created something, an effect without a cause. It's fallacious.

This then leads to the greater concern, one of us is right and one of us is wrong. Two opposing beliefs vying as the same truth cannot both be true. That too is a fallacy. Only one of us truly is right.

There is nothing more to say. There is no reason to continue on with the inbox dialogue unless there is going to be a sincere, open, friendly, and reasonable meeting discussing which belief is right. Otherwise, we are simply wasting words and we all shall see once we die and stand before the True God which belief is right. I bet my eternity on the biblical God, YAHWEH, the Eternal Spirit, Jesus, the Incarnate. Are the rest of you willing to bet your eternity on your Mormon beliefs? (That is meant to be rhetorical). If you are, then we all shall see on that Great Day!

Please know that I write this from a place of love and not hate."

__________

There was a response telling me that based on the Mormon articles of faith (http://mormon.org/articles-of-faith), they believe the same thing..."The article of faith is in plain black and white. We believe in God the eternal Father, and His Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost."

Here is my follow-up response:

__________

"Wow. Mormons have changed their statement of faith and core beliefs. I'm not sure if you know this [name deleted], but Mormonism was not founded on those statements on that link you shared. Why have they changed from what was once taught as Mormon truth to something different now? Truth doesn't change.

Secondly, showing two of our essential differences is just that, showing why we're not the same. And fellowship with the Body can only be with those in the Body. If we're not in the same Body, then we can't have biblical fellowship. We can hang out! But it won't be called fellowship. However, I can understand why it's hard for you to see that because that link states and reads like any other church would. But, that statement of faith still did not affirm belief in the Tri-union of God. Here is the Mormon's belief on the Trinity...."Godhead":

"Unlike Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christianity, Mormonism does not include belief in a Trinity, in which the one God consists of three persons. Instead, Mormons believe that the "Godhead" is made up of three distinct beings who are "one in purpose" but not in being." (Religionfacts.com/mormonism/beliefs/godhead_not_trinity.htm; dated 2005)

And this, "Among the most important differences with other Christian churches are those concerning the nature of God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit." (Mormonnewsroom.org/topic/core-beliefs)

And this, "Mormons believe He [God the Father] has a human-like body but is immortal and perfected. " (Mormonnewsroom.org/article/the-godhead)

And here's one of the Mormons belief on Jesus: "Mormons do not agree with mainstream Christians that Jesus is the eternal Word of God or God himself. In Mormon belief, Jesus was a created spirit and "son of God" before being given a physical body, just like all humans." (Religionfacts.com/mormonism/beliefs/jesus_christ.htm; dated 2005)

We are believing in two very different things bro. And that's why I said one of us is right and one of us is wrong. We can't both be right."

__________

I shared this to help anyone who has asked or thought about this question, "Do Mormons and Christians believe in the same God?" The answer is no, we do not; (and the same can be said for Jehovah's Witnesses, see http://bit.ly/10NtKQO for more on this). Mormons are not Christians. Christians are not Mormons. We both believe in completely different Gods. And there is so many, many more differences between Mormonism and Christianity than the two that I shared. But these two are adequate enough to show how we don't believe in the same God and we both cannot be right/true. 

Be sure to know what you believe and why you believe it.

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Controversy: Freedom, Tolerance, & the Church

I'm not a person big on getting involved in political issues or controversial issues. But in light of the recent news with the Supreme Court and gay marriage, I do have a few reflections.

We have the freedom to disagree with another. Yet, my freedom to disagree with another (even when I do it respectfully) is now being labeled as "intolerant" and "bigoted" by those who disagree with me. Isn't that contradictory? Wouldn't that then mean by their own logic that those who then disagree with me for disagreeing with them are also being "intolerant" and "bigoted"? But I'm not sure if the majority of people see this fallacy in their logic. Why can't we simply just disagree with each other, and agree to disagree? Why does there have to be negative and divisive labeling? (That was meant to be rhetorical. I'm fully aware sin is at the root of it all).

You know what makes this worse, we in the Church do this to one another (and have been for centuries). Think about this: WHAT IF those outside the Church are simply following the example we in the Church have set---name calling, mocking, sometimes voilent, selfish agendas, labeling one another when we disagree with each other, etc. (And we do this beyond the essentials, so don't attempt to use that defense). WHAT IF the hatred we receive from those outside the Church is not solely rooted in our stance for God's Truth in His Word, but also in our example of operating in "bigotry" and being "intolerant" to one another in the Church (in the name of defending "truth"). I'm not agreeing with it, I'm simply stating a reality: Our hands are not clean in creating the current negative perception of the Church or about Christians. (Again, I am speaking apart from us being condemned/hated for our stance for the Truth in God's Word like Jesus stated we would).

Yes, we can continue to respectfully disagree with others, present our cases on why, argue for what we think is best, and so on because we have the freedom to do so. But if we aren't going to take that same intense approach we have towards "righting" those things going on outside the Church to work on our own home issues in the Church, then we have to admit and accept responsibility for our own hypocrisy and Phariseeism of focusing only on the outside of the cup while neglecting to clean the inside first (cf. Matt. 23:25-28). Again, I'm not saying we can't or we shouldn't speak up or speak out or stand up, I'm just doing my part of holding us accountable to not forget to practice in the Church what we preach to those outside the Church.

"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" -1Pet. 4:17

4/1/13

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