So mostly, I'm talking to other Christians. However, if you have been hurt by a Christian and you've somehow ended up here, please keep reading if you'd like to.
I believe my role as a Christian, more than anything, is to love God, love my neighbor, and be a picture of Jesus and lead others to Him (Mark 12:28-31). Emulating His character surely is a challenge, I am not doubting that. I get it wrong much more than I get it right. It is extremely hard to be perfectly loving and without sin as a human being- actually, we can't do it, and certainly not on our own. However, I do believe it is our responsibility to discern what it means to be loving and do our best to do so- luckily, we have God with us and His word to help us do that.
Lately, and especially over the past couple years when LGBT rights have been coming to a focus, I've unfortunately witnessed a lot of Christians choosing to ignore the command to "love their neighbor," and instead, choosing to publicly condemn and judge others in efforts to support their political agendas.
This may sound harsh, but I say it with love: If you are saying anything hurtful about this sensitive issue in a very public way (or in any way), you are NOT emulating Jesus, and you are NOT loving your neighbor. You may believe that somehow you are "offending people into the truth," but instead, you are pushing people far, far away from Jesus, the complete opposite of what he asks us.
Instead of posting your statuses behind your computer screens about how "America is going to hell because of this decision," or how, "God created marriage for a man and a woman, and everyone who doesn't think so is going to be burning in a lake of fire," why don't you instead get to know a struggling person and show them Jesus' true character through loving them just as they are.
As I look at Jesus' character in the Bible, it seems like the only people he would "offend into the truth" were the Pharisees, the ones who thought they were all good because they followed the law so perfectly; they depended on their own goodness enough that they missed Jesus completely. I hate to say it, but when we post hateful things on social media focused on holding nonbelievers to our standards, we look and act like Pharisees.
So how would Jesus lead others to the truth if his way wasn't offending them into it or saying hateful things to them about how they are just getting it so wrong? A very specific example is in Luke 5: 27-32 (among many others), when Jesus calls Levi to himself. Levi was a tax collector, aka someone who would steal from others- break the law- a sinner.
Jesus saw this struggling person and showed him love completely- he asked him to be in on his team- to follow him. He took him as he was, asked him to leave his empty lifestyle behind, and come with him. Levi clearly knew by Jesus' character that he offered a better life than Levi knew. And Levi was so excited about this person, this wonderful love that he had found, this savior, that he wanted all of his friends to know. His friends were not believers- a lot of them were tax collectors, and Jesus ate with them at a banquet.
It's interesting to me that this story doesn't emphasize Jesus saying anything hurtful to the tax collectors- he doesn't seem to call them out on their lifestyle or tell them how wrong they are. He doesn't seem to criticize the nation that he is in because the tax collectors are doing awful, sinful things, and others around them are just allowing it.
Instead, he eats with them. He invites them into the truth in a kind and loving way. I imagine Him interacting with them as if they are human beings, not terrible, sinful outsiders- as if they were his neighbors, as if they deserved love just as everyone else did. I imagine him passing food around a table, enjoying wine, and laughing with them. I imagine him even hugging them goodbye after dinner.
And Jesus didn't just eat dinner with tax collectors- he also ate with drunks, prostitutes, you name it. He would show any one of them love, and show them a more fulfilling life. His way was not a way of condemnation.
The ones that did condemn- they weren't Jesus or any of His disciples- they were the pharisees. They were the ones who thought they were following God but ended up finding fulfillment in their own "goodness" and their own opinions- their own political agendas.
Now, I'm not calling any one of my friends pharisees, but what I am saying is that we need to be so careful. We need to remember that our purpose is to lead people to the truth. Looking at the Bible and looking at Jesus' character- the way to do this is through relationship. The way to do this is through loving people just as they are. The offer we have in Jesus is love and fulfillment in things that aren't of this world- the only way to show this exists is through being completely loving ourselves.
Let's think about how Jesus would react to the current political situations- I bet it wouldn't be by hiding behind a computer screen and posting hateful statuses on Facebook. Instead, he'd invite hurting people just as they are to eat with him, and he'd offer them relationship, salvation, and true love. He'd ask them to be on His team.
I believe my role as a Christian, more than anything, is to love God, love my neighbor, and be a picture of Jesus and lead others to Him (Mark 12:28-31). Emulating His character surely is a challenge, I am not doubting that. I get it wrong much more than I get it right. It is extremely hard to be perfectly loving and without sin as a human being- actually, we can't do it, and certainly not on our own. However, I do believe it is our responsibility to discern what it means to be loving and do our best to do so- luckily, we have God with us and His word to help us do that.
Lately, and especially over the past couple years when LGBT rights have been coming to a focus, I've unfortunately witnessed a lot of Christians choosing to ignore the command to "love their neighbor," and instead, choosing to publicly condemn and judge others in efforts to support their political agendas.
This may sound harsh, but I say it with love: If you are saying anything hurtful about this sensitive issue in a very public way (or in any way), you are NOT emulating Jesus, and you are NOT loving your neighbor. You may believe that somehow you are "offending people into the truth," but instead, you are pushing people far, far away from Jesus, the complete opposite of what he asks us.
Instead of posting your statuses behind your computer screens about how "America is going to hell because of this decision," or how, "God created marriage for a man and a woman, and everyone who doesn't think so is going to be burning in a lake of fire," why don't you instead get to know a struggling person and show them Jesus' true character through loving them just as they are.
As I look at Jesus' character in the Bible, it seems like the only people he would "offend into the truth" were the Pharisees, the ones who thought they were all good because they followed the law so perfectly; they depended on their own goodness enough that they missed Jesus completely. I hate to say it, but when we post hateful things on social media focused on holding nonbelievers to our standards, we look and act like Pharisees.
So how would Jesus lead others to the truth if his way wasn't offending them into it or saying hateful things to them about how they are just getting it so wrong? A very specific example is in Luke 5: 27-32 (among many others), when Jesus calls Levi to himself. Levi was a tax collector, aka someone who would steal from others- break the law- a sinner.
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus saw this struggling person and showed him love completely- he asked him to be in on his team- to follow him. He took him as he was, asked him to leave his empty lifestyle behind, and come with him. Levi clearly knew by Jesus' character that he offered a better life than Levi knew. And Levi was so excited about this person, this wonderful love that he had found, this savior, that he wanted all of his friends to know. His friends were not believers- a lot of them were tax collectors, and Jesus ate with them at a banquet.
It's interesting to me that this story doesn't emphasize Jesus saying anything hurtful to the tax collectors- he doesn't seem to call them out on their lifestyle or tell them how wrong they are. He doesn't seem to criticize the nation that he is in because the tax collectors are doing awful, sinful things, and others around them are just allowing it.
Instead, he eats with them. He invites them into the truth in a kind and loving way. I imagine Him interacting with them as if they are human beings, not terrible, sinful outsiders- as if they were his neighbors, as if they deserved love just as everyone else did. I imagine him passing food around a table, enjoying wine, and laughing with them. I imagine him even hugging them goodbye after dinner.
And Jesus didn't just eat dinner with tax collectors- he also ate with drunks, prostitutes, you name it. He would show any one of them love, and show them a more fulfilling life. His way was not a way of condemnation.
The ones that did condemn- they weren't Jesus or any of His disciples- they were the pharisees. They were the ones who thought they were following God but ended up finding fulfillment in their own "goodness" and their own opinions- their own political agendas.
Now, I'm not calling any one of my friends pharisees, but what I am saying is that we need to be so careful. We need to remember that our purpose is to lead people to the truth. Looking at the Bible and looking at Jesus' character- the way to do this is through relationship. The way to do this is through loving people just as they are. The offer we have in Jesus is love and fulfillment in things that aren't of this world- the only way to show this exists is through being completely loving ourselves.
Let's think about how Jesus would react to the current political situations- I bet it wouldn't be by hiding behind a computer screen and posting hateful statuses on Facebook. Instead, he'd invite hurting people just as they are to eat with him, and he'd offer them relationship, salvation, and true love. He'd ask them to be on His team.
