I would like every Christian to read this... I completely agree with my friend Debbie Cade Boyds assessment! Would love to hear your feedback also! Here it is: So......this is kind of how it went in part of Bible Study today, and I dont come from a place of pride I dont think, but more from a place of conviction. So, of course I take that to social media, right? Isnt that what we do? In discussing the question, How discouraged do you think Moses was by the fact that God had sent him to deliver the Israelites, and now because of Pharaoh, he was actually subjecting them to more misery? Have you ever felt that, in obedience to God, you actually bring more pain to a situation, and were you discouraged when that happened? A lot of sharing, but several things pointed to the idea of turning off the news because it is so discouraging. CONSENSUS: God has it all under control, and we dont need to overwhelm ourselves with all of the negative, discouraging stuff. It was all going smooth, and there was A LOT of consensus in terms of shutting the negative off and remaining positive and encouraging. And then...my turn. And it went something like this: This is what makes me crazy, and here goes a tangent. Of course we should not subject ourselves to the world events and trouble to the point of losing sight of Gods sovereignty. Of course we should not push ourselves to the point of losing hope. Of course we should trust that God is working actively in our midst, even when we cant see what He is doing. And each of us certainly has that breaking point, and I respect that your breaking point may not be my breaking point. But honestly, as Christians, we have GOT TO STOP with the whole All of this is so concerning and scary and worrisome, and I dont know what I could do about it anyway, so Ill just pray and proclaim that God has it under control. Then, Ill turn it all off so Im not bothered by it. Just stop. What a bunch of cop out Christians. Could it be that God is actually trying to get us to pull the earbuds out and get our attention and get us to face the consequences of poor decisions? So, now, consequences are discouraging, and we should just ignore them? No, Im NOT suggesting we come to a place of despair, but we as Christians battle this everyday as the world wants to embrace the love thy neighbor and unconditional love aspect of the scripture but REJECTS the consequences of not making the personal choice to accept the WHOLE STORY where there is righteous judgement and condemnation. Thats discouraging and negative, they say. Get it away from me. And we know that there is true life on the other side of that truth, but others see us as divisive and negative and heavy and discouraging. And yet, we are doing the same to God. Can you imagine how many times Jesus himself was considered negative and discouraging as he TURNED UPSIDE DOWN the thinking of Christians and non-Christians alike by professing truth that was discredited as negative and discouraging...all because people didnt WANT to change their behavior? All the while...he was trying to set them FREE. So now, more and more, Christians want to live as they will, vote as they will, show literal apathy toward our government affairs and sit on their hands because its just all so negative and discouraging. Instead of sorting through it FOR THE TRUTH, they turn it off and get away from it. And we sit in Bible studies now and talk about turning off the news so we are not discouraged? Really, folks? Moses could have easily said, No way, I am not going up against Pharaoh. Talk about heavy and negative and discouraging! Who needs that? God has it all under control anyway, so I need to just remain positive and not subject myself to that discouragement. Thats what many of us are doing. But he didnt. And...on most days....he was confident that God was in control. Did that excuse him from fighting for Gods will even when it was miserable for him AND for those he cared about? Did that allow him the excuse of merely praying and trusting God has it under control while he did NOTHING? Not hardly. And Jesus? Jesus could have sat on his tush and subjected himself to a whole lot less cruelty until the day he died by handing it over to God, just spreading encouraging words by the worlds standards. But he didnt. Thank God...literally. And then I just read someones post that we shouldnt talk about these things in the course of our business because it polarizes people and might drive people away. Excuse me? Do you not FIRST understand that everything thats going on is going to deeply affect your business dealings if things do NOT change? How foolish. Then, do you claim to want to be more like Christ while you are fearful of polarizing people? There is nothing more polarizing than professing Christ as the only path to salvation and eternal life, and proclaiming that everything else will burn like chaff. You claim to be a witness to Christ, you ask God to bless your business dealings, but you tell people to avoid bringing up the subject in the course of business because it might offend and polarize...and people might not want to buy from you? And then you tell business partners that it is WRONG to talk about the world affairs that are controversial because it might hurt your bottom line? Wow. THAT did NOT come from Jesus. Just so you know. No one wants to be vomited upon (kind of like Im doing now), but stop spreading your cowardice so you can feel better about yourself. Truth often feels discouraging because its painful. Yet, on the other side of truth is liberation and freedom. What if God is trying to get our attention with the world events, and no doubt He is! This is a complete cop out, and this is why Im going crazy among Christians. THEN, I looked around and saw a lot of the pictured expressions. It felt really lonely in that moment. I took a deep breath and assured the group I was finished with that. Silence followed. Then, the facilitator said, Okay, so lets move to the next question, and we did. I hope I dont get kicked out of Bible Study. That would really stink.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:30:34 +0000