I’ve been seeing so many comments and fb posts from Christians lately. They all seem to have one thing in common: they take a stand on the wrong things. They make a claim about this version of the Bible being better than that one and all others are written by Satan. They make  a claim about how certain criminals are beyond saving. They look at questions from non-believers and instead of answering or welcoming this chance to talk about Jesus, they write off the non-believer as a heathen. I watched a person, who under his job description says he works for Christ, literally answer a question – a genuine question, not a causing-trouble kind of question – with “devil, get thee behind me”.

Christians, I implore you: GUARD YOUR THOUGHTS, and GUARD YOUR MOUTHS. Jesus loved the non-believers along with the believers. If He didn’t, He wouldn’t have prayed for them and asked for them to be forgiven. He wouldn’t have come in the first place. And really, He turned religion on its head. He fulfilled the law that was the cornerstone of Judaism and brought about a new law and new level of spirituality. Before He came, nobody was a believer. He changed hearts as He went along. Where would we be if He’d merely condemned our ancestors??

We are not better than anybody else. Our Christianity does not make us superior. It’s not a case of “I’m going to heaven and you’re not, so there. Boo-ya.” Jesus said there was room for all in His father’s house. We are saved because GOD is good and GOD is merciful, not because we ourselves are good or even remotely deserving. We aren’t. So what gives us the right to say this person is or isn’t worth my time because of their spirituality or their actions?  We are condemning people to be orphans of God when we should be loving them as siblings under Him.

It is a hard concept to swallow, but God loves the sinner as much as the righteous. Yes I said it. He loves the rapist as much as the rape victim. Is He happy the person raped somebody? Of course not. But He loves that person just as much as He loves anyone else.

So readers, stay on your guard. Be wary of fighting people instead of principalities. PRAY FIRST before you enter a debate or make a stand for God. Make sure, make very very sure, that the words coming out of you are words that God wants you using. Act in God’s wisdom and in God’s love. We will be held accountable for every idle word we speak. So tame your tongues, and tame your thoughts, and walk in the love that Christ has for ALL of us. I call every reader of this blog to be vessels of God’s love, not wedges that drive the lost further from Him.

Side note: I was involved in just such a debate the other day, and I ended up getting slammed on all sides. Slammed by the atheists for believing in God, and slammed by the Christians for not condemning the atheists. I didn’t engage anybody, I just said what I knew to be true under God (and yes, I checked with Him first). The result? One of the atheists friended me on facebook specifically to more about God. I pray that this opens up a pathway for God to reveal Himself to this person, and I trust God to do it! Please be praying with me that the door to this man’s heart will be opened and the light and peace of God can shine in!!

If you need prayer over a similar situation, are having trouble dealing with these types of things in your life, or just want to chat about how God is moving, write to me at being.rebekah.a@gmail.com. God bless!
~Rebekah A