Meanness Of Christians

[Love First]

Why can Christians be so mean sometimes? Yes, I see it also in myself. I understand that iron sharpens iron and that as Christians we are to rebuke and chasten but I have to ask myself if this level of meanness and lack of love is what Yeshua intended for his Church? And yes I am guilty as well like I said.

 

[TzephanYahu]

I feel you @Love First.

Have you read the poem called "Forum-Christians" by poet of ephraim?

The Forum-Christian’s “light” to the nations:
Devoid of respect and wafer-thin patience.
Rude to the atheist, snide to the believer,
Either agree with them or be called a deceiver.
They litter posts with every quote in their system
And bark them without love, honour or wisdom.
How proudly they boast about their own salvation,
But let’s see what the Great Moderator has waiting...

Peace

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

Why can Christians be so mean sometimes? Yes, I see it also in myself. I understand that iron sharpens iron and that as Christians we are to rebuke and chasten but I have to ask myself if this level of meanness and lack of love is what Yeshua intended for his Church? And yes I am guilty as well like I said.

Do you read the Psalms and Proverbs? They’re "mean". Jesus said a lot of "mean" things to people, publicly humiliating the liars of his day. Truth is "mean" to those who hate it. To those who love it…"faithful are the wounds of a friend".

 

[Love First]

Do you read the Psalms and Proverbs? They’re "mean". Jesus said a lot of "mean" things to people, publicly humiliating the liars of his day. Truth is "mean" to those who hate it. To those who love it…"faithful are the wounds of a friend".

OK but let me ask you something. When you look at this letter what do you see?

Revelation 3
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

 

[Albion]

Do you read the Psalms and Proverbs? They’re "mean". Jesus said a lot of "mean" things to people, publicly humiliating the liars of his day. Truth is "mean" to those who hate it. To those who love it…"faithful are the wounds of a friend".

I believe the original post was more about insults and accusations made just for the sake of being mean, not what you're thinking of.

 

[Isilwen]

I wonder if the "How do I remove a member from our church" thread prompted this particular thread?

I have read through that thread and I didn't see meaness. My thought was that you, the OP need a little bit thicker of a skin.

I used to be like you, still am to a degree, but I had to learn to have a thicker skin. Life doesn't pull punches, it's mean, it's cruel and it is raw.

The above is said in love and not out of malice.

 

[tampasteve]

Because we are humans, mostly. But also because the use of text as our primary means of communication here does not enable emotion or empathy to always be understood when we are writing.

Often people use less text than they should, if they would write a few sentences more they could explain what they mean to add context and empathy to their statement.

Sometimes a comment that seems mean is not meant to be read that way, sometimes a comment that is meant to be firm or correcting is seen as mean or rude. Sometimes it is just not possible to tell if someone is being mean, just short, or not well written. Often we just disagree, and a disagreeing statement is not meant to be mean per-se, it is just not easy to write a statement in disagreement without seeming "mean".

For example, the statement "No, you are wrong" sounds kind of rude, but if it were spoken with inflection and emotion it may not be mean at all. It could be sad, it could be empathetic, it could be mean.

All that said, there are times where people are "mean" or flame one another, in those cases it is best to Report the post so Moderators can address it.

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

OK but let me ask you something. When you look at this letter what do you see?

Revelation 3
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

I love it.

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

I believe the original post was more about insults and accusations made just for the sake of being mean, not what you're thinking of.

Perhaps, but given that believers are called to endure insults I don’t go much for the "You said it the wrong way!" stuff. We are called to maturity and that means mental and emotional toughness as well as tenderness.

 

[Love First]

I love it.

That didn’t answer my question so I will answer it for you.

In that passage I noticed two really key things.

1. Verse 15: “I know thy works” What is the works that Jesus desires of us? It’s love. Jesus taught, “This is my commandment that you love one another”.

2. Verse 19: “As many as I love”. I have a feeling that there is a reason that Jesus said that and that is because the main thing that was really missing from this Laodicea church was a Spirit of love.

 

[Love First]

I wonder if the "How do I remove a member from our church" thread prompted this particular thread?

I have read through that thread and I didn't see meaness. My thought was that you, the OP need a little bit thicker of a skin.

I used to be like you, still am to a degree, but I had to learn to have a thicker skin. Life doesn't pull punches, it's mean, it's cruel and it is raw.

The above is said in love and not out of malice.

So I should be hard hearted?

That thread was just the straw that broke the camels back. There are many other instances I could give you that spurred this thread forming.

 

[A_Thinker]

Why can Christians be so mean sometimes? Yes, I see it also in myself. I understand that iron sharpens iron and that as Christians we are to rebuke and chasten but I have to ask myself if this level of meanness and lack of love is what Yeshua intended for his Church? And yes I am guilty as well like I said.

Sometimes there is meanness, but also ... sometimes Christians mistake disagreement ... for meanness.

We tend to hold our beliefs quite tightly, and in the area of morality, ... a disagreement ... can often be misinterpreted as meanness.

What I would suggest, .... that if you suspect another Christian of meanness, ... is to take a moment ... and consider whether there is really meanness in evidence, ... or is it simply disagreement.

There are a lot of areas where we may disagree ... about Christian belief and/or practice.

 

[A_Thinker]

That didn’t answer my question so I will answer it for you.

In that passage I noticed two really key things.

1. Verse 15: “I know thy works” What is the works that Jesus desires of us? It’s love. Jesus taught, “This is my commandment that you love one another”.

2. Verse 19: “As many as I love”. I have a feeling that there is a reason that Jesus said that and that is because the main thing that was really missing from this Laodicea church was a Spirit of love.

The ultimate lack is always love, but in this passage Jesus (Who is dictating to John) directly specifies lukewarmness (i.e. apathy) ...

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

That didn’t answer my question so I will answer it for you.

In that passage I noticed two really key things.

1. Verse 15: “I know thy works” What is the works that Jesus desires of us? It’s love. Jesus taught, “This is my commandment that you love one another”.

2. Verse 19: “As many as I love”. I have a feeling that there is a reason that Jesus said that and that is because the main thing that was really missing from this Laodicea church was a Spirit of love.

You answered yourself, not me. Your argument is circular, and assumes that your definition of "love" and "mean" is the true definition. Jesus said things to people that highly offended them. He is love personified, but they got so mad they wanted to kill Him.

To support what I think you are getting at:

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."—Col. 4:6

and

"Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near."—Philippians 4:5

 

[Love First]

Edit

 

[Love First]

The ultimate lack is always love, but in this passage Jesus (Who is dictating to John) directly specifies lukewarmness (i.e. apathy) ...

Yes, Laodicea was lukewarm and yes that means that they lacked love.

 

[Love First]

The ultimate lack is always love, but in this passage Jesus (Who is dictating to John) directly specifies lukewarmness (i.e. apathy) ...

The answer really lays in the previous letter to the Church of Philadelphia. The word Philadelphia actually means “Brotherly Love”.

 

[d taylor]

I believe when people come here to this site (or i guess really anywhere) they already have a set of beliefs they believe in. So most are here to defend what they believe, and are not coming here to have their set of beliefs changed. So it can be argumentative and abrasive

 

[Albion]

Perhaps, but given that believers are called to endure insults I don’t go much for the "You said it the wrong way!" stuff. We are called to maturity and that means mental and emotional toughness as well as tenderness.

Sure.

 

[Isilwen]

So I should be hard hearted?

That thread was just the straw that broke the camels back. There are many other instances I could give you that spurred this thread forming.

I never said to be hard hearted, just to have a thicker skin. There is a difference.