Hypothetical situation:
Your congregation has a guest speaker one Sunday. This person goes on an extended bit about how you need to "contend" for the faith against the people they consider to be "non-believers" and others who they feel seek to challenge Christ; basically, they end up arguing a "with us or against us" mentality.
Monday afternoon. You're watching the evening news and discover that the lead story is about a fight that broke out at a local elementary school. One of the kids who was in your congregation yesterday heard the guest speaker, found a thesaurus that said "contend" and "fight" were synonyms, and while at school today started smacking around several classmates.
This came to a screeching halt when one classmate administered the "laying on of hands", and when the parents of all involved children were called to the school, it ended up being a repeat performance as the father of the kid who started it all took a swing at the father of the kid who ended it and instantly came to regret it.
Social media is now blowing up over this, and the congregation you go to is regarded as preaching hatred.
How do you respond?
Your congregation has a guest speaker one Sunday. This person goes on an extended bit about how you need to "contend" for the faith against the people they consider to be "non-believers" and others who they feel seek to challenge Christ; basically, they end up arguing a "with us or against us" mentality.
Monday afternoon. You're watching the evening news and discover that the lead story is about a fight that broke out at a local elementary school. One of the kids who was in your congregation yesterday heard the guest speaker, found a thesaurus that said "contend" and "fight" were synonyms, and while at school today started smacking around several classmates.
This came to a screeching halt when one classmate administered the "laying on of hands", and when the parents of all involved children were called to the school, it ended up being a repeat performance as the father of the kid who started it all took a swing at the father of the kid who ended it and instantly came to regret it.
Social media is now blowing up over this, and the congregation you go to is regarded as preaching hatred.
How do you respond?