Peace, Peace, when there is no Peace

[talitha]

My pastor recently said in one of his messages that we are doing nonChristians a dis-service when we try to make them feel "okay" without Jesus.

I quite agree.

Later that evening, I think it was, I stopped at a convenience store for a cola, and as I walked in the girl at the counter was talking a blue streak. I said nothing, just waited for her to realize I was there. When she did, she apologized profusely. I resisted the temptation to say, "It's okay, I've heard worse." I just proceeded with my transaction and thanked her when she handed me my change. She was still apologizing when I left. Maybe she's apologizing to the right Person now.

What do you all think?

blessings
tal

 

[GreenMunchkin]

I think that's one of the problems I have with liberalism. It's all about tolerance - tolerance and love being wonderful, necessary things - but we aren't called to win people to Christ by tolerating sin to the point where we effectively support it. If sin wasn't a core issue, Jesus wouldn't have been necessary.

It's sin that separates us from God, so as much as people want to believe that sin is fine, that simply is not the case, and by giving non-Christians that idea of it, we will be winning luke-warm Christians who will flee as soon as something trips them up.

The Truth can be a bitter pill to swallow, but it's immutable and stable; relativism, while cuddly, is ever shifting, and fluid, and can't be relied upon.

It's love, integrity, conviction and Truth that will open peoples' minds, and God that will open their hearts.

Lulling and teasing people into a watered down cuddly version of Christianity isn't what we are commanded to do.

 

[talitha]

Lulling and teasing people into a watered down cuddly version of Christianity isn't what we are commanded to do.

AMEN!

 

[ReformedChapin]

By talking a blue-streak you mean she was saying bad words right? And yes liberalism is a joke. They follow "tolerance" religiously.

 

[talitha]

yes, yes, and yes!

 

[Hishandmaiden]

If people are not sinners, why will they need Jesus? Jesus does not come to show love to the people. He comes to save people from their sins. He comes to save us from our sins.
If Jesus comes only to show love, He won't die on the cross. He will simply do good works, heal the sick, perform miracles, and continue to do good works until a ripe old, age.

But no, Jesus chooses to die on the cross for people.
In one instance, Jesus turns away many people who uses to follow Him because He challenges them to think about what it means that He is the bread that is even better than the bread, physical bread they originally come to Him for.

It is not about the physical bread, it is about the spiritual one. Man's first problem is their separation from their saviors because of their sins.

 

[GreenMunchkin]

If people are not sinners, why will they need Jesus? Jesus does not come to show love to the people. He comes to save people from their sins. He comes to save us from our sins.
If Jesus comes only to show love, He won't die on the cross. He will simply do good works, heal the sick, perform miracles, and continue to do good works until a ripe old, age.

But no, Jesus chooses to die on the cross for people.
In one instance, Jesus turns away many people who uses to follow Him because He challenges them to think about what it means that He is the bread that is even better than the bread, physical bread they originally come to Him for.

It is not about the physical bread, it is about the spiritual one. Man's first problem is their separation from their saviors because of their sins.

Exactly! That's exactly it.

Love what you said about He didn't come just to show love... had never thought of it like that. His purpose here was dying on the Cross; the healings and miracles were very much secondary to that.

But, His dying on the Cross was done in love, so love was the driving force, but the *reason* was sin.

 

[karen freeinchristman]

My pastor recently said in one of his messages that we are doing nonChristians a dis-service when we try to make them feel "okay" without Jesus.

I quite agree.
l

I quite agree, too. Difficult thing is, finding the right words for the specific situation. Sometimes it is not words, but actions, demonstating that we are not 'okay' without Jesus.

This topic is on my mind quite a lot ever since I became a committed Christian. And I've been trying to discern appropriate ways of witnessing without driving people even further away.

 

[talitha]

This topic is on my mind quite a lot ever since I became a committed Christian. And I've been trying to discern appropriate ways of witnessing without driving people even further away.

Me too!

Can anyone share how they have witnessed without driving people even farther away? Any testimonies of God working??


blessings
tal

 

[tashiseisei]

No one's words convinced me that it was the right thing to do, and people only told me that God would be full of rage if I finally did go home. I never wanted to go home again.

One day, I was tired and hungry and couldn't walk anymore and I found myself staring at the front door, and I knew that inside, there was warmth and food and love. I had been alone for a long time, and I decided that it was better to be killed than to keep standing out in the cold.

So I knocked on the door, fully expecting to be engulfed in flames when he opened it. Instead, he just brought me inside and led me to the bathroom. While I was washing off the dust and sweat, I wondered if he had mistaken me for someone else and didn't recognize me. I put on clean clothes and slunk out to the dining room, still waiting for the hammer to fall.

The table was full of my favorite things.

I started to cry, confused and trying to apologize, trying to ask questions, trying to say too many things at once. Most of it sounded like, "Why? Why? What?"

He said, "Just eat. You've been hungry for a long time. Look how thin you are."

I said, "But--"

And he just looked at me sadly, shook his head, and pushed the plate closer to me. "Stop apologizing. I'm glad you're back."

"But," I said, pounding my fist on the table in frustration and misery, "you know I'm the same person I was yesterday and six months ago, that I'm always going to be like this. I'm always going to be all of these things. Are you crazy? Why do you want me here? All your other children hate me and think I'm the devil! Why are you feeding me? You're nuts!"

He smiled crookedly and took the plate, filled it, and put it back down. He said, "Are you going to pick up your fork, or am I going to have to feed you myself?"

 

[talitha]

beautiful parable.