I am writing this post in response to something I heard in a sermon.
If you live in America today and consider yourself a Christian there are many things that people who are not Christian think you should not get involved in. Some believe that Christians are intolerant and self-righteous when they take a stand on things. They say Christians are hypocrites when they sin and in many cases they are. I believe these things are come from a misunderstanding of what a Christian is. In the next paragraph is my definition of a Christian or at least how I understand my relationship to God.
A Christian is a follower of the one who is known in history as Jesus of Nazareth and the one they believe is the Christ the savior of the world. They believe He was the son of God and that through His death they are forgiven and through His resurrection they have hope of being raised from the dead some time in the future.
The story of Jesus is not a new one because there have been many such stories about life, death and resurrection but none of the other stories involve the Creator coming to stand in man's place for the sins they have committed. There is no God like that in all of the other stories.
A follower of Jesus is one who knows they are not perfect and that they will still commit sin in some way even after accepting Jesus as their savior. They see the sins of others through that lens and so a true follower of Jesus does not make judgment of others even though they may voice opposition to their sin. A true Follower of Jesus is tolerant of other people even though they may not be tolerant of their behavior. They know that they are not that much different than them. A true follower of Jesus knows that they stand equally before the Creator God and Judge of the world but that because they have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus when it comes to sentencing He shows to the Judge His wounds to show that the debt has been paid in full. A true follower of Jesus knows that they are no more righteous than anyone else and they know that any righteousness granted to them is given by the Creator.
What are the Three No Nos in America? They are three areas of life that other people say Christians have no right to voice an opinion on. The three areas are:
1) Criticism of the religion of Evolution. Make no mistake about it Evolution is a religion. It is the belief that man is subject to no one and that nature is the God of the universe. If one who believes they are really educated who just apply the ability to think freely that God gave them they would have to admit it takes more faith to believe life just spontaneously came into being. I believe that anyone who believes in Evolution is being purposely ignorant of nature because they do not want to acknowledge the possibility of a Creator because they would have to then submit to that God.
2) Criticism of the Homosexual life style and the belief that people involved in those life styles were not born that way and can choose to change.
3) Criticism of Abortion. Believing that abortion is the taking of a human life is offensive to some because they assume that it is a condemnation of the person who has had an abortion. It never ceases to amaze me that the very people who are against the death penalty in America are the biggest supporters of abortion. Check out the abortion facts and Rick's Pro-Life Blog.
I am going to state my beliefs about the 3 No Nos.
1) Evolution has been shoved down the throats of young school children as fact. It is a LIE!
2) The Homosexual life style is wrong and people involved in it are living a LIE!
3) Getting an Abortion is the ending a human life and it is all based on a LIE!
Those who really know me would probably say that I am pretty tolerant of others and accepting of them. Even though I believe the world has been lied to about the 3 No Nos I believe that God desires to heal the wounds caused by the belief in them. I am in no way better than people who believe evolution is fact, that homosexual life styles are natural and that having an abortion is nothing more than removing tissue matter from a woman's body. The only thing I have going for me that they currently do not and that is Jesus will step between me and the Judge when my judgment day comes.
Usually I encourage people to leave a comment about how they were encouraged by a post but this time I invite any criticism one might have concerning this post. Just be aware that as a follower of Jesus I am set in my ways because you see God asks us to conform His standards not the worlds. Giving in to the 3 No Nos is the world's standard and I will not conform to it.
3 comments:
This is just for a clarification. Original Sin separated all of humanity from God, and twisted our inner being. The issue of whether or not homosexuals are born to be homosexuals misses the issue of all of us being born into sin. Within the theology of Original Sin, all humanity is twisted by sin, blind to God's will, and to God's love for them. The sin of homosexual behavior is a sin, irregardless of predisposition to the behavior. Folks who exhibit this behavior may be following their inner nature, but that can be changed. As Jesus told Nicodemus, "you must be born again." The original birth sentenced us. Christ frees us. We are now left with the opportunity to choose Christ. When we choose Christ, our nature changes in response to the presence of the Holy Spirit conforming us to the image of Christ.
I do not disagree with what you are saying. My point which I guess I did not make clear enough is that making a statement against on the 3 issues is not acceptable behavior in the United States.
In the eyes of God the sin of homosexuality is no worse a sin than that which creep into my life from time to time.
Good commentary on the three 'no-nos,' Larry, One with which I agree and occasionally post on one of my web sites.
Blessings,
Dick
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