Wednesday, December 5, 2012

No one likes an arrogant Christian.

Have you ever met someone very passionate about something you don't know to much about? I have. I've seen people passionate about activities like video games, star wars, and music. I'm sure many of us have met people passionate about Christianity. Two things happen when we meet a person really passionate about something.
1) We are repulsed.
2)We are intrigued.
What cause these two reactions? The degree of intensity in the persons passion, there general demeanor, There facial expression and answers when a question is asked or the something they love is challenged, the effects on the persons life due to the passion that is held for the certain activity, and past experiences with the something they are passionate about. When I was a kid and through my teenage years I was very passionate about skateboarding. I skateboarded for 11 years. I would not be surprised if some friends and family found it annoying how skateboarding dominated my conversation. They thought it rude and arrogant when I got upset because they did not understand every little skateboard trick I was explaining. I did not even think to ask about there interest . Do we Christians do this? I have had people ask me whether or not I like such-and such and when I say never heard of it or just plain no. They look at me as if I have three heads then want nothing to do with me. Do we Christians do this when people are not immediately  receptive to the gospel? Yes!! We do ! When we stand on street corners with megaphones in hand telling people they are going to hell because of abortion, homosexuality and other sins. We are bring oppressive . How do we know the people walking by are not Bible believing Christians? Yes. Sin=Death. But sin does not = unrighteous anger or unrighteous judgement. Sin= death which means hell for the unrepentant sinner. Lets not throw our corrupt human emotions in the mix. Hell is eternal separation from God. Instead of yelling on megaphones and standing on step ladders yelling " God hates such and such group" ( God does not hate any human! God hates Sin. that is why Sin=death.) We need to be sad and show people we are generally  concerned that if they die in sin they will be separated  from God. Subjects of the wrath of God's hatred of sin. The oppression slips in when people are told about hell and not about the key out of hell (Belief in Jesus Christ and leading a life of repentance) Jesus said we are to be "fishers of men"- Matthew:4:19. It is important that we stress the importance of God's sadness and our sadness because of the way non-believers are living. We must stress that God is sad because he knows some will be subject to his wrath. You don't think God cries?read this (John 11:35, Hebrews 5:7, and Luke 19:41) Back to oppressive Christians. There are two reasons that some Christians are oppressive.
1) They are arrogant. Which is sin. (Sin=death)
2) There teaching is horrible and they can't communicate the Gospel well or just don't want to.
Jesus calls his followers to be gentel. " I am sending you as sheep in the midst of wolves, be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves- Matthew 10:16. To sum it up the reasons why so many Christians are rightfully viewed as oppressive  is because of arrogance or bad communication skills. So really in truly Christianity is not oppressive the people who "practice" it are oppressive .

3 comments:

  1. Arrogance, like the Pharisees, comes into play because of personal goals and standards coming before the Lord's! It is a good reminder here to be wise as serpents, but innocent as doves.

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  2. One of my favorite sayings of Jesus. I have to remind myself daily.

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  3. Totally convicting. We don't want to come across like arrogant, oppressive people who are shoving Christianity down others throats. Thank you for this :)

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