"Only one life, 'twill soon be past
Only what's done for Christ will last."

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Christlikeness

It's pretty easy to debate non-believers on philosophy or theology. One starts from a completely different premise, so there is little to touch base on, to find common ground. In fact, it is almost impossible to convince any atheist of faith.

It must come from within.

But when you debate spiritual issues with people of faith it becomes sort of hard. For me, at least.

Why? You MUST remain loving. You must try to be kind. You must be considerate. Even if the other person isn't.

That happened to me the other night. It began as a question on Facebook about Trump voters. The question was TO people who supported Trump or voted for him.

Well, that's me. I voted for Trump. I don't like him, didn't support him, but I voted for him. I felt it was a line of defense against the New World Order that Hillary actually represented.

So, I gave an opinion and was promptly accosted by a self described "civil rights activist" who had studied Bible at an evangelical college and had read the Bible in Greek....
You get the picture.

Then I was accused of being snarky for answering the questions put forth!

No good deed goes unpunished...

But the question for me, really, was, "How do I respond in an loving manner to people who come across in bitterness to me, who react to my ideas with rancor?"

How can we be Christlike to our faithful siblings?

I struggle with this. I struggle with responding in love when I am made fun of. I have a family member who routinely scoffs at me, and I've wondered over the years how I should respond to him. It's a question I have wrestled with.

Why does he scoff?
How should I respond?
Can I avoid him?
Should I avoid him?
How can I be loving in response?

He doesn't agree with me on anything, but since he is family I MUST interact with him on occasion. That's hard for me. I ask the LORD, how? How should I act?

How should I act toward the "activist" who disagrees with my Biblical stance (in this case it was self-defense as a believer).

I'm not sure ignoring is the answer. I think the true church must defend itself. Look where we are now! Yes, we are watching the ongoing march of prophetic events which includes apostasy in the end times, but don't you wonder how people who grew up with Christian parents or grandparents can support gay marriage?

I do.

What happened? Biblical illiteracy?

It's a combination of things, certainly, but I think we true believers have an obligation to use apologetics to defend our faith, even on the offense, on the battlefield, on the philosophical turf of the opposition.

Christ did.

We need to keep it on the offense, and when we are falsely accused we need to respond in a Christlike manner.

Love. Soft answers. Kindness. Self examination. Pure heartedness. A ready word.

Showing Christ's love is Christlike. Waiting on His purposes and His action is our recourse, our defense, and ultimately our offense.

We know the end!
MARANATHA!

Praise Jesus!

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