Monday, October 28, 2013
Messages From Heaven: The Second Coming: What Are We Looking For?
Messages From Heaven: The Second Coming: What Are We Looking For?: The Second Coming: What are we looking for? The greatest cataclysm of world history. The prophets talk about the bad news of the return o...
The Second Coming: What Are We Looking For?
The Second Coming: What are we looking for? The greatest cataclysm
of world history. The prophets talk about the bad news of the return of
God to earth in the person of Jesus by a phrase that’s been mentioned a
number of times in this book. The phrase is the Hebrew phrase yom Adonai. We
translate it “the day of the Lord” or “the day of Yahweh.” The
prophets stumble over each other trying to find adequate language to
describe the horror of that day.
Turn to the end of the Old Testament to the little book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah shares with Joel and many other prophets of God a phrase that is the phrase of absolute horror. It’s called the great day of the Lord.
Zephaniah in 1:14-16 writes that the great day of the Lord is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of Yahweh is bitter. Mighty men will scream aloud. That is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, devastation and desolation, darkness and gloominess, clouds and thick darkness. I look at all of those pairs of words, and I see a man ransacking a thesaurus, if there were such a thing available, trying to find adequate terms to describe the calamity of the day of the return of Christ to the earth, because when He returns it will be in the worst judgment in the history of the world.
How can that be? How can that be if Genesis 6 to 9 describes the death of all living by the great flood? How can that be, given the suffering that we’ve experienced even in our own lifetime, like the recent calamitous flooding in places like Honduras, from typhoons, tsunamis, horrible earthquakes, hurricanes, all of these so-called acts of nature? How can there be something worse than all of those things?
I think what makes the Second Coming worse in judgment is that all of those things God did through mediation, that is through Creation, nature gone riot, Creation in upheaval. But in the Second Corning, the judgment will be done, not by water, not by flood, not by fire, not by storm, but by His own hand. Did you hear that?
We’re all familiar with the story of the ten plagues. Are we familiar with the wording of Exodus 11? Turn back there where the announcement of the tenth plague is given. The last plague God used to deliver Israel from Egypt is the most horrendous of the list. There were others that were awful, the turning of the Nile to blood, the darkening of an eclipse that lasted for days and was specific on the Egyptians and not the people of Israel. Some eclipse that was. Cattle disease, boils, gnats, flies, awful things, but none of the plagues is like the tenth. Because in the tenth plague we’re told that from the house of pharaoh, to the humblest farmer in the land, and even extending out to the barn, the firstborn of Egypt will die. They will not die, however, as Sunday school lessons have it, by the “Angel of Death,” but by the hand of God.
Look at Chapter 11 verse 1: “The LORD [Yahweh] said to Moses, ‘One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh.’” He says I will do this. Verse 4, “Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight, I am going out into the midst of Egypt’” You see what we’ve done? We’ve softened this because it’s almost intolerable. It’s something that we can’t stomach. God? No, we’d like it to be done by an angel. God? No, we’d like it to be done by a demon. God? No, we’d like it to be done by a storm or a disease, but God says, “I will do this.” And so He did.
Turn to Chapter 12 and look at the summary in verse 29. “It came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the first-born.” Not an angel, not a seraph, not a messenger, but the Lord.
I do Passover Seders in the spring. The rabbis sometimes got things right, and this they nailed. In the Passover Haggadah, the liturgy for that wonderful service of praise to God for deliverance from Egypt, there is a homily on these words from Chapter 11 where God says, “I will go out into the midst of Egypt.” Listen to this. “The Lord, Yahweh, brought us forth from Egypt, not by means of an angel, nor by means of a seraph, nor by means of a messenger, but the Most Holy. Blessed be He in His own glory. As it is said, ‘I will pass through the land of Egypt in this night, I will smite every firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.’ I, Yahweh, I will pass through the land of Egypt, I, Myself, and not an angel. I will smite every firstborn, I, Myself and not a seraph. And on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment, I, Myself, and not a messenger. I, Yahweh, I am He, there is none other.” And that’s the way it was. When the final act of deliverance was done, it was God who did it. And that was to get His people out of Egypt. And then when they came to the watery mass, and the army was behind them and the Sea of Reeds or the Red Sea was before them, then it was again that God acted in His own person, not by an angel, not by a seraph, not by a messenger, but in His own glory.
Turn to Exodus 15. This psalm, the first psalm in the Bible, is the celebration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and it’s celebrated every year by Jewish people all over the world. Jewish people who follow their own Haggadah know this better than we Christians, because they recite this every single year. When God brought Israel from Egypt, not only was it He, and He alone, who slew the firstborn, but it was He, and He alone, who fought against their enemies and destroyed them. And when the song was sung, verse 3 says, “The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name.” Yahweh is a man of war, Yahweh is His name. And in those words, we are celebrating the fact that it was God, and God alone, who delivered them. Adonai ish milchamah, Adonai shemo. Yahweh is a warrior, His name is Warrior God.
That’s what we have portrayed about sweet King Jesus in Revelation 19. Jesus, when He comes down, is a man of war. Look at the words, verse 11, “He judges and wages war.” Look at the words of verse 15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword.” The point is that it is He who will fight directly, personally.
The Second Coming of Jesus: What are we looking for? The greatest calamity in all of human history.
The people of the world don’t understand this. They use the word Armageddon which is our word, a Bible word. But they use Armageddon to describe nuclear holocaust, nation against nation. Back in the days of the Soviet Union there was such a threat of the end of the world, we thought, by one nation lobbing missiles against another and though it was thought that was Armageddon, it was not. That would be horrific, it would be world war, but it’s not Armageddon. Armageddon is the nations gathered together at the end of the Tribulation period to withstand God the Father putting His Son Jesus Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem. That’s what Psalm 2 is about. That’s what Psalm 110 is about.
In Psalm 2, the nations are gathered together against the Lord, and against His Messiah, His anointed. And the One who is in heaven laughs in derision as He says, “I set My king on My holy hill, Zion.” Do you think the nations can withstand the power of God? That’s why there’s the greatest cataclysm of all of history. What makes it the worst is it’s not water, it’s not fire, it’s not disease, but it’s the Lord Himself who comes to judge.
Turn to the end of the Old Testament to the little book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah shares with Joel and many other prophets of God a phrase that is the phrase of absolute horror. It’s called the great day of the Lord.
Zephaniah in 1:14-16 writes that the great day of the Lord is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of Yahweh is bitter. Mighty men will scream aloud. That is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, devastation and desolation, darkness and gloominess, clouds and thick darkness. I look at all of those pairs of words, and I see a man ransacking a thesaurus, if there were such a thing available, trying to find adequate terms to describe the calamity of the day of the return of Christ to the earth, because when He returns it will be in the worst judgment in the history of the world.
How can that be? How can that be if Genesis 6 to 9 describes the death of all living by the great flood? How can that be, given the suffering that we’ve experienced even in our own lifetime, like the recent calamitous flooding in places like Honduras, from typhoons, tsunamis, horrible earthquakes, hurricanes, all of these so-called acts of nature? How can there be something worse than all of those things?
I think what makes the Second Coming worse in judgment is that all of those things God did through mediation, that is through Creation, nature gone riot, Creation in upheaval. But in the Second Corning, the judgment will be done, not by water, not by flood, not by fire, not by storm, but by His own hand. Did you hear that?
We’re all familiar with the story of the ten plagues. Are we familiar with the wording of Exodus 11? Turn back there where the announcement of the tenth plague is given. The last plague God used to deliver Israel from Egypt is the most horrendous of the list. There were others that were awful, the turning of the Nile to blood, the darkening of an eclipse that lasted for days and was specific on the Egyptians and not the people of Israel. Some eclipse that was. Cattle disease, boils, gnats, flies, awful things, but none of the plagues is like the tenth. Because in the tenth plague we’re told that from the house of pharaoh, to the humblest farmer in the land, and even extending out to the barn, the firstborn of Egypt will die. They will not die, however, as Sunday school lessons have it, by the “Angel of Death,” but by the hand of God.
Look at Chapter 11 verse 1: “The LORD [Yahweh] said to Moses, ‘One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh.’” He says I will do this. Verse 4, “Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight, I am going out into the midst of Egypt’” You see what we’ve done? We’ve softened this because it’s almost intolerable. It’s something that we can’t stomach. God? No, we’d like it to be done by an angel. God? No, we’d like it to be done by a demon. God? No, we’d like it to be done by a storm or a disease, but God says, “I will do this.” And so He did.
Turn to Chapter 12 and look at the summary in verse 29. “It came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the first-born.” Not an angel, not a seraph, not a messenger, but the Lord.
I do Passover Seders in the spring. The rabbis sometimes got things right, and this they nailed. In the Passover Haggadah, the liturgy for that wonderful service of praise to God for deliverance from Egypt, there is a homily on these words from Chapter 11 where God says, “I will go out into the midst of Egypt.” Listen to this. “The Lord, Yahweh, brought us forth from Egypt, not by means of an angel, nor by means of a seraph, nor by means of a messenger, but the Most Holy. Blessed be He in His own glory. As it is said, ‘I will pass through the land of Egypt in this night, I will smite every firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.’ I, Yahweh, I will pass through the land of Egypt, I, Myself, and not an angel. I will smite every firstborn, I, Myself and not a seraph. And on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment, I, Myself, and not a messenger. I, Yahweh, I am He, there is none other.” And that’s the way it was. When the final act of deliverance was done, it was God who did it. And that was to get His people out of Egypt. And then when they came to the watery mass, and the army was behind them and the Sea of Reeds or the Red Sea was before them, then it was again that God acted in His own person, not by an angel, not by a seraph, not by a messenger, but in His own glory.
Turn to Exodus 15. This psalm, the first psalm in the Bible, is the celebration of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and it’s celebrated every year by Jewish people all over the world. Jewish people who follow their own Haggadah know this better than we Christians, because they recite this every single year. When God brought Israel from Egypt, not only was it He, and He alone, who slew the firstborn, but it was He, and He alone, who fought against their enemies and destroyed them. And when the song was sung, verse 3 says, “The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is His name.” Yahweh is a man of war, Yahweh is His name. And in those words, we are celebrating the fact that it was God, and God alone, who delivered them. Adonai ish milchamah, Adonai shemo. Yahweh is a warrior, His name is Warrior God.
That’s what we have portrayed about sweet King Jesus in Revelation 19. Jesus, when He comes down, is a man of war. Look at the words, verse 11, “He judges and wages war.” Look at the words of verse 15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword.” The point is that it is He who will fight directly, personally.
The Second Coming of Jesus: What are we looking for? The greatest calamity in all of human history.
The people of the world don’t understand this. They use the word Armageddon which is our word, a Bible word. But they use Armageddon to describe nuclear holocaust, nation against nation. Back in the days of the Soviet Union there was such a threat of the end of the world, we thought, by one nation lobbing missiles against another and though it was thought that was Armageddon, it was not. That would be horrific, it would be world war, but it’s not Armageddon. Armageddon is the nations gathered together at the end of the Tribulation period to withstand God the Father putting His Son Jesus Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem. That’s what Psalm 2 is about. That’s what Psalm 110 is about.
In Psalm 2, the nations are gathered together against the Lord, and against His Messiah, His anointed. And the One who is in heaven laughs in derision as He says, “I set My king on My holy hill, Zion.” Do you think the nations can withstand the power of God? That’s why there’s the greatest cataclysm of all of history. What makes it the worst is it’s not water, it’s not fire, it’s not disease, but it’s the Lord Himself who comes to judge.
Messages From Heaven: Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Ultimately Fail!
Messages From Heaven: Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Ultimately Fail!: As gay activists celebrate the overturning of DOMA, my heart goes out to them, since I know this social experiment is ultimately doomed to ...
Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Ultimately Fail!
As gay activists celebrate the overturning of DOMA, my heart goes out
to them, since I know this social experiment is ultimately doomed to
failure.
To be sure, I understand that this is just not a political victory
for men and women who identify as gay and lesbian. It is an intensely
personal, even emotional victory, just as President Obama’s statement
last year that he now supported same-sex marriage brought tears to gay
leaders like Andrew Sullivan.
To the homosexual community, the Supreme Court’s ruling speaks of
legitimacy, equality and fairness. To them, it is a matter of family
life, of moms (and moms) and dads (and dads) and kids, of proper
societal standing, of a nation making right its grievous wrongs.
I truly get all that and I understand (while completely rejecting)
the majority ruling in this case. And I know that we’ve been told that
same-sex marriage is inevitable, that the tide has turned, that the
polls make it clear that complete, sweeping change is just a matter of
time. Give it a few more years, we are constantly reminded, and the
older generation will die out – along with its antiquated views – and
the younger, enlightened generation will rule the day.
To be quite honest, the day may come when same-sex marriage is the
law of the land, but that doesn’t mean that it will not fail, and
ultimately, society will rue the Court’s ruling of June 26, 2013.
Now, I fully expect my words to be cited by gay activists as
representing yet another example of a close-minded conservative who was
too proud (or bigoted or ignorant, or all of the above) to see the
handwriting on the wall and quit before being totally disgraced.
(Actually, there’s one more insult to be flung at me: I can’t give up my
opposition to same-sex marriage because I make too much money on the
issue. But of course!) Please feel free to cite me.
The truth be told, on January 1, 2008, I wrote down these words in
my personal journal: “The first qualification for someone engaged in
confronting homosexual activism is that you’d rather not do it because
you’ve put yourself in the shoes of those you’re opposing, you see the
world through their eyes, and you feel their pain.”
While gay activists will howl when they read this, God knows how deeply I meant it then and how deeply I mean it now.
So, this is not a personal battle for me. “My side” didn’t lose to
“their side” on June 26th, and gay leaders are not my enemies (although
I’m sure many perceive me as their enemy).
This is simply a matter of right and wrong, a matter of
understanding that God’s ways are best for a society and that God only
intended a man to marry a woman. In other words, just as there are
universal principles that are always true, even when people mock them
and reject them, God’s principles are universally true, even for
atheists and agnostics. That’s why Proverbs 14:34 says that,
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” –
whether we believe it or not.
And so, unless an apocalyptic scene unfolds in which society
completely collapses in the next few years and Jesus returns to put an
end to human folly – in which case homosexual activism will be seen as
just one of many signs of societal decay – I remain confident that the
same-sex marriage experiment will ultimately fail.
First, homosexuality is not a new phenomenon, nor is it only
recently that homosexual men and women began to engage in long-term
relationships, yet it is only in the last few years that the world has
thought to redefine marriage.
Of course, the terms “homosexual” and “sexual orientation” are of
relatively recent vintage (especially the latter), but there is ample
documentation through the ages of people with exclusive (or,
predominant) same-sex attractions, often legitimized by society, and yet
virtually no one thought to change the nature of marriage.
It was understood that men and women coming together in marriage
had a certain function in society and that it was more than simply
romantic and sexual attractions. Today, though, we are tampering with
the very foundations of human society by redefining marriage, and in the
end, when you tamper with the foundations, the whole building
collapses.
Second, gay activism is its own worst enemy, since the very slogans
it uses undermine its cause, like the latest, “Love is love” (echoed by
President Obama!) – yes whoever you love, love is love – which
ultimately must lead to polyamory, polygamy, and even consensual adult
incest. (Once again I hear the howls, but already, this is an
observation more than a prediction.) Otherwise, it is not full marriage
“equality”; otherwise, it discriminates against other sexual minorities
and their expressions; otherwise, not everyone has the right to “marry
the one they love.”
So, if same-sex marriage succeeds, it will ultimately succeed in making marriage utterly meaningless.
Third, because gay activism is so committed to validating virtually
all sexual identities, it makes male-female distinctives into the enemy
(see my recent article “The Little Boy Who Is a She-lebrity” for one
example of many), thereby declaring war on gender distinctives. This too
is a war that either fails the more it succeeds or else proves itself
utterly futile, seeking to undo the very nature of who we are as a human
race.
Same-sex marriage, then, will either prove to be an unrealistic,
even destructive social experiment, or it will so misshape society that
the very thing it fought for will no longer have relevance. Either way,
it will ultimately fail.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Messages From Heaven: Responding to the Unbelievers in Your Life!
Messages From Heaven: Responding to the Unbelievers in Your Life!: What if my spouse or a family member isn't a Christian? Many, if not most, believers have at least one family member who doesn't ...
Responding to the Unbelievers in Your Life!
What if my spouse or a family member isn't a Christian?
Many, if not most, believers have at least one family member who doesn't share their faith. The thing to remember is that there are in essence three components involved in any relationship you have with another person: You, the other person, and the unique relationship that exists between the two of you. That's all of it, right there: That's the whole Relationship Combo. You handle correctly each of those three aspects of every relationship and each of those relationships will come out all right.
So the guiding question is, what attitude-what guiding principle, what constantly motivating emotional truth-should you take care to bring to each of those three dimensions in your relationship with a nonbeliever, and especially with one who's a family member?
About yourself, be humble.
Toward the other person, be loving.
Toward the relationship between the two of you, be patient.
Humility, love, and patience. There is no mountain these three can't move.
Let's take a quick look at each.
Humility
You must keep your awareness of this quality at the fore of your consciousness whenever you're relating to a nonbeliever with whom you're close. Failing to do so is likely to result in your demeanor becoming strident: You will (however subtly) begin preaching, lecturing, telling them what, how, and who they should be. That's not the kind of oil that keeps the wheels of a relationship spinning smoothly.
We all know we must be humble before God. Let us also not forget to be humble before the people in our lives-each one of whom is, after all, an illustration of God's greatest creation, and made in his image. Remember: You didn't deserve to be saved. Being chosen by God isn't anything to be proud of. It's something to be grateful for.
Love
As God loves us, we must love others. Of course, this can be difficult-just look what it cost Christ to unconditionally and absolutely love us. If our Lord can suffer that, we can suffer whatever psychological or emotional pain it causes us to remain loving toward someone-and especially toward any nonbeliever, for whom we can trust that God has an acute interest.
God wants us to love others, to be his loving agents on earth. Simply love the nonbeliever in your life. Christ will take it from there.
Patience
This is God's world, not ours. We keep time; we have watches and calendars and clocks and so on. God sits at the heart of eternity. You can bet on this: He's not wearing a wristwatch. When it comes to the relationship between you and a nonbeliever-and particularly a nonbeliever to whom you're necessarily close-be patient. Wait. Never stop waiting. Have no agenda. Let God's will, in God's time, shape the relationship.
When you're involved with a nonbeliever, you're involved in one of the most important, precious dynamics given to any believer. Don't try to start driving that relationship in the way you think it should go. Give God the wheel. All you have to do with your nonbeliever friend is climb into the backseat with them-and then, side by side, relaxing and looking out the window, the two of you can enjoy the ride together.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (1 Peter 2:12).
Of course, sometimes people aren't happy to let you be you, while they are who they are. Sometimes people throw hostility (and more) your way just because you're Christian.
How to Respond to Attacks on Your Faith
How should you respond if someone is attacking your faith in Christ? It depends. If someone is being virulent to you about Christianity, the best thing to do is politely walk away. It's usually not helpful or productive to try to thoughtfully or rationally engage such a person. As the inimitable British playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote, "Never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it."
Not that the person denigrating Jesus is a pig. Still, what kind of person makes a point of maligning the faith of another? That really is a pretty ...oinky thing to do.
Interesting, isn't it, how some people seem to focus-if not to say obsess-on the idea that Christianity is something against which they personally, fervently, and usually quite vocally need to react? It's not hard to imagine that what such people actually want is to engage in an honest and open conversation about the faith; why poke a bear with a stick if you truly have no interest in the bear? So to the extent you find it feasible or possible, always remain open to the possibility that what the person who seems to hate Christianity might be responding against is an inextricable (and perhaps even subconscious) pull toward the very object of their disdain.
Bottom line: If it's someone you don't know who's attacking your faith, exit gracefully-but exit, and don't look back. If it's an acquaintance you're basically or conditionally linked to for a while-a coworker, a classmate, that sort of person-then be patient, and polite, and if they grow too offensive, ask them to please stop speaking to you as they are, to please have the same respect for your beliefs that you have for theirs. (And do ask them to talk to you about their beliefs! Start a dialogue!) Always, in both cases, remain open to the possibility, no matter how apparently small, that at some level all the other person really wants is to just talk about Jesus.
Maybe a little martial-arts principle will help. Rather than knock heads, go with the attacker's momentum and enjoy the engagement. And turn it into a practiced, developed skill. The truth is, there always will be people who are either going to be mean to you or do mean things to you. And once they do, you have a new responsibility to get over it rather than live under it.
Many, if not most, believers have at least one family member who doesn't share their faith. The thing to remember is that there are in essence three components involved in any relationship you have with another person: You, the other person, and the unique relationship that exists between the two of you. That's all of it, right there: That's the whole Relationship Combo. You handle correctly each of those three aspects of every relationship and each of those relationships will come out all right.
So the guiding question is, what attitude-what guiding principle, what constantly motivating emotional truth-should you take care to bring to each of those three dimensions in your relationship with a nonbeliever, and especially with one who's a family member?
About yourself, be humble.
Toward the other person, be loving.
Toward the relationship between the two of you, be patient.
Humility, love, and patience. There is no mountain these three can't move.
Let's take a quick look at each.
Humility
You must keep your awareness of this quality at the fore of your consciousness whenever you're relating to a nonbeliever with whom you're close. Failing to do so is likely to result in your demeanor becoming strident: You will (however subtly) begin preaching, lecturing, telling them what, how, and who they should be. That's not the kind of oil that keeps the wheels of a relationship spinning smoothly.
We all know we must be humble before God. Let us also not forget to be humble before the people in our lives-each one of whom is, after all, an illustration of God's greatest creation, and made in his image. Remember: You didn't deserve to be saved. Being chosen by God isn't anything to be proud of. It's something to be grateful for.
Love
As God loves us, we must love others. Of course, this can be difficult-just look what it cost Christ to unconditionally and absolutely love us. If our Lord can suffer that, we can suffer whatever psychological or emotional pain it causes us to remain loving toward someone-and especially toward any nonbeliever, for whom we can trust that God has an acute interest.
God wants us to love others, to be his loving agents on earth. Simply love the nonbeliever in your life. Christ will take it from there.
Patience
This is God's world, not ours. We keep time; we have watches and calendars and clocks and so on. God sits at the heart of eternity. You can bet on this: He's not wearing a wristwatch. When it comes to the relationship between you and a nonbeliever-and particularly a nonbeliever to whom you're necessarily close-be patient. Wait. Never stop waiting. Have no agenda. Let God's will, in God's time, shape the relationship.
When you're involved with a nonbeliever, you're involved in one of the most important, precious dynamics given to any believer. Don't try to start driving that relationship in the way you think it should go. Give God the wheel. All you have to do with your nonbeliever friend is climb into the backseat with them-and then, side by side, relaxing and looking out the window, the two of you can enjoy the ride together.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (1 Peter 2:12).
Of course, sometimes people aren't happy to let you be you, while they are who they are. Sometimes people throw hostility (and more) your way just because you're Christian.
How to Respond to Attacks on Your Faith
How should you respond if someone is attacking your faith in Christ? It depends. If someone is being virulent to you about Christianity, the best thing to do is politely walk away. It's usually not helpful or productive to try to thoughtfully or rationally engage such a person. As the inimitable British playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote, "Never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it."
Not that the person denigrating Jesus is a pig. Still, what kind of person makes a point of maligning the faith of another? That really is a pretty ...oinky thing to do.
Interesting, isn't it, how some people seem to focus-if not to say obsess-on the idea that Christianity is something against which they personally, fervently, and usually quite vocally need to react? It's not hard to imagine that what such people actually want is to engage in an honest and open conversation about the faith; why poke a bear with a stick if you truly have no interest in the bear? So to the extent you find it feasible or possible, always remain open to the possibility that what the person who seems to hate Christianity might be responding against is an inextricable (and perhaps even subconscious) pull toward the very object of their disdain.
Bottom line: If it's someone you don't know who's attacking your faith, exit gracefully-but exit, and don't look back. If it's an acquaintance you're basically or conditionally linked to for a while-a coworker, a classmate, that sort of person-then be patient, and polite, and if they grow too offensive, ask them to please stop speaking to you as they are, to please have the same respect for your beliefs that you have for theirs. (And do ask them to talk to you about their beliefs! Start a dialogue!) Always, in both cases, remain open to the possibility, no matter how apparently small, that at some level all the other person really wants is to just talk about Jesus.
Maybe a little martial-arts principle will help. Rather than knock heads, go with the attacker's momentum and enjoy the engagement. And turn it into a practiced, developed skill. The truth is, there always will be people who are either going to be mean to you or do mean things to you. And once they do, you have a new responsibility to get over it rather than live under it.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Messages From Heaven: Five Things I Wish I'd Known Before Marriage!
Messages From Heaven: Five Things I Wish I'd Known Before Marriage!: When Marry and I were preparing to be married, we went through counseling and got a lot of good advice. But there are some important thing...
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