6:59 AM
Tomorrow I think I'm going to try to find something humorous to write about, because this post and the last are pretty heavy.
Sometimes I run the risk of sounding like I think I have it all together, as if I'm pointing fingers at everyone except for myself. This isn't so. With that statement, I'm going to ask a question that I feel a little apprehensive about asking. I recently read Matthew 23, and I don't think that Jesus particularly liked the way the Pharisees conducted themselves, and I wonder how I compare to them.
Which of these two do you think is "worse"?
1) A group of people who don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who go to a nightclub to hear a band (let's call the band "The Tupperware Aboriginees"), or
2) a group of people who have a relationship with Jesus Christ and gather in His name and harbor resentment and anger for others while they're there.
It's okay to say that both are bad, or potentially bad. Both can lead to evil things. Someone from the first group, by drinking heavily and talking with someone he shouldn't, may get crazy drunk and wind up doing something he'll regret for the rest of his life. Someone from the second group, by sitting with an angry, stone face, may be a stumbling block for an unbeliever who sees their attitude and as a result intentionally writes off Christianity forever.
There is, of course, the fact that in one of those places, a person is not at all likely to meet Christ (unless a Christ-follower is there at the nightclub sharing the Gospel, but why would anyone want to do that?), and in the other, a person is more likely to meet Christ, at a worship service where the Word is preached.
Some words of Jesus, in Matthew 23:23-24 (NLT): "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!"
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Manga, anyone?
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[image: Serious Post Ahead warning sign]
Not my usual post, thought it needed a warning!
I was in Barnes & Noble the other day, and noticed something that ...
2 comments:
What's worse? I'd say #2. Both have bad eternal consequences; but bad eternal consequences caused by a Christian's actions (or lack thereof) is something we should strive to avoid.
Introspection is very difficult to do. Looking at other people and saying "how dare them" is so much easier because we don't have to focus on our lack of faith, our sin, or any other number of things. If we Christians are to change a non-Christian's perspective of us, we have got to start with ourselves. Do you know what a non-Christian hates more than a Christian...a Christian hypocrite.
Leroy
God judges based upon ones moral ability and moral knowledge. From these two groups who do you think has been exposed to more moral knowledge - Group 1 or 2? Remember what the bible says about "with great knowledge comes great responsibility" and that teachers of the faith will be held to a higher standard - why??
The reason Jesus condemns Pharisee's more harshly than sinners is they had the "keys of knowledge" and yet they had leaven (hypocrisy) within their hearts. Jesus strictly warned his disciples to be careful not to have any "leaven of the Pharisee's" as this is one thing God will not tolerate. Jesus also said that the Pharisee's had committed a "greater" sin - one needs to consider what is this "greater" sin??
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