MY THOUSAND WORDS...AND THEN SOME

I feel the tears welling up in my eyes this morning as I write this. I sense the fire in my stomach. My heart is broken. My frustration level is high. Not with any one person, but with the enemy himself because he is doing a work on so many.

- We arrest people for stealing. Why? It’s wrong. 

Really?  I mean, what if it is just how that person feels. You know, that taking things is okay. At least for them. Who said it was wrong?

Exodus 20:15 - You shall not steal

- People go to jail for lying. Perjury is what I believe we call it. Slander is another form. Personally, we can’t stand being lied to. From our kids, our friends, or our leaders. But what if that is just how the other person is? It’s just their nature. Who said it was wrong to lie?

Exodus 20:16 - You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

- Gossip. We are upset when someone gossips behind our back. Nobody likes it. We try to train our kids not to. We try to stamp it out of our churches. Why? Who said gossip was wrong? Who said that our natural inclination to be in the know and get a good scoop was not how things were to be?

2 Timothy 5: 13 – And besides, they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.

- Infidelity. Wrong. I mean, I guess. People sure seem to be upset when they are cheated on. Not many people seem to think the cheater was in the right. It is bad enough when you are just dating, but then to have it happen in a marriage.  But why? Where along the way did we learn that adultery was wrong?

Exodus 20:14 – You shall not commit adultery

And just so you don’t think it’s all Old Testament,

Matthew 15: 18-20a – But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man…

There are definitive rules in the Bible.

Oh here comes the religious Pharisee…oh no…she said rules….she’s a legalist…oh watch out……

You don’t like rules? Fine. There are definitive expectations for us as Christians in the Bible from God.  Things we are to avoid. Things called sin. Do we fail? Absolutely. Which is when grace and love from Christ and others steps in. Here we can find common ground because the very people I so strongly disagree with are right, the greatest command we have is to love.

Matthew 22:35-39 – Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, and saying, Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all you mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The love we are to have for neighbors, however, does not negate the truth of God’s word, which we as Christians profess to believe.  Think of your own relationship with Christ. Any changes been made since you came to know Him? Anything you were doing that the Holy Spirit has notified you is no longer acceptable? Or did you come to Him in great shape? He had little work to do on you.

Pretty sure the answer to those questions would tell a tale of someone redeemed by the truth, in love. A testimony of the old life now passed away and the new life beginning. The love Christ has for you and I does not overlook the violations of God's truth and holiness in our lives. Christ does not simply let us do as we see fit. His love compels Him otherwise.

Well, who are we to say what is right and what is wrong for others?

We are Christians, that’s who we are. We have aligned ourselves with Christ Jesus.  We have committed to sharing His gospel, we have committed to live a different life, and we have committed laying down our lives if so required for the truth of God's word.

Oh here she goes to judging….yep she’s judging others... that is wrong….Pharisee….

You who are thinking this are correct. It is wrong to judge others. But activities and actions?  I do it every day, and so do you.I We must judge those if we are going to walk this life out with any wisdom.

2 Thessalonians 2:10 ... and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

The love of the truth. The Bible is clear. Homosexuality is a sin. Just as lying, adultery, lust, envy, gossip and slander. It is heart breaking to see so many Christians forsake truth in the name of love, and love in the name of truth. It is both. We love them, just as we are loved, and in that love we speak truth. Sin is sin. In my life and in yours. Because you and I are called on it, corrected and disciplined does not mean we are not loved. It means the exact opposite.

There is no straddling the fence here.  No everybody interprets it differently. No gray area.

And it is not intolerant or unloving to say so.

My fellow Christians, this is not a negotiable topic. It is not a closed-minded, antiquated opinion of some old, homophobic, religious teachers who just aren’t current with today’s culture.

It is a matter of truth. When we compromise that, we play right into the deceiver’s schemes.  His scheme to weave a shard of truth into his web of lies. His fancy, shimmering, well -designed web of lies which is a snare to the soul. To turn a blind eye while someone gets caught up in that snare, well, now that is unloving.

The good news of the Gospel is not just that Jesus loves us. The good news is that in that great love, He sacrificed so we could be free from the sin and the snares laid out for us. Through Him, we could have victory over the evil one and have eternal life with God the Father and the Son.

Love. Truth. They don’t negate each other. They are beautifully intertwined into a web that doesn’t snare but saves.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, your detractors will call you unloving and intolerant. They will say you are not showing Jesus because you have decided to firmly take a stand.  You take it anyway. They will call you judgmental. Don’t be. Not even to them. Contrary to what they will say, you can take your stand and still love them like Jesus. Give them no cause to speak an evil word about you.

You stand firm.

You love well.

You choose.

2 Timothy 2:24-26

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.