"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." Matthew 5:11, emphasis mine.
Consider this news article about the Southern Baptists discussing a name change. I post this not because I have any concern about the Southern Baptists, their name or their conventions. It's the comments.
On the one hand, you have a multitude of mud-slinging against the Christians, Baptist or otherwise, and on the other you have (a few) turn-or-burn posters commenting on the fate of the immortal souls of the other posters (or even the Baptists themselves).
*sigh* *shake head* *cry*
The vitriol of the anti-Christians...is it Christ they are rejecting, or is it the condemning, hateful behavior of so many of his supposed followers? If someone rejects and insults you for love...so be it. But if they treat you harshly for condemnation, separation, judgement and hate...well, maybe it's your harsh doctrine they are persecuting.
How many people did Jesus tell that they were going to hell? How many did he condemn and scorn? How many sinners did he refer to by their sin? I have heard Christians refer to homosexuals as "sodomizers" and it breaks my heart. Is that what Jesus did?
No. He ate with sinners. Made friends with tax collectors. Praised the faith of outsiders. Defended the guilty. He encouraged, he taught, he blessed! Perhaps we should try emulating Jesus. There will still be those that hate, but there will be far fewer and their accusations will be false...not the truth.
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