Earlier today I had a discussion with someone on Facebook. For the remainder of this blog post I will refer to him simply as Don. Prior to this afternoon I had never really met, nor dialogued, with Don. Our history of interaction consisted completely of trading items while playing Mafia Wars.
At some point this afternoon Don took a quiz that asked him to express his opinion on homosexual marriage. Don is a supporter of homosexual marriage and made the below comment when publishing his post to his Facebook wall.
He said,
“How can any sane person in this day and age oppose two people being able to legally marry? If you do oppose same-sex marriage, why? Is it based on religious views or are you just a homophobe? If your views are based on religion, you are seriously misguided….”
I took the opportunity to explain to Don my views on homosexual marriage, as well as what the Bible say concerning homosexuality. Needless to say, he didn’t agree. In fact, he called the Bible a book of Bronze Age Fairy Tales. However, it wasn’t his blatant disregard for the word of God that caught my attention. Rather, it was what was revealed somewhat later in the midst of our discussion.
One of Don’s major arguments against Christianity was his perception of us as hypocrites who “cherry pick” scripture. He accused us of only following those passages which suit us. Later in the discussion he revealed that at some point he had been subjected to Christians whose response to the topic of homosexuality was basically “fags burn in hell,” “God hates fags!” He was put off from Christianity because of the attitudes of Christians he had come in contact with at some point in his life.
While the ungodly attitudes of those “Christians” do not justify his disdain for the things of God, his experience should remind us of one very important principle.
When propagating the message of Christ, it is extremely important that we exhibit the Spirit of Christ.
We must never forget that a good message will ALWAYS be eclipsed by a bad attitude. It doesn’t matter how “right” you are, if you present the truth with an ungodly attitude you will never draw a person to Christ. Rather, you will drive a wedge between them and God and create an even deeper chasm than what they currently experience.
The Bible tells us,
“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged:” –Proverbs 16:6-
The two work together. You can not separate them. Some believe that truth must be proclaimed with a hard demeanor and a firm brow. Such promulgation only serves to alienate the recipient instead of exalting Christ. We can not blame a person for rejecting our gospel if our presentation of it is tarnished by our ungodly deportment.
I don’t believe people who reject our doctrine always do so out of a hatred for holy things. Even if they do reject the gospel, this does not give us vindication to reply discordantly. Our response should always be with a humble and contrite spirit. Never one seasoned with harsh and unbridled tones.
In having this discussion with other Christians, it is often brought up that Christ himself showed an antagonistic spirit when he knocked over the tables of the money changers and called the Pharisees hypocrites and vipers. They argue that because Christ showed angry passion in his response to the blatant deformation of God’s law, then they are justified having more than harsh conversations with people today who show no desire for the things of God.
We must not forget however, that while Christ identified the Pharisaical spirit as poisonous and serpent like, he also responded to the Pharisees with compassion and truth when the opportunity presented itself. He met a Pharisee on the rooftop one night to proclaim the gospel. He reached into the heart of a venomous viper that was bent on the desolation of his people and turned him around on a dirt road on his way to Damascus. While Christ’s indignation was clear in scripture, we must not forget that his mercy is even more evident.
Paul makes the statement in Romans 2:1,
“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”
We should not forget that if it were not for the grace of God, we would be the ones who were on the opposite side rejecting the gospel message. We have this truth because of the mercy of God. When we fail to exhibit that same mercy, we fall short of the very gospel that saves us.
We do nothing when we defend this gospel in angry voices. We do nothing when we respond to others with judgmental tones. We accomplish zero when we promote the word of God without the Spirit of God.
However, love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).
Paul asked the question, “What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?” –1 Corinthians 4:21-
At some point this afternoon Don took a quiz that asked him to express his opinion on homosexual marriage. Don is a supporter of homosexual marriage and made the below comment when publishing his post to his Facebook wall.
He said,
“How can any sane person in this day and age oppose two people being able to legally marry? If you do oppose same-sex marriage, why? Is it based on religious views or are you just a homophobe? If your views are based on religion, you are seriously misguided….”
I took the opportunity to explain to Don my views on homosexual marriage, as well as what the Bible say concerning homosexuality. Needless to say, he didn’t agree. In fact, he called the Bible a book of Bronze Age Fairy Tales. However, it wasn’t his blatant disregard for the word of God that caught my attention. Rather, it was what was revealed somewhat later in the midst of our discussion.
One of Don’s major arguments against Christianity was his perception of us as hypocrites who “cherry pick” scripture. He accused us of only following those passages which suit us. Later in the discussion he revealed that at some point he had been subjected to Christians whose response to the topic of homosexuality was basically “fags burn in hell,” “God hates fags!” He was put off from Christianity because of the attitudes of Christians he had come in contact with at some point in his life.
While the ungodly attitudes of those “Christians” do not justify his disdain for the things of God, his experience should remind us of one very important principle.
When propagating the message of Christ, it is extremely important that we exhibit the Spirit of Christ.
We must never forget that a good message will ALWAYS be eclipsed by a bad attitude. It doesn’t matter how “right” you are, if you present the truth with an ungodly attitude you will never draw a person to Christ. Rather, you will drive a wedge between them and God and create an even deeper chasm than what they currently experience.
The Bible tells us,
“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged:” –Proverbs 16:6-
The two work together. You can not separate them. Some believe that truth must be proclaimed with a hard demeanor and a firm brow. Such promulgation only serves to alienate the recipient instead of exalting Christ. We can not blame a person for rejecting our gospel if our presentation of it is tarnished by our ungodly deportment.
I don’t believe people who reject our doctrine always do so out of a hatred for holy things. Even if they do reject the gospel, this does not give us vindication to reply discordantly. Our response should always be with a humble and contrite spirit. Never one seasoned with harsh and unbridled tones.
In having this discussion with other Christians, it is often brought up that Christ himself showed an antagonistic spirit when he knocked over the tables of the money changers and called the Pharisees hypocrites and vipers. They argue that because Christ showed angry passion in his response to the blatant deformation of God’s law, then they are justified having more than harsh conversations with people today who show no desire for the things of God.
We must not forget however, that while Christ identified the Pharisaical spirit as poisonous and serpent like, he also responded to the Pharisees with compassion and truth when the opportunity presented itself. He met a Pharisee on the rooftop one night to proclaim the gospel. He reached into the heart of a venomous viper that was bent on the desolation of his people and turned him around on a dirt road on his way to Damascus. While Christ’s indignation was clear in scripture, we must not forget that his mercy is even more evident.
Paul makes the statement in Romans 2:1,
“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”
We should not forget that if it were not for the grace of God, we would be the ones who were on the opposite side rejecting the gospel message. We have this truth because of the mercy of God. When we fail to exhibit that same mercy, we fall short of the very gospel that saves us.
We do nothing when we defend this gospel in angry voices. We do nothing when we respond to others with judgmental tones. We accomplish zero when we promote the word of God without the Spirit of God.
However, love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).
Paul asked the question, “What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?” –1 Corinthians 4:21-
Two verses before, he makes the following statement about certain men in the Corinthian church, “Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.” -1 Corinthians 4:18-19-
The Apostle makes it clear that the bad attitudes expressed by the Corinthian men toward him were a result of puffed up spirits. He responded by saying that he would not come in the same manner, but rather with love and meekness.
That is an example to us all today. Bad attitudes get us nowhere. They are the product of a puffed up spirit. Pride is the origin of such behavior, and as Christians we are called to interact with others in a meek and charitable spirit.
Many times simply being Godly toward someone when they are being ungodly toward you, can be the greatest defense of true faith. Their entire argument falls to the ground when they fail to push you into the mold they accuse you of already fitting in.
If they accuse Christians of being hypocritical and having bad attitudes, show them a good one and they have no where to go. Show them a bad one however, and you only solidify their misperception. If that occurs, wherein is Christ glorified?
In closing I want to admonish us to make our conversations blameless. It is easy to get frustrated and ugly with someone who is so disrespectful toward the gospel we love. However, we must never forget that their disdain does not justify our unrestraint.
Show them love and you show them Christ. Return evil for evil and you further disaffect someone who God may be leading to a Damascus road.
In Christ & For the Kingdom
Joseph Castorina
Further Scriptures to study:
Romans 12:9
Romans 12:21
Romans 14:16
1 Corinthians 15:33
1 Thessalonians 5:15
1 Peter 2:12
1 Peter 3:16
3 John 1:11
1 Corinthians 13
