The following was born out my receipt of too many mean-spirited emails from believers espousing hateful attitudes and actions toward people or groups with whom the sender—and thus, presumably, all “real” Christians—disagreed. Not once did such emails include encouragement to pray for these people or helpful instructions for sharing the Gospel with them. Just vitriol by the tanker truck-full. And so…
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The Inflammatory Christian Email
-God loves terrorists and Muslim extremists!
-Jesus died for selfish Communist dictators!
-God loves those who persecute his Church!
-Those thousands of illegal immigrants harming our way of life? The Lord wants them to be part of his family!
-Jesus loves right-wing, war-mongering republican nutjobs!
-Jesus loves tree-hugging, commie-pinko democrats!
-The Lord wants gays, lesbians, transsexuals and bisexual folks to come to know him!
-Child-molesters? God loves them!
-Rapists? He loves them too!
-Jesus died for pro-choicers, planned parenthood workers, and abortion doctors!
-He shed his blood for all the members of the ACLU!
-God loves those earnest believers who carry signs in front of abortion clinics and at gay pride rallies that often make Christians look ignorant & hateful.
-Christ came into the world to save corrupt politicians.
-He came to save pimps, prostitutes, and purveyors of pornography.
-God’s grace is freely offered to drug dealers and gang bangers and those idiotic neighbors who blare their music at 3 in the morning!
-That jerk who gleefully cut you off in traffic? Jesus died for him!
-That gossip who spread those lies about you and your loved ones? Christ loves her!
-The Lord even loves hypocrites!
-And, as hard as it may be to believe, He also loves you.
Now, the fact that he loves them doesn’t mean that they all are saved. It doesn’t mean that they all are right. It does not mean that they do not need to repent, or that their sins should be overlooked--just that Jesus loves them.
If our Master loves these folks, why can’t we?
Instructions: Add your favorite pet sin/sinner to this list and pass it on to all who are easily-offended!
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3 comments:
intersting. One might note that yes, God loves them all, he doesn't necessarily like them. Remeber God hates sin too.
Our sins seperates us from His love. The more we sin the further we seperate ourselves from His love. So I will pray for commie pinko liberals, but I don't gotta like em. :)
Well, I'm not sure I that it separates us from God's love, but it does make a good relationship impossible.
And yes, the Bible is quite plain that God hates sin, which is why I put in that paragraph about, "This doesn't mean that they are right," etc.
I just wanted to put something together that would tick off Christians who seem think that it's okay to have such unloving attitudes toward those who are unlike them. Constantly harping on how wrong "they" are is generally unhelpful to the work of the Kingdom.
I've found it useful to shut down harsh talk about "them" by responding with, "Yes, that person certainly needs Jesus." It helps put things back into proper perspective.
Allen, I wholeheartedly agree with what you've said, and with you're attitude with those who think it is okay to hate in the name of Christ.
I can't stand Christians who expect non-Christians to act like them. Do we forget what we were like before we knew Him? Did we forget that we are sanctified daily, becoming more like Him? Those people aren't sanctified, so how can we expect them to act like they are? I'm sure they already know what God thinks of their sin, if they believe He exists at all. They don't need us to tell them. They need us to show them Christ. Anyway, sorry for the long post, but here's the lyrics from a fantastic song by Brave Saint Saturn that kind of goes along with this.
Under Bridges
Yesterday while walking,
Beneath an overpass,
I saw the figure of Jesus,
Standing barefoot on broken glass.
His beard was graying,
The smell of urine filled the air,
Asking if I had some change,
Anything that I could spare.
Emaciated,
His shaking fists balled up,
Influenza and pneumonia,
Begging God to take his cup.
So different from his pictures,
Breathing air through yellowed tubes,
Jesus Christ, dying of AIDS,
Can look right through you.
And all have hated,
Crucified and walked away,
The Savior of the prostitutes,
Drunkards, rapists, and the gays.
Under bridges,
With hands raised,
From the ghettos they praise his name.
Broke and crippled in the dark of night,
Raise your voices to Jesus Christ,
Hallelujah.
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