I was going to post this as a comment on my previous blog post, but then realised it would probably be better as another post (it being long and all).
So, in response to Thomas...
I see where you're coming from, but I'm not quite sure if you can see where I'm coming from.
Never beat people over the head with your faith. I agree with that. Although, there is a difference between making a stand for what you believe in and bashing people about with it. Jesus said to be open about what you believe in.
About the passage you quoted:
Matthew 6:1-7 (NLT)
Teaching about Giving to the Needy
1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Teaching about Prayer and Fasting
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. 7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.
This is talking about not being arrogant about what you do for others and thinking that it makes you holier than other people.
Here are a couple more points to consider along the lines of self-righteousness:
Romans 3:22-24 (NLT)
22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
We have ALL fallen short of the glory of God and it is by GRACE ALONE that we have been saved! Bit of a kick in the guts for self-righteousness there, hehe. It's quite a humbling thing to think about.
Luke 16:15 (NLT)
15 Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.
We should do good things not for personal glorification but because we love God and others. Remember the woman who gave her last two coins? She did something in public but not for showy self-righteousness.
Finally,
2 Timothy 4:5 (NLT)
5 But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.
We're all supposed to be open about what we believe. But it is most definitely common sense to not push someone around with God's word if they don't want to hear it. It just pushes them away more.
This comes back to what I was saying in my previous blog post: Living the right way is how you shine God's light! By living right, others can see that there's something different about you. So there is a private and public element of your faith, but both are important! You don't have to carry a heavy bible under your arm and shout to the heavens for all to hear about hellfire and brimstone, but definitely don't keep it a secret.
Thanks heaps Thomas, your comments were very thought-provoking. I always appreciate them! :)
Walk the walk, love others, be real.
My position is that Christians who want to convert shouldn't hand out material on the bible on the street corner or the like. If you're not Christian already in the Western World, you already know a lot about the Bible. Why not do it through actions not words?
ReplyDelete(Also I got summer coming up soon so I may actually be online when you are for once)
What do you do when someone asks you a question about the Gospel? Do you say nothing?
ReplyDeleteWhen God calls you to do something, you do it.
There are a lot of people in Western culture who have heard of God but know absolutely nothing about him. Making the information freely available is important. Handing material out is an action, and it actually takes a lot of guts. It is important though. When you love God and are passionate about him and what he's done, it's pretty much impossible to keep your mouth closed! Jesus told us in Mark 16:15-17 to go into all the world, telling everyone about the good news. so we're not actually supposed to sit on our faith, rather we should be lights.
Also, woo! It'll be awesome to talk properly again, haha. :D
ReplyDeleteTheres a difference from answering a question then telling everyone uninvited.
ReplyDeleteDo you really believe that? Most Americans at least (yea yea yea but its the group I know the best) all had some sort of sunday school and went to Church enough to know the bible and Gods Word. Personally if theres an event going on and then some people are handing out flyers saying this is why we do this, its different then guy on street corner handing out flyers willy nilly.
Actually I think I misread what you thought.
ReplyDeleteBeing open with your faith is fine, I'll talk faith with anyone who wants it, BUT I don't go out of my way to say I"M A STRONG ANTITHEIST WHO BELIEVES IN LOGICAL DISPROOF OF RELIGION everywhere I go. I"m against what many Christians have as their meaning of sharing their faith ie massive signs of it everywhere.
I understand where you're coming from. I tend to forget about the sheer multitudes of public weirdos (sorry weirdos if you are offended by being called weirdos, and to all those weirdos who wish to not be associated with other kinds of weirdos) that you have there in the states.
ReplyDeleteIn Australia, a lot of people have this vague understanding of some deity existing somewhere, but have no idea about anything to do with the supernatural other than from what they see on TV.
There are people, no matter what they believe in, that are just straightforward and passionate about it. You see it across the board in business, politics and religion. It's how they are wired. Without fast-paced, passionate, vision-oriented people, the world would be like a stagnant, musty spare room that hasn't been opened in years.
No one is perfect. I may not be a hundred mile an hour person, but honestly I do struggle with procrastination. (I'm getting better, promise!) We all have flaws that irritate others...but with those flaws also come unique strengths. Sometimes the irritatingness of other people is there to make us stronger and more understanding.
There are things about some people that I find REALLY annoying. I don't shout them down for shouting me down. (Sometimes though, I do get very frustrated and angry, to be honest.) Taking the gentle and diplomatic path is often the best way to open people's eyes to the truth.
One more thing on pushy and annoying evangelists...There are people out there that are open about their faith but are gentle and not pushy about it. For example, a very awesome man who I respect hugely, Vince Esterman. He has a million and three interesting and awesome stories... He stands on the side of a street and draws and writes. He's very engaging and honest, his message is simple: love. He's been evangelising for a lot of years in this way all over the world. He's never doom and gloomy, he is often funny, he is never rude.
Hope that's all on topic!
PS: Not many people like the Westboro Baptists and no one really listens to them, except to get angry.
Basically...
ReplyDeletesome people are well-meaning but annoying, some are doing pretty good.
And I get what you mean. :)