Honesty or encouragement?

atwhatcost · Sep 25, 2015

I see a trend developing on CC, and I'd like to understand what others think.

It's being honest. Um, no. I don't have a problem with being honest.

It's more of a concern that it seems to be "I'm not a good Christian but don't judge me, and feel free to join in."

Now my thinking is, "Who is foolish enough to think anyone here is great at being a Christian? So, yeah, we sin -- intentionally -- but then we come back and press in to Christ. I really don't want to encourage sinning, just because I do it too. I'd rather encourage -- I'd rather be encouraged -- to come back to Christ and deal with it. Press in. Instead, it seems we're supposed to announce what we do wrong and everyone else is supposed to either say, 'I'm like that too' or "I got you beat.'"

So, apparently, folks are into it, which makes me ask, not because I'm holier than thou, but because I don't get it -- what's the deal? Where's this coming from? Is it in scripture, but I missed it? (Could happen. lol)

blue_ladybug · Sep 25, 2015

NO ONE here, or in the world in general, is "good at being a christian." Truth be told, we are really bad at it..

We break God's commandments, we give in to temptation and do all manner of evil. That is our nature, for we are sinful in nature, and imperfectly made specifically to sin. If I confess a fault on here, I usually expect to hear, "that's okay, it happens to everyone. We all have something to deal with." Far too often, I get "wow, you need to pray on that and repent or you're going to hell." :/

I mean, seriously? Telling me I'm going to hell is your solution to helping me overcome some faults of mine?!! We are not supposed to judge other people's sins or flaws. We are to HELP THEM with those things but far too often, we get some snotty holier-than-thou hypocrite looking down at us and shaking their finger at us. How is pointing out someone's flaws, going to help them overcome them in the long run???

I think alot of people have the mentality that they can handle their sins themselves, without Jesus. And that's just soooo wrong on so many levels. We CANNOT handle ANYTHING on our own without Jesus. But people think they know what's best for themselves, so satan just stokes his fire and waits.... :/ But in the end, satan will be the one burning in his own fire, so it all works out for the best ultimately.. People just need to trust Jesus with their problems and not try to do it themselves.

wattie · Sep 25, 2015

There is the affect of acknowledging your sin. Then others get in common agreement about that.

I find when I have done this with church members.. then we start thinking about how huge God's grace is in bearing with us. Then that leads to wanting to love God back.. and talking about how to overcome that sin. Guess I am not sure what examples the OP is typing about.

Guess this is a bit different, being fellowship with your church flesh and blood church family rather than posting in forum

The 'repent or you are going to hell' thing is something that really is unbiblical. You could tell that to an unbeliever, but someone who is a believer.. that just isn't a truth.

A believer sins.. they are then convicted by the Holy Spirit to get out of it. They continue in sin.. the Holy Spirit is still indwelling them but not longer works in close intimacy with them.. and will discipline them.

Maybe the Holy Spirit might even 'bring them home' ! Stop them causing any further harm to themselves or others thru their sin.

blue_ladybug · Sep 25, 2015

On here, from 3 or 4 certain users, I have been told that:

1.) God is going to send me to hell for celebrating holidays/ eating holiday candy. :/

2.) That I am demon-possessed because I have epileptic seizures. :/ oh puhleeze..lol..

3.) That I should repent of a crush I have on a particular celebrity.

First, God does NOT send people to hell for eating Halloween candy..lol..That's the most ridiculous notion I've ever heard. Secondly, epilepsy is a neurological disorder mostly caused by some form of trauma. I most certainly am NOT possessed by demons!!

Third, everybody has a crush on SOMEBODY. LOL.. Grow up people, this ain't kindergarten..

I guess the moral of my story is, how is people telling me these things I mentioned above, helping me in any way? Especially if they are NOT knowledgeable on those (or whatever) topics? That's like the dumb leading the stupid..lol..

anyhoo carry on..sorry for the derail, Lynn..

VioletReigns · Sep 25, 2015

atwhatcost said:

I think I know which thread you're referring to. I was actually going to post the thing I'm weakest in but the more I thought about it, the longer the list grew in my head. LOL

I believe the motive of that particular thread was to create fellowship & encouragement for one another in the daily struggles we face. Perhaps it may not be edifying for some, but evidently it did inspire others.

I love these quotes by Oswald Chambers:

"Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a supernatural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself."

"The Sermon on the Mount is not some unattainable goal; it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my nature by putting His own nature in me. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount."

"If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally. And as long as we consciously maintain the determined purpose to be His disciples, we can be sure that we are not disciples."

"Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16). That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we can never escape; we can disobey it, but we can never start it or produce it ourselves."

"Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity of ours at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace."

Our attitude will always be out of sync if the source isn't coming from the miraculous grace of Jesus Christ. Our impulsive judgments are always flesh. The Lord is the One doing the work in all of us and we can trust that by His Spirit He can use any thread on this site. If the thread is generating fellowship of believers and encouraging people to have faith in the Lord, then praise God! \

/ We may not see exactly what God is doing in each of our lives but we can know that the Lord is moving and purposing to complete what He started in us.

crossnote · Sep 25, 2015

atwhatcost said:

I see a trend developing on CC, and I'd like to understand what others think.

It's being honest. Um, no. I don't have a problem with being honest.

It's more of a concern that it seems to be "I'm not a good Christian but don't judge me, and feel free to join in."

Now my thinking is, "Who is foolish enough to think anyone here is great at being a Christian? So, yeah, we sin -- intentionally -- but then we come back and press in to Christ. I really don't want to encourage sinning, just because I do it too. I'd rather encourage -- I'd rather be encouraged -- to come back to Christ and deal with it. Press in. Instead, it seems we're supposed to announce what we do wrong and everyone else is supposed to either say, 'I'm like that too' or "I got you beat.'"

So, apparently, folks are into it, which makes me ask, not because I'm holier than thou, but because I don't get it -- what's the deal? Where's this coming from? Is it in scripture, but I missed it? (Could happen. lol)

it reminds me somewhat of when we used to give testimonies of coming to Chist and how it would devolve into who had the gruesomest background...almost to the point of glorying in it.

pottersclay · Sep 25, 2015

The thread you are talking about is how the church is suppose to act. Confessing sin and faults and short commings.
We all put on our church face even behind the screen it's our nature to bid the truth ask Adam or eve.

Satan would like nothing more that to isolate a believer to pick him apart un till there is nothing left.
When we share like we have in that thread we lose the fear of being the only one who has those problems.
Imo it causes a bond of trust because you have been transparent as Christ would want you to be.
The biblical term for humble does not mean to take the lower status but to be transparent to yourself and the Lord.Confessing our sins and short comings one to another give us a focus in prayer, and a ability to try harder to overcome. God said in genesis it is not good that man should be alone, another glimpse of this is Jesus in the garden. Even though he was sinless his fear of being separated from the father and the anxiety of what was to come caused God to send a angel to keep him company. The angel said nothing but just his presence gave a little comfort imo. Paul was always delighted to be visited when in prison for the most part. We were not ment to be alone especially when dealing with issues that drag us down. Come let us reason together says the Lord .

Tintin · Sep 25, 2015

I share of myself honestly here. I don't see any need to confine it to one thread. I also think I know the thread you're talking about.

maxwel · Sep 25, 2015

blue_ladybug said:

I had no idea you were demon-possessed and going to hell.

Thank you for coming clean about all of that.
It had to be hard to say it for the first time.

But there IS good news.
I know an exorcist on the internet who's having a special right now,
and you can get rid of those demons for 3 simple installments of $29.95!!!

You don't even have to thank me!
I get a commission.

MultilingualMessenger · Sep 25, 2015

blue_ladybug said:

I've gotten that one, and it wasn't even Halloween. It was for celebrating my daggone birthday.

All of a sudden, I was no longer brethren.

RachelBibleStudent · Sep 25, 2015

isn't there a bible verse that says we are supposed to push each other on to doing good deeds?

that seems to me to be an entirely different thing from how some christians seem to commiserate in sins they have not yet overcome...

atwhatcost · Sep 25, 2015

For all those sure of what thread I'm talking about, (trend means more than one), would it surprise you to know the one that started me thinking this way is not on the BDF? (No need to answer. I don't want speculation, so much as what do you think of this.)

And, yeah, I know we're all going to hell according to one person or another on here. I'm not talking about those folks either. (Like listening to people who actually think they're sinless, I tend to work at not having a good belly laugh every time I'm told I will be going to hell again or will die in X days.)

No, I'm seriously worried that by telling people it's okay, we all do it and don't worry, I'm worse, all we're doing is discouraging people to press in.

Seems to me something about exhorting, but nothing about commiserating.

pottersclay · Sep 26, 2015

I see your point Lynn and you are right but I don't believe that sharing ones struggles with another is left there and excepted as a (get over it ) deal with it thing. To tell someone there going to he'll is not our place either.

We know as children of God that this is not acceptable behavior and our hearts need to change. But if someone is sharing the same bad week, month as you , it encourages us that what we took as personal and that me and only me is broken here out of the equation.

The bottom line imo is this...Jesus is faithful to finish the good work he started in me... most of the time I get in his way... a lot of times we instruct God in our prayers on how to bring about change and how to do things. We tell the potter what kind of pot we want to be in other words. It doesn't work that way, as you well know. Is there anything to hard for the Lord...nope......is he the God of the impossible....yep....but it helps to know that someone else has the same struggles.

blue_ladybug · Sep 26, 2015

maxwel said:

I had no idea you were demon-possessed and going to hell.

Thank you for coming clean about all of that.
It had to be hard to say it for the first time.

But there IS good news.
I know an exorcist on the internet who's having a special right now,
and you can get rid of those demons for 3 simple installments of $29.95!!!

You don't even have to thank me!
I get a commission.

oh shuddup, you, or I'll turn you into a toad..

lol..

JesusLives · Sep 26, 2015

I think my favorite is the one size fits all Christians....... You know we all have to believe the same thing or we are going to hell...

Even when you sit down to eat a meal there are different dishes and utensils on the table it helps us to be different to serve the purpose God intended for us to serve and we need plates, glasses, forks, spoons and knives to eat a meal.....

Diversity is good peeps and encouragement is better, because we are all in the same boat the one thing we do have in common is we are all sinners and we all need a Savior.

You know the fork encourages the knife otherwise we try to shove a slab of steak in our mouth instead of a bite....lol

just-me · Sep 26, 2015

I am told the story of a Rabbi. His name was Rabbi Haim, a preacher who traveled from town to town delivering religious sermons that stressed the importance of respect for one’s fellow man. He often began his talks with the following story:

I first went to see Hell on earth, and the sight was horrifying. Row after row of tables was laden with platters of sumptuous food, yet the people seated around the tables were pale and emaciated, moaning with hunger. As I came closer, I understood their predicament. Every person held a full spoon. But their arms were splinted with wooden slats, so they could not bend either elbow to bring the food to their mouths.

It broke my heart to hear the tortured groans of these poor people, as they held their food so near but could not consume it.

Next I went to visit Heaven on earth. I was surprised to see the same setting I had witnessed in Hell on earth — row after row of long tables laden with food. But in contrast to this Hell, the people here in this Heaven were sitting contentedly talking with each other, obviously sated from their sumptuous meal. As I came closer, I was amazed to discover that here, too, each person had his arms splinted on wooden slats that prevented him from bending his elbows. How, then, did they manage to eat?

As I watched, a man picked up his spoon and dug it into the dish before him. Then he stretched across the table and fed the person across from him! The recipient of this kindness thanked him and returned the favor by leaning back across the table to feed his benefactor.

The story suggests that people have the opportunity to use the situation they are given to help nourish each other, but the problem, lies in how the people treat each other.

Given the same level playing field one group of people who treat each other well will create a pleasant environment. Whereas another group of people, given exactly the same conditions to work with, can create unpleasant conditions simply by how they treat each other.

Blain · Sep 26, 2015

blue_ladybug said:

On here, from 3 or 4 certain users, I have been told that:

1.) God is going to send me to hell for celebrating holidays/ eating holiday candy. :/

2.) That I am demon-possessed because I have epileptic seizures. :/ oh puhleeze..lol..

3.) That I should repent of a crush I have on a particular celebrity.

First, God does NOT send people to hell for eating Halloween candy..lol..That's the most ridiculous notion I've ever heard. Secondly, epilepsy is a neurological disorder mostly caused by some form of trauma. I most certainly am NOT possessed by demons!!

Third, everybody has a crush on SOMEBODY. LOL.. Grow up people, this ain't kindergarten..

I guess the moral of my story is, how is people telling me these things I mentioned above, helping me in any way? Especially if they are NOT knowledgeable on those (or whatever) topics? That's like the dumb leading the stupid..lol..

anyhoo carry on..sorry for the derail, Lynn..

LOL ya Blue I remember last year you were told you going to hell for eating halloween candy XD speaking of which Blue october is around the corner what will you be condemned to hell for this year?

Abing · Sep 26, 2015

Well, some people receive honesty as an encouragement. There are many ways we receive what other people tell us. This is true for all of us.

For example (and this is just one of the many possible scenarios in everyone's mind when they're participating in the forums), if I post something about my shortcomings and someone tells me that he/she's going through the same, this will or can remind me of 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." Now, from the outside, other readers will think that what he/she said didn't matter. But on the inside, it has encouraged me cause it brought me back to God's Word and with God's Word comes faith, right? So, it has in one way strengthened my faith. I would call this an indirect way of encouraging, because it did encourage me, even if all he/she said was "Yeah I suck too".

We are a variety of people. Some prefer the direct way of encouragement, as I see through this thread (which isn't wrong, cause we are called to edify one another).

So, both ways work together.

I do get your point that some threads give us the impression that sinning is something to be proud of. God is glorified by our fruit, not by our failure. But we are pruned before we bear fruit

So I don't really see any problem here.

Oh, lastly, if we do fail to encourage someone (even just through thread posts), I'm sure the Holy Spirit will convict us or remind us. If not, the Holy Spirit will do the work in that someone's life. After all, the Holy Spirit does a very good job.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

blue_ladybug · Sep 26, 2015

Blain said:

Probably for the same ole, same ole.. lol.. I plan to watch scary movies on halloween night, so there's always that..

lol..

maxwel · Sep 26, 2015

blue_ladybug said:

I rest my case.

[video=youtube;sglyFwTjfDU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sglyFwTjfDU[/video]

Honesty or encouragement?

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