Letter to my fellow Christians

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Feb 20, 2016
1,151
266
83
#1
This is for every Christian who wants to read this. It’s time for us to stop our smug, arrogant, patronizing view of the world. I no longer call myself a Christian not because I’m ashamed of Christ but because I’m ashamed and even disgusted by the actions of those who supposedly believe in the same God that I do. I thought we were supposed to hold each other to a higher standard. But apparently I was mistaken, given that humanity will never stop sinning anyway. Why should we expect any Christian to not behave like the world does, at any time? If humanity will never stop sinning, then we should just accept it when Christians act like the world and commit rape, thievery, and murder. After all, who are we to judge?

And apparently, it’s now a sin to speak out against evil. And there is evil in this world, not just from Satan, but from other people. All people may have God’s image, but there are those who reject it when they commit truly Satan-inspired acts. Let’s start accepting the world as it is and not how we want it to be. Let’s stop pretending that there aren’t evil people in this world who do not have a conscience and will not accept your forgiveness no matter how much you offer it. Forgiveness is offered freely, but it still has to be received. The mere word now is associated more with cheap grace than any form of genuine repentance.

Like it or not, people have to repent before they can be forgiven. You cannot pick and choose which parts of the bible you want to accept. We need to stop preferring our comfort to the truth. We need to be willing to get our hands dirty. If you are not angry at how fallen this world is, you are not human. You can no longer use your faith as an excuse to not do anything. You cannot keep holding onto false hopes if you want to make a difference.

You want to stand for God? Then start loving the world like he did. Quit treating the depressed, the doubting, and those with mental illnesses as demon-possessed. Quit treating those with same-sex attraction like they are the most despicable people on earth. A lot genuinely want it to go away, but apparently you’re not willing to put yourselves in their shoes. You’re not even willing to ease their loneliness given your idolatry of the nuclear family, and having everything in church life revolve around it, and elevating it so highly that divorce becomes the unpardonable sin.

You want to save marriages? Start treating women like equals. Women have been lied to and treated as less than human in the name of Christ, and it needs to stop. Stop shaming women who get pregnant before marriage, and stop heaping horrendous amounts of guilt on women who’ve had abortions. Women are autonomous human beings, not breeding machines. And being pro-life doesn’t mean just being concerned for unborn babies.

You bemoan how sexualized our culture has become. But you’ve failed to see that you idolize sex too, just in a different way, that of idolizing the nuclear family as mentioned before. And in some cases, you do idolize it the same way the world does. Quit indulging yourselves with porn, which thrives on human trafficking and demeaning both men and women, not to mention people who aren’t emotionally secure in their marriages. Quit turning away single people who want marriage. And quit treating sex and sexual urges like they’re the most diabolical curse in this fallen world.

You want race relations to improve? Start actually helping people of color in terrible conditions they can’t just claw out of. Denounce anything even remotely demeaning to these people. They bear God’s image as much as you do. They are your fellow human beings. Whether or not they have the same faith or political beliefs doesn’t matter. The church is called to help them regardless.

You want mass shootings to stop? Then start calling for changes to gun policies instead of clinging to your beloved firearms like they’re the bible itself. Guns by their nature are designed to kill, and you must make sure you are absolutely willing and responsible enough before you ever consider owning one. Don’t wait until your own child dies before helping other people who’ve lose theirs. Guns are weapons and tools for violence, whether you like it or not.

Quit treating the works of the early church fathers like they’re on par with the bible. They were flawed human beings just like you and me. And they advocated false and destructive beliefs that many people still hold as gospel truth. How about you start reading the bible for yourself? For that matter, instead of simply praying, why don’t you do the things that need to be done to make the world a better place? Instead of giving a rapist a mansion, put him in a jail cell where he belongs. Instead of just forgiving all those evil people who committed these mass shootings, start demanding change and better gun policies. You are not above the law just because you’re a Christian.

I’m challenging the church to own up to and repent of its overwhelmingly massive failures and start doing what the bible says. I’m challenging them to admit and repent of their culpability in every kind of oppression. I’m challenging them to own up to and repent of preferring perpetrators to victims. I’m challenging them to own up to and repent of demonizing not just liberals and democrats but anyone who disagrees with them. You want to be a light to the world, church? Start actually being one.

God is not a white male nationalist. He doesn’t care about America any more than he cares about any other country. We are not “special.” What we are is blindly privileged. If you’re willing to appoint clearly immoral people to powerful political offices, you’ve traded your allegiance to the Kingdom of God for the world. And Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world.

You can challenge me all you want, say my claims are unbiblical, maybe even say I’m not a true Christian. But I’m at least willing to admit when I might be wrong, I’m at least willing to not blind myself to evil in the name of faith. And if I’m the only one, then so be it. Jesus warned us that a Day of Reckoning will come, when he will deal with not just evildoers but those who were complicit in it (i.e. cowards), whatever their intentions. He’s not going to listen to any of your excuses. He doesn’t care about your reputation, your money, your background, or your position. Let’s heed that warning before we start acting like the nation of Israel, who thought God would bless them despite their evil ways, yet ignored the warnings he gave them if they went astray.

None of us are above the Israelites in our actions and lack thereof. We are not exempt from these warnings just because we’re the Church. But it’s not too late fellow Christians. I just pray that we act as we should before it is.
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#2
for doing good deeds, where do we find pure motives?
Jeremiah 17:9 - says that the human heart is deceitful above all things


and even if we do good, we'd be prideful and self-righteous about it
and attitude like pride and self-righteousness is condemned by Jesus


and, when should we take the initiative, and when should we wait for God?



and also ...
each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. (James 1:14)

does James 1:14 mean that the sin nature in us is nothing more than mere temptation, no matter how powerful it may be? since Gal 2:20 said that Christians have their old self crucified with Christ?


and also ...
God loves a cheerful giver, and if I were to give to discover bad motive of reluctance in me, I'd be bearing bad fruit, or "straw" (at best) instead of solid good fruits

and how to we be sure that we can store up gold or silver in heaven, instead of just straws?
 

Treadstone

Junior Member
May 21, 2018
39
50
18
#3
What website did you copy and paste this from? I'm curious
 
L

LittleMermaid

Guest
#4
I can see what you are trying to say. But maybe be the change you want to see. If you want the church to change...you have to be willing to change your own life. You can talk and type all you want...but none of that really motivates and inspires like seeing a true Christian give up his/her life for Jesus. That is what we all need to do to see a big change. :)
 

GOP

Senior Member
Jul 12, 2015
1,668
91
48
#5
This is for every Christian who wants to read this. It’s time for us to stop our smug, arrogant, patronizing view of the world. I no longer call myself a Christian not because I’m ashamed of Christ but because I’m ashamed and even disgusted by the actions of those who supposedly believe in the same God that I do. I thought we were supposed to hold each other to a higher standard. But apparently I was mistaken, given that humanity will never stop sinning anyway. Why should we expect any Christian to not behave like the world does, at any time? If humanity will never stop sinning, then we should just accept it when Christians act like the world and commit rape, thievery, and murder. After all, who are we to judge?

And apparently, it’s now a sin to speak out against evil. And there is evil in this world, not just from Satan, but from other people. All people may have God’s image, but there are those who reject it when they commit truly Satan-inspired acts. Let’s start accepting the world as it is and not how we want it to be. Let’s stop pretending that there aren’t evil people in this world who do not have a conscience and will not accept your forgiveness no matter how much you offer it. Forgiveness is offered freely, but it still has to be received. The mere word now is associated more with cheap grace than any form of genuine repentance.

Like it or not, people have to repent before they can be forgiven. You cannot pick and choose which parts of the bible you want to accept. We need to stop preferring our comfort to the truth. We need to be willing to get our hands dirty. If you are not angry at how fallen this world is, you are not human. You can no longer use your faith as an excuse to not do anything. You cannot keep holding onto false hopes if you want to make a difference.

You want to stand for God? Then start loving the world like he did. Quit treating the depressed, the doubting, and those with mental illnesses as demon-possessed. Quit treating those with same-sex attraction like they are the most despicable people on earth. A lot genuinely want it to go away, but apparently you’re not willing to put yourselves in their shoes. You’re not even willing to ease their loneliness given your idolatry of the nuclear family, and having everything in church life revolve around it, and elevating it so highly that divorce becomes the unpardonable sin.

You want to save marriages? Start treating women like equals. Women have been lied to and treated as less than human in the name of Christ, and it needs to stop. Stop shaming women who get pregnant before marriage, and stop heaping horrendous amounts of guilt on women who’ve had abortions. Women are autonomous human beings, not breeding machines. And being pro-life doesn’t mean just being concerned for unborn babies.

You bemoan how sexualized our culture has become. But you’ve failed to see that you idolize sex too, just in a different way, that of idolizing the nuclear family as mentioned before. And in some cases, you do idolize it the same way the world does. Quit indulging yourselves with porn, which thrives on human trafficking and demeaning both men and women, not to mention people who aren’t emotionally secure in their marriages. Quit turning away single people who want marriage. And quit treating sex and sexual urges like they’re the most diabolical curse in this fallen world.

You want race relations to improve? Start actually helping people of color in terrible conditions they can’t just claw out of. Denounce anything even remotely demeaning to these people. They bear God’s image as much as you do. They are your fellow human beings. Whether or not they have the same faith or political beliefs doesn’t matter. The church is called to help them regardless.

You want mass shootings to stop? Then start calling for changes to gun policies instead of clinging to your beloved firearms like they’re the bible itself. Guns by their nature are designed to kill, and you must make sure you are absolutely willing and responsible enough before you ever consider owning one. Don’t wait until your own child dies before helping other people who’ve lose theirs. Guns are weapons and tools for violence, whether you like it or not.

Quit treating the works of the early church fathers like they’re on par with the bible. They were flawed human beings just like you and me. And they advocated false and destructive beliefs that many people still hold as gospel truth. How about you start reading the bible for yourself? For that matter, instead of simply praying, why don’t you do the things that need to be done to make the world a better place? Instead of giving a rapist a mansion, put him in a jail cell where he belongs. Instead of just forgiving all those evil people who committed these mass shootings, start demanding change and better gun policies. You are not above the law just because you’re a Christian.

I’m challenging the church to own up to and repent of its overwhelmingly massive failures and start doing what the bible says. I’m challenging them to admit and repent of their culpability in every kind of oppression. I’m challenging them to own up to and repent of preferring perpetrators to victims. I’m challenging them to own up to and repent of demonizing not just liberals and democrats but anyone who disagrees with them. You want to be a light to the world, church? Start actually being one.

God is not a white male nationalist. He doesn’t care about America any more than he cares about any other country. We are not “special.” What we are is blindly privileged. If you’re willing to appoint clearly immoral people to powerful political offices, you’ve traded your allegiance to the Kingdom of God for the world. And Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world.

You can challenge me all you want, say my claims are unbiblical, maybe even say I’m not a true Christian. But I’m at least willing to admit when I might be wrong, I’m at least willing to not blind myself to evil in the name of faith. And if I’m the only one, then so be it. Jesus warned us that a Day of Reckoning will come, when he will deal with not just evildoers but those who were complicit in it (i.e. cowards), whatever their intentions. He’s not going to listen to any of your excuses. He doesn’t care about your reputation, your money, your background, or your position. Let’s heed that warning before we start acting like the nation of Israel, who thought God would bless them despite their evil ways, yet ignored the warnings he gave them if they went astray.

None of us are above the Israelites in our actions and lack thereof. We are not exempt from these warnings just because we’re the Church. But it’s not too late fellow Christians. I just pray that we act as we should before it is.
My dear precious sister, who do you want to please-GOD or the world? If you want to please GOD and live for Him alone then do His Word; and stand against anything contrary to His Word and talk against it with all boldness and confidence. Anything contrary to His Word is evil.
We are not of the world but of GOD.
JESUS IS LORD.
 

Adstar

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2016
7,417
3,468
113
#6
Anything that is against the will of God must be revealed to the ones who are doing things against the will of God..
Love the sinner hate the sin..
Conviction of sin leads to salvation..
Turning a blind eye to sin in a misguided attempt at being nice is only sending sinners to hell..
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#7
say, if our heart is so hard that if we don't even want to tithe a single penny, instead, we only have the heart to tithe one single copper molecule,

if it is that small, can we start with that one copper molecule first? at least it's something instead of nothing
 
N

NoNameMcgee

Guest
#8
i wonder who said it is a sin to speak out against evil:unsure:

doesnt sound like they have a new heart to me...
 
N

NoNameMcgee

Guest
#11
i often hear self righteous anti-grace revolving door salvationists use arguments like "you think you can sin all you want" that to discredit what Christ did on the cross


these types of .... people....
dont seem to understand that genuine faith <- is followed by a new heart and quickened spirit <- followed by an ongoing relationship as an adopted child of God <- involves encouragement,blessings, chastening


this is now a new creature

sins that were once not even shameful... sins that once were even sources of pride or pleasure

now would be awful horrible things that you wish to be delivered from though your flesh may still be tempted

your spirit now HATES these things


if you sin as a born again believer of Christ

you "failed"


you did NOT "do what you wanted"


also

now having a new heart as well as view of what is good and just

and what is wicked and evil

you have no problem standing against evil (through rebuking bad works or encouragement of good works)

which includes everything from a white lie

to false gospels

to the gay pride agenda

theft


or giving someone advice as to how to share something God has provided to them

or being delivered from an addiction of some sort


but this doesnt include some self righteous nonsense acting as if you too have not fallen short and are saved according to your walk and not Christ's
 

NotmebutHim

Senior Member
May 17, 2015
2,916
1,588
113
47
#12
No, God is not a white male nationalist. I've never believed that or talked/acted as if I did believe it.

You've bought into the social justice tactic of blaming white males for the evil in this world.

Perhaps I'm cherry-picking, but being a white male myself, my bias allowed that part of your post to jump out.

Oh, by the way, I do try to treat women as equals. So please don't lay that at my feet either.

Nothing to see here, moving on
 
N

NoNameMcgee

Guest
#13
This is for every Christian who wants to read this. It’s time for us to stop our smug, arrogant, patronizing view of the world.

K

I no longer call myself a Christian not because I’m ashamed of Christ but because I’m ashamed and even disgusted by the actions of those who supposedly believe in the same God that I do.

who? whos actions... and what actions of OTHER PEOPLE make you want to stop claiming you are a Christian?

I thought we were supposed to hold each other to a higher standard.

we shouldnt be hypocrits... but ya we should encourage eachother unto every good work.... also rebuke bad works

But apparently I was mistaken, given that humanity will never stop sinning anyway. Why should we expect any Christian to not behave like the world does, at any time?

because those of us who have been made new love our Father
and do not wish to conform to the world but try to examine ourself to see if we are walking according to the Spirit


If humanity will never stop sinning, then we should just accept it when Christians act like the world and commit rape, thievery, and murder. After all, who are we to judge?

again
we dont stand against evil to earn the gift of salvation


we do it out of love for Him who saved us

And apparently, it’s now a sin to speak out against evil.

i know youre being sarcastic..
but no its not


And there is evil in this world, not just from Satan, but from other people. All people may have God’s image, but there are those who reject it when they commit truly Satan-inspired acts.

yes... this world is filled with wickedness

Let’s start accepting the world as it is and not how we want it to be.

yes it is evil
and we should not pretend its all sunshine and roses


but dont forget
we are to be examples of the truth and speak truth


Let’s stop pretending that there aren’t evil people in this world who do not have a conscience and will not accept your forgiveness no matter how much you offer it.

huh.... accept MY forgiveness?

Forgiveness is offered freely, but it still has to be received. The mere word now is associated more with cheap grace than any form of genuine repentance.

what are you talking about?

Like it or not, people have to repent before they can be forgiven.

do you know what repent means?... i am not sure you do based on how you use it

You cannot pick and choose which parts of the bible you want to accept.

amen... i have read every word in the bible many many times... and i accept all of them... every letter ...

We need to stop preferring our comfort to the truth. We need to be willing to get our hands dirty.

this doesnt apply to me because you say "stop" as if this is currently being done by me

but i agree
lets be doers
not hearers only


If you are not angry at how fallen this world is, you are not human.

this is not true.....
you are human if you are human



You can no longer use your faith as an excuse to not do anything.

to say ... "i have faith so i dont have to do anything for God" would show this individual has a hardened heart
id pray for them


being freely justified shouldnt lessen how much you wish to be a useful member of the body of Christ

You cannot keep holding onto false hopes if you want to make a difference.

what false hope?
my hope is in Jesus.... where is yours?


You want to stand for God? Then start loving the world like he did.

His love for us < wanting the best for us to the point of sacrifice even when we didnt deserve it

Quit treating the depressed, the doubting, and those with mental illnesses as demon-possessed.
names please.... id like to speak with who has done this

Quit treating those with same-sex attraction like they are the most despicable people on earth.

their choice to feed their perverted lusts is definitely sin....then their lies against God are also shameful... pretending He made them that way and calling Him a liar (He temps no man/woman at any point with evil and calls homosexuality evil)

but... we have all fallen short and to pretend these people are any more lost than any other people who reject Jesus is false... we should try to help the unbelievers who are homosexual see the truth and the believers who may still struggle with past temptations shouldnt be looked down upon any more than a drug addict who struggles with-temptation

A lot genuinely want it to go away, but apparently you’re not willing to put yourselves in their shoes. You’re not even willing to ease their loneliness given your idolatry of the nuclear family,


if they want it to go away.... thats good
that shows they see their error
and wish to be delivered from temptations before we let it manifest as sin


thats where we (believers) all are

as for the weird idolatry nuclear comment.... that makes no sense

and having everything in church life revolve around it, and elevating it so highly that divorce becomes the unpardonable sin.

God hates divorce and designed families the way He saw fit for a reason
that doesnt make it some unforgivable sin


though it has a lot to do with how this country has suffered (broken Godless homes)

You want to save marriages? Start treating women like equals.
Women have been lied to and treated as less than human in the name of Christ, and it needs to stop.

ooooo actually i have seen this before... maybe a few times in my life.... now i see what you mean
like when a man says a husband should beat his wife into submission (zen)... that is out of line and unGodly (that being said i see confused women treat men like the devil in the name feminism daily)


Stop shaming women who get pregnant before marriage,

uhhh what? you think fornication is good? i will definitely not pretend this is some OK thing if a loved one asks me about this issue

and stop heaping horrendous amounts of guilt on women who’ve had abortions.

being a baby killer is a horrible sin i will always stand against the murder of children... not to "guilt" anyone but to stand against what God hates

Women are autonomous human beings, not breeding machines. And being pro-life doesn’t mean just being concerned for unborn babies.

they arent sex machines either and if they consider fulfilling their wicked lusts more important than the lives-of others that says alot about them

You bemoan how sexualized our culture has become. But you’ve failed to see that you idolize sex too, just in a different way, that of idolizing the nuclear family as mentioned before.

your ridiculous buzz words like nuclear family hold no weight...


And in some cases, you do idolize it the same way the world does. Quit indulging yourselves with porn, which thrives on human trafficking and demeaning both men and women, not to mention people who aren’t emotionally secure in their marriages. Quit turning away single people who want marriage. And quit treating sex and sexual urges like they’re the most diabolical curse in this fallen world.

lust is sin... our walk doesnt save us
but a heart that loves God doesnt conform to the world and serve sin
we fight against it


not to save ourself but out of love for God
..you have said almost nothing biblical .... you are litterally lobbying for believers to go against God and conform to the world [not the same as love when we know that sin is evil... we are to HELP eachother... not enable failure]



if we want to have a back and forth...
huge rants wont get us anywhere
ill stop here

(love is wanting the best for someone... this includes harsh truths and tough love... but it does not include acting as if evil is good to make someone happy<lying)
 

Mattegiho

New member
Jul 3, 2018
6
2
3
#15
i wonder who said it is a sin to speak out against evil:unsure:

doesnt sound like they have a new heart to me...
Its definitely a way of the world these days as there are some things that arnt politicaly correct to say and they shame those that do.
E.g. saying that Islam is evil.
 
Jan 3, 2018
20
13
3
#17
You make some points that have some truth in them, but from what I can tell, you have a very individualized view of Christians. Individualized as in I have not seen Christians act in some of the ways you mentioned. Also, doesn't the bible mention the fact that "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you [Christians]." What you are stating is NOT unexpected. Paul many times pleads with the church in his letters to stop sexual (and other) sins.

Sinning is very easy to do. Therefore, many start and continue to sin, even if they had at one point been saved. We need people to correct them and hold them accountable.