How can Christians overcome being called bigots?

[Depleted]

You kindly explain to them that 1+1=2 and you holding to that mathematical truth is not bigotry. VVhen you have the truth it is not narrow mindedness or intolerance to put it forth. Its fact. In the same way, you can share the Gospel with love (I.e, with tolerance and no condemnation/hate speech) and reveal to them the truth.

Now, if your tone in preaching the Gospel is anything like Youtube soapbox street preachers, I cannot blame them for calling you a bigot. They are. They don't extend Christ's love but only express their anger, religious legalism, and condemnation.

Notice Jesus didn't condemn the woman caught in adultery before He told her to sin no more? It is God's goodness that leads men to repentance. It is when we are under grace that sin doesn't dominate us. Yet street preachers would tell people to stop sinning, as if they could. They need Jesus, not condemnation and some type of self-righteous presentation.

Let's try it this way.

"Hey, Ben, I'm your new neighbor. I just wanted to introduce you to Jesus Christ. He is ...."

Let's stop for a moment. What were you doing right before I rang your doorbell? Did I disrupt your day? Did I try to become a neighbor before I launched into my spiel? Is it not safe to assume the first thing you really want to know when your doorbell rings is "Who is it and what do they want from me?" Do you not judge between what they want at that moment and what you wanted from that moment?

Truthfully, if I'm not going outside that day, I don't even get dressed. I stay in my jammies. BUT when the doorbell rings, I have this impulse to answer it. I don't have a bathrobe around. It's my house. I'm not embarrassed walking around in my holey pajamas in my house. Hubby's seen the holey-pajamas. Hubby laughs at the holey-pajamas but accepts they are comfortable. But when the bell rings I go rushing to put one of my long sweaters on. So here I am an almost-60 year old woman in holey nightgown with white socks (and when was the last time I shaved my legs?) holding on to the front of the sweater, because there are no buttons or belts, answering my door to see who it is. It better be the mailman. At least he/she doesn't expect long conversations. I hope it's not a JW, since that was a wasted hurry-up, but I'm polite and say "no thank you" before I close the door.

But, yo! It's some guy I don't know claiming to be my neighbor. 50 houses on this street alone. (Not exaggeration. I counted. lol) Instant thought, "Is this a new neighbor, or someone who has been here for 20 years and I never noticed? What's the problem? Oh, please Lord, don't have him want to come in or through my house." It's a mess and hubby's not dressed either." (And, neighbors often ask to come through the house, because if we lose our keys, hopefully our back door is unlocked, but there's no way to get to the back door without asking a neighbor to go through their house and through their yard to get to ours. We have an alley, but that's locked too, so requires keys. I don't even have those keys.)

No exaggeration. This is all happening and going through my head when my doorbell rings.

So then the next thing the person does is try to tell me the gospel.
A. I know the gospel, but he/she didn't bother asking that first.
B. Which gospel? Are you another JW? You're talking about God. Which one? The phony one of a dozen other religions or the real one of the Bible?

The real one of the Bible you say? Yeah, well so do the JW's and Mormons and so many other religions.

This starts as an adversarial position, and it snowballs. After all. Here I am, and almost-60 woman, in her holey nightgown clutching onto a buttonless sweater in my socks (do they have holes in them too? Are they clean?) waiting to see why you knocked on my door. I WAS either relaxing in my chair before starting the day or trying to get something done. I was worrying about...

But none of that comes up, because there's the marketing strategy to teach people about Jesus whether they could have used some neighborliness first or not!

 

[Yeraza_Bats]

If you are a person that calls yourself a Christian, and stands on the word of God, then you are going to be called a bigot. You will because you believe homosexuality is a sin. Not because youre just so mean to the gays. The world has taken up the belief that gays cant help but be gay, its impossible to deny your sexual urges, not to mention harmful to ones self to practice any self restraint, and anyone who says different is both prejudice and uneducated.
This is what the secular world believes, I have been told these things many times. Even by people who fully know me from my past life : p


Now, if you call yourself a Christian, and stand in defense of homosexuality, you are a friend of the world. And we are told that a friend of the world is an enemy of God. The world hates God, and calls His will foolish.

They call you a bigot because you spread the word that acting out on our urges is wrong, they dont wanna hear that the life they live is a sin, and will lead to condemnation. They wanna be able to live it fully without worry. So they respond by insulting you and bullying you to the point of breaking you to live by their will- to accept what they do as a normal part of life. And not just people acting out on their urges.
Unless, of course, you believe that every Christian is just hateful to all homosexual people, including those of us who deal with those urges, too : p

 

[coby]

What they did in the revival in Argentina was they went from door to door and asked people if there was something they could pray for. Only thing they had to do was call them when the prayer was answered, so the prayer team could stop praying for it.
One woman's cat had walked away.
They prayed for the cat and in the middle of the night got a phone call:
Guess what? He's back!!
LOL that's how you should do it.
Jesus went around doing good.

 

[Yeraza_Bats]

Notice Jesus didn't condemn the woman caught in adultery before He told her to sin no more? It is God's goodness that leads men to repentance. It is when we are under grace that sin doesn't dominate us. Yet street preachers would tell people to stop sinning, as if they could. They need Jesus, not condemnation and some type of self-righteous presentation.

I agree with your message here, but am confused on something. Christ did tell us to repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. There is the need to repent of your sins in the bible. We have all fallen short of the glory of God, and we have all given into temptation and have sinned. Even those of us who have come to Christ cannot claim that we have done perfectly since coming to Him. But even still, we are still told that we must repent. I would agree that spreading the word that we must never sin again in order to be saved is wrong, but you do stand for the need to repent, right?

 

[BenFTW]

I agree with your message here, but am confused on something. Christ did tell us to repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. There is the need to repent of your sins in the bible. We have all fallen short of the glory of God, and we have all given into temptation and have sinned. Even those of us who have come to Christ cannot claim that we have done perfectly since coming to Him. But even still, we are still told that we must repent. I would agree that spreading the word that we must never sin again in order to be saved is wrong, but you do stand for the need to repent, right?

Yes, we do repent of our sins. I would just disagree on the method that is traditionally put forth.

 

[Budman]

How can Christians overcome being called bigots?

Why try to overcome it? Rejoice in it! To be persecuted for our beliefs, proves what we are saying is true and biblically correct.

If the world doesn't hate you, I would question the sincerity of your conversion.

 

[coby]

If you are a person that calls yourself a Christian, and stands on the word of God, then you are going to be called a bigot. You will because you believe homosexuality is a sin. Not because youre just so mean to the gays. The world has taken up the belief that gays cant help but be gay, its impossible to deny your sexual urges, not to mention harmful to ones self to practice any self restraint, and anyone who says different is both prejudice and uneducated.
This is what the secular world believes, I have been told these things many times. Even by people who fully know me from my past life : p


Now, if you call yourself a Christian, and stand in defense of homosexuality, you are a friend of the world. And we are told that a friend of the world is an enemy of God. The world hates God, and calls His will foolish.

They call you a bigot because you spread the word that acting out on our urges is wrong, they dont wanna hear that the life they live is a sin, and will lead to condemnation. They wanna be able to live it fully without worry. So they respond by insulting you and bullying you to the point of breaking you to live by their will- to accept what they do as a normal part of life. And not just people acting out on their urges.
Unless, of course, you believe that every Christian is just hateful to all homosexual people, including those of us who deal with those urges, too : p

They can't change themselves. If christians get angry when you tell them that everyone who sins is from the devil it's considered normal.

 

[FreeNChrist]

The thing is many Christians project an image of superiority, of being better than others. And we aren't. We are better off than those who are lost, but we are not better than them.

 

[BenFTW]

Let's try it this way.

"Hey, Ben, I'm your new neighbor. I just wanted to introduce you to Jesus Christ. He is ...."

Let's stop for a moment. What were you doing right before I rang your doorbell? Did I disrupt your day? Did I try to become a neighbor before I launched into my spiel? Is it not safe to assume the first thing you really want to know when your doorbell rings is "Who is it and what do they want from me?" Do you not judge between what they want at that moment and what you wanted from that moment?

Truthfully, if I'm not going outside that day, I don't even get dressed. I stay in my jammies. BUT when the doorbell rings, I have this impulse to answer it. I don't have a bathrobe around. It's my house. I'm not embarrassed walking around in my holey pajamas in my house. Hubby's seen the holey-pajamas. Hubby laughs at the holey-pajamas but accepts they are comfortable. But when the bell rings I go rushing to put one of my long sweaters on. So here I am an almost-60 year old woman in holey nightgown with white socks (and when was the last time I shaved my legs?) holding on to the front of the sweater, because there are no buttons or belts, answering my door to see who it is. It better be the mailman. At least he/she doesn't expect long conversations. I hope it's not a JW, since that was a wasted hurry-up, but I'm polite and say "no thank you" before I close the door.

But, yo! It's some guy I don't know claiming to be my neighbor. 50 houses on this street alone. (Not exaggeration. I counted. lol) Instant thought, "Is this a new neighbor, or someone who has been here for 20 years and I never noticed? What's the problem? Oh, please Lord, don't have him want to come in or through my house." It's a mess and hubby's not dressed either." (And, neighbors often ask to come through the house, because if we lose our keys, hopefully our back door is unlocked, but there's no way to get to the back door without asking a neighbor to go through their house and through their yard to get to ours. We have an alley, but that's locked too, so requires keys. I don't even have those keys.)

No exaggeration. This is all happening and going through my head when my doorbell rings.

So then the next thing the person does is try to tell me the gospel.
A. I know the gospel, but he/she didn't bother asking that first.
B. Which gospel? Are you another JW? You're talking about God. Which one? The phony one of a dozen other religions or the real one of the Bible?

The real one of the Bible you say? Yeah, well so do the JW's and Mormons and so many other religions.

This starts as an adversarial position, and it snowballs. After all. Here I am, and almost-60 woman, in her holey nightgown clutching onto a buttonless sweater in my socks (do they have holes in them too? Are they clean?) waiting to see why you knocked on my door. I WAS either relaxing in my chair before starting the day or trying to get something done. I was worrying about...

But none of that comes up, because there's the marketing strategy to teach people about Jesus whether they could have used some neighborliness first or not!

Are you asking where the love is? I found your response to what I said... sort of random. lol Are you against such evangelism techniques, is that what you're saying? I agree that compassion should be involved when preaching the Gospel, many of the great works Jesus did were directly related to His compassion for the individual. That is another topic entirely, to not persuade people with complex arguments and good articulation but by the power of God.

 

[BenFTW]

The thing is many Christians project an image of superiority, of being better than others. And we aren't. We are better off than those who are lost, but we are not better than them.

That would be the self-righteous holier than thou bunch who speak to the sinner as actually being capable of turning from their sin outside of God's grace. Illusions of grandeur.

 

[Magenta]

If he came to your house to sell you something you believed was immoral, is this how you would expect to be treated?

Everyone here is so busy protecting what we think is Christianity we're not noticing the original problem. If a JW came to your door with this same approach, would you're reactions be the same? He treated her like a duty, not like a human. Like someone to be marketed to, not a neighbor. I do get the woman took it too far, but, man alive! What do you do when the Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons come to your door? What would you do when you realize he/she was a NEIGHBOR? Does your same advice work then?

I'm seeing "toxic waste" right here on this thread and she's not here.

You are defending a person becoming so abusive they physically assaulted another. Your first question makes no sense. I remember once when I was young and a non believer, when a couple of JWs came to my door, I invited them in because it was snowing out and they did not have overcoats on, just their suits. I made tea and we talked about religion and all that jazz, but I was having none of it. I did not physically assault them nor did I conspire to have my neighbors call them up to shame and abuse them for their views. Recently when I was at my daughter's place, the LDS came a knocking. I spoke at length with them, told them I was a born again Christian, and they even established telephone contact with me. I eventually told them I was not interested in their theology, and asked them to stop calling at my daughter's house. At no time did I physically assault them, no, nor did I hold them hostage on the phone and spew toxic rhetoric at them because we disagreed about certain things.

 

[Utah]

How do you deal with multiple people calling someone who witnesses a bigot for saying that Christianity is the right way?

In other words, if you say that Christianity is the right way and there is no other way, there are people who want to call Christians bigots for that.

I respect your eagerness to perhaps be a peacemaker, and for that you are a better man than I am.

However, my motto in life is simple:

"With respect to all but apologies to no one, I proclaim the saving grace of Jesus Christ alone."

When folks call me a narrow-minded, archaic bigot for that, I wear it as a badge of honor.

 

[Dude653]

I believe in the Bible and I believe the teachings of Christ but I am really beginning to dislike Christians. Anyone who disagrees with them on any given subject is obviously a heretic and should be burned at the stake

 

[Yeraza_Bats]

I believe in the Bible and I believe the teachings of Christ but I am really beginning to dislike Christians. Anyone who disagrees with them on any given subject is obviously a heretic and should be burned at the stake

You think its wrong to stand for Gods word on homosexuality?

 

[Magenta]

I believe in the Bible and I believe the teachings of Christ but I am really beginning to dislike Christians. Anyone who disagrees with them on any given subject is obviously a heretic and should be burned at the stake

Who would you like to have burned at the stake today?

 

[Ultimatum77]

Who would you like to have burned at the stake today?

steaks mmm....I like mine well-done with potatoes

 

[Magenta]

steaks mmm....I like mine well-done with potatoes

Heh, wrong stake! But I'll have mine medium rare, with oven roasted potatoes Pass the butter, please!

 

[Ultimatum77]

You think its wrong to stand for Gods word on homosexuality?

I don't honestly know what Dude's stances are on a lot of things....to be honest....

 

[Yeraza_Bats]

I have to agree with Magenta in pointing out the irony of shaming people for disagreeing with you while accusing them of shaming those who disagree with them : p Claiming all Christian people are hateful bigots while telling them to stop making broad accusations about another group is a bit hard to take seriously : p

steaks mmm....I like mine well-done with potatoes

Im not one for large slabs of meat : p I would enjoy it if it were cut up and mixed with some sorta noodle dish, though.

 

[Ultimatum77]

I have to agree with Magenta in pointing out the irony of shaming people for disagreeing with you while accusing them of shaming those who disagree with them : p Claiming all Christian people are hateful bigots while telling them to stop making broad accusations about another group is a bit hard to take seriously : p



Im not one for large slabs of meat : p I would enjoy it if it were cut up and mixed with some sorta noodle dish, though.

That's all he does...he gets all mad if you contradict his opinion/view and then screams at you and leaves the thread....not very nice I must say....