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Matter of conscience. I don't agree with the methods, long term agenda, and politics of my government. So for me it is a matter of not playing a role in enabling them as a military member.
I don't judge anyone who does join the military, though. According to Romans 13:1, God ordains governmental bodies because they actually do play an important and good role. They also have their hands in a lot of things I think are objectively wrong. On that note, there is good and bad in almost everything if someone looks hard enough.
So can a Christian, in good conscience, join the military? I think so, yes. Christians are in the world, but not of the world. There is much more to life than this material existence. Just have faith.
I don't judge anyone who does join the military, though. According to Romans 13:1, God ordains governmental bodies because they actually do play an important and good role. They also have their hands in a lot of things I think are objectively wrong. On that note, there is good and bad in almost everything if someone looks hard enough.
So can a Christian, in good conscience, join the military? I think so, yes. Christians are in the world, but not of the world. There is much more to life than this material existence. Just have faith.
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Jesus says we are to "love our enemies" - so I had one person tell me that the most loving thing to do to your enemy is to kill him.
But if killing your enemy sends him/her to an eternal everlasting hell! Is that love?? Would it not be better to give up my rights/privileges than to kill and send others to an eternal hell? (I fear we do not take the reality of hell very seriously!)
But if killing your enemy sends him/her to an eternal everlasting hell! Is that love?? Would it not be better to give up my rights/privileges than to kill and send others to an eternal hell? (I fear we do not take the reality of hell very seriously!)
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I don't think anyone took Jesus to literally mean to maim themselves because there isn't one Biblical example of anyone having a ceremony to gouge their eyes out or chop their hands off. Nor do any of the other scriptures refer to that as a core doctrine.
Jesus is saying that our bodies were not created to be instruments of sin. He is encouraging his followers to not sin and also warning them what can happen if they don't: hell. This is the doctrine that is repeated over and over: be holy, don't sin, have faith in Christ.
Remember, Jesus spoke in parables and used a lot of symbolism. He also spoke plainly, too, but Matthew 18:7-9 isn't a literal call to dismember ourselves. Unless you have a point I am not seeing.
Jesus is saying that our bodies were not created to be instruments of sin. He is encouraging his followers to not sin and also warning them what can happen if they don't: hell. This is the doctrine that is repeated over and over: be holy, don't sin, have faith in Christ.
Remember, Jesus spoke in parables and used a lot of symbolism. He also spoke plainly, too, but Matthew 18:7-9 isn't a literal call to dismember ourselves. Unless you have a point I am not seeing.
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1. I absolutely think he meant exactly that. Why? Because the whole point was to bring people to the point of despair where they would say "We can't do it! We need a savior!". That was His mission. Everything He said was for the purpose of getting people to understand the need for a Savior.
"Love your enemies..." - an impossible command. Points to the need for a savior.
"Turn the other cheek" - a near impossible command. Points to the need for a savior.
"Be perfect, just like God." - a clearly impossible command. Points to the need for a savior.
etc
etc
etc
This brings up my second point...
2. I have a pet peeve of churchians using Christianity/God as an excuse for cowardice and other character flaws. Examples:
"I pay my taxes because Jesus said to." - No you don't. You pay your taxes because you're scared you'll get thrown in jail if you don't.
I had another one where this kid broke up with my niece saying "God told me to breakup with you." - No He didn't. He just lacked the courage to tell her he wanted to break up just before their wedding. I don't care if you break up, but don't blame it on God!
Dan Cathy makes a show of polishing the shoes of a black guy to supposedly show a contrite heart. - No. He was just grandstanding and trying to curry favor with a world that hates Christianity. The black guy even caught on saying that Cathy did it for the stock price!
Finally here we have a guy on the Internet saying he would rather lose his freedom (and I guess the freedom of his his family, friends, progeny, and countrymen) than to kill someone attacking him or us. He says he would make this sacrifice out of love for his enemy. But I think that's just more grandstanding.
You can always spot a fake when they make a show of obeying the "easy" commands while ignoring the hard ones.
"Love your enemies..." - an impossible command. Points to the need for a savior.
"Turn the other cheek" - a near impossible command. Points to the need for a savior.
"Be perfect, just like God." - a clearly impossible command. Points to the need for a savior.
etc
etc
etc
This brings up my second point...
2. I have a pet peeve of churchians using Christianity/God as an excuse for cowardice and other character flaws. Examples:
"I pay my taxes because Jesus said to." - No you don't. You pay your taxes because you're scared you'll get thrown in jail if you don't.
I had another one where this kid broke up with my niece saying "God told me to breakup with you." - No He didn't. He just lacked the courage to tell her he wanted to break up just before their wedding. I don't care if you break up, but don't blame it on God!
Dan Cathy makes a show of polishing the shoes of a black guy to supposedly show a contrite heart. - No. He was just grandstanding and trying to curry favor with a world that hates Christianity. The black guy even caught on saying that Cathy did it for the stock price!
Finally here we have a guy on the Internet saying he would rather lose his freedom (and I guess the freedom of his his family, friends, progeny, and countrymen) than to kill someone attacking him or us. He says he would make this sacrifice out of love for his enemy. But I think that's just more grandstanding.
You can always spot a fake when they make a show of obeying the "easy" commands while ignoring the hard ones.
In that case, maybe you're right. That would be a reason why having a Savior is necessary, we cannot save ourselves, and we cannot perform well enough under the yoke of law keeping to ensure our own salvation; all biblical concepts. That would also explain why there are no scriptural examples of people coming together to gouge their eyes out, though I have no doubt that someone, somewhere, in time has done it.
I am not sold on that grandstanding, virtue signaling, etc. are a definitive mark of a "false Christian" though. May be a tad self-righteous, though, but how is there a way to accurately judge what the motivations of someone's heart are? When we proclaim holiness are we doing it to seek the praise of people or are we attempting to shine our light before others with the intention of glorifying God? Is there a surface level distinction the casual onlooker can observe?
But yes I get your sentiment. People who are genuinely practicing Churchianity and wear the title as a fashion accessory and not a genuine lifestyle and deeply-held faith are in error.
I am not sold on that grandstanding, virtue signaling, etc. are a definitive mark of a "false Christian" though. May be a tad self-righteous, though, but how is there a way to accurately judge what the motivations of someone's heart are? When we proclaim holiness are we doing it to seek the praise of people or are we attempting to shine our light before others with the intention of glorifying God? Is there a surface level distinction the casual onlooker can observe?
But yes I get your sentiment. People who are genuinely practicing Churchianity and wear the title as a fashion accessory and not a genuine lifestyle and deeply-held faith are in error.
I won't do it: in fact I will not throw a bomb on guilty people either - there are really only two categories of people in the world: (1) Those that are believers and thus are forgiven and are "innocent" before God and (2) And those that are not believers and thus are guilty before God - for all have sinned . . . (There is really no such thing as "innocent" unbelievers - they have all sinned . . . )
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Runningman is not dumb. Absolutely legitimate questions.
I believe we are born with an evil nature and we will die with an evil nature. Paul talks about not doing the things he knows he should, and doing the things he knows he shouldn't. What I've always told my kids is if you're ever unsure of what the right thing to do is, then just figure out what you want to do, then do the opposite. It's a pretty safe rule of thumb because we are fallen.
Example 1:
1. You're 6'6" x 250lbs of rock hard muscle and you're in an argument with a 5'4" x 120lb weakling. The weakling slaps you. Correct moral response: turn the other cheek. Why? Because you're operating from a position of strength, and your natural man wants to crush him. Turning the other cheek demonstrates restraint, mercy, etc in this situation.
Example 2:
2. You're a 5'4" x 120lb weakling and you're in an argument with a 6'6" x 250lbs guy of rock hard muscle. The big guy slaps you. Correct response: Fight back. Why? Because you're operating from a position of weakness and your natural man wants to submit or run away in order to not be beaten up. Cowardice is a worse sin than fighting. But the worst response would be to cower in fear while trying to claim you're doing it because you're honoring God's admonition to "turn the other cheek". Those are the ones I hate because they make Christianity look really, really bad.
In order to sniff out fakes, I think you just have to look at the situation for any angle that the person could be using this action to further his agenda in some way. Maybe more money, power, fame, prestige, etc. Ask yourself how much money are they getting from the state for taking in all those foster kids. Ask yourself whether their actions might be done in a way to curry favor with the world like Dan Cathy did here. Just never forget the evil nature of man when you see these things. I think a lot of Christians have the "innocent as doves" part down pretty well. Where they need help is in being "shrewd as serpents."
I believe we are born with an evil nature and we will die with an evil nature. Paul talks about not doing the things he knows he should, and doing the things he knows he shouldn't. What I've always told my kids is if you're ever unsure of what the right thing to do is, then just figure out what you want to do, then do the opposite. It's a pretty safe rule of thumb because we are fallen.
Example 1:
1. You're 6'6" x 250lbs of rock hard muscle and you're in an argument with a 5'4" x 120lb weakling. The weakling slaps you. Correct moral response: turn the other cheek. Why? Because you're operating from a position of strength, and your natural man wants to crush him. Turning the other cheek demonstrates restraint, mercy, etc in this situation.
Example 2:
2. You're a 5'4" x 120lb weakling and you're in an argument with a 6'6" x 250lbs guy of rock hard muscle. The big guy slaps you. Correct response: Fight back. Why? Because you're operating from a position of weakness and your natural man wants to submit or run away in order to not be beaten up. Cowardice is a worse sin than fighting. But the worst response would be to cower in fear while trying to claim you're doing it because you're honoring God's admonition to "turn the other cheek". Those are the ones I hate because they make Christianity look really, really bad.
In order to sniff out fakes, I think you just have to look at the situation for any angle that the person could be using this action to further his agenda in some way. Maybe more money, power, fame, prestige, etc. Ask yourself how much money are they getting from the state for taking in all those foster kids. Ask yourself whether their actions might be done in a way to curry favor with the world like Dan Cathy did here. Just never forget the evil nature of man when you see these things. I think a lot of Christians have the "innocent as doves" part down pretty well. Where they need help is in being "shrewd as serpents."
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I was looking at your post and I was thinking about the part In your post that says (for all have sinned) Someone that has not had their Spirit Born Again still out In the world might think (how did I sin against GOD just by being born In this world?they are going to want to know why Is an unbeliever guilty?