So this next post is a sort-of argument that Lalaith was once a Christian. Since I've gone over this topic pretty heavily in the past, I'm going to skip a lot and focus on a few main points instead of (again) proving from the Bible that that isn't possible.
First, I have to say, it's kind of funny. Because, the only people that are claiming that she wasn't a Christian are the people who claim to be Christians. So, the only people she's arguing with are the people who are NOT going to take her word for something over what the Bible says. I can't fault her for making her case. It just seems a bit pointless, logically.
Second, Lalaith cannot POSSIBLY KNOW that no one ever doubted her sincerity. She can know that no one told her, that multiple people have said that they didn't, etc. But to say, of a certainty, that NO ONE who came in contact with her EVER doubted her Christianity is just not quite possible. Also, what people think has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the state of someone else's soul. People said that Jesus did miracles through the power the Devil. . . .
Third, the article she linked has a good main point: Don't make assumptions. However, the article also seems to assume that MOST Christians haven't come in contact with atheists or homosexuals or whatever they are teaching against. I'm from an itty-bitty town in MI, not a very social person, home-schooled, but even I worked with a wide smattering of folks before I was 18. So, if someone like ME has come in personal contact with atheists and such, I would imagine that a lot more of them than the author would guess have also come in contact with a variety of people.
Fourth, you don't have to know someone to know that if they are "X" and "X" is sinful, that they are sinning and God condemns them. You might have to know them to know why they're okay with X, to know how they got into it, to know a lot of other stuff. But basically, when the Bible says that liars are going to Hell (Rev. 21:8), you don't need to know anything else about a person - if you know they're a habitual liar - to know that they're on their way to Hell. So you don't need to know one personally in order to say that they are condemned as a whole. The Bible condemns liars. I don't need to know any liars in order to say, "Liars go to Hell." That's just not the way it works.
[Side note interjection: Saying that the Bible condemns something/preaching that something is sin is a far cry from verbally abusing someone (unless they take being called a sinner as verbal abuse; some do). It's not slander or running someone down or anything like that. It's the truth and the truth is often uncomfortable. That doesn't make it malicious or mean. However, people like that pastor that I blogged about a few weeks ago - the guy who wanted to stick all the homosexuals in a fenced off area and drop food in to them - those kinds people are going to have issues. They are going to have a hard time not saying nasty things about people. Because they stop thinking of people as PEOPLE and start thinking of them ONLY as X. When that happens, there's a problem. People are PEOPLE; they are created in the image of God. That has to be what they are FIRST, otherwise you won't be able to treat them with the love that we're to have. People first; sinners second.]
This is what I think is behind that kind of thinking. People believe that if you get to know them, you will see that they are actually good people and therefore, you won't be able to condemn them based on something like them not believing that God exists. But for a true Christian, it doesn't work that way. I believed that atheists were going to Hell when I was ten (random age); I still believed it after I met and worked with an atheist when I was 16. Of the four people that I normally worked with at that job, she was the nicest, the least vulgar, and the most respectful. I liked her the best. The thing is, none of that matters to her soul. She didn't believe that GOD exists. You can't not believe in God and yet put your faith and trust in Jesus.
Same thing happened with a homosexual, with Mormons, etc. etc. People are NOT good. Not, non-Christians are not good; PEOPLE are not good. There is nothing anyone can do that makes up for not believing in God, for not following His Word.
In closing, I'm all for getting to know people. I'm all for doing your research and I'm all for asking people questions about what they believe. It's important not to make assumptions. However, we absolutely cannot substitute how we feel about people for the truth. I love Lalaith; she is my friend. She's a nice person, a very sweet girl; she's smart and funny. None of that makes her any more God's child.
It doesn't matter how much money you give to the poor; it doesn't matter how many species of animals you save, how much you take care of the environment, how kind you are to people around you - those are all "good" things. But like in I Corinthians 13, if you do it all without love (love of God) it profits NOTHING. God doesn't just look at actions; God looks at motive.
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