The post.
There's not a lot to say about this. It's sad. It's angering. It's wrong. But it's not unexpected. It's not surprising. It's not special.
Every day, the world steps on the gift that God offered them. Every day, the world takes this view. Every day, they cheer because they proverbially threw away the Bible, because they got through another day of ignoring it. It's always sad; it's always upsetting; it's always wrong. It's also the way that it is, and Christians can't get stuck on it. It has to spur us forward, not debilitate us.
Not just in activity - I don't mean that we have to spend an extra hour every week handing out tracts or something. I mean internally. Because that's what love does. When love meets an obstacle, it doesn't shrink back; it works harder to move forward, to find a way through or around. Love feels the negative, but doesn't give up because of it. Love enjoys the positive, but doesn't get lazy from it.
A few side thoughts:
You know what's sad and somewhat weird to think about? People like Lalaith and Threnody - if God never saves them - who know so much in their heads about God, have condemned themselves by denying Him. And in being made to suffer for that decision when they die, they're going to be blaming Him the entire time for not doing more, and they still won't ever believe that God is Who He says. They will never call Him good; they will never acknowledge that they were wrong, that He is just, that they didn't know Him.
They'll call Him a liar, say that He didn't keep His Word. They'll make the same arguments to themselves that they've made here to us and it will just fuel them on to hate Him. And being in God's Hell, like He told them they would be, like He warned them so many times, they will STILL not see it. All the people in Hell? They're still evil and so they still curse Him, and the only one that it hurts is them.
That knowledge alone should give Christians all the energy they need to pray and witness. If we love God like we ought, it should be the most horrible thought that those people are cursing our God, our wonderful, glorious, matchless Savior, for eternity. If we love others as we ought, it should be the second most horrible thought that those people are condemned forever never to know God's love and goodness.
It is disturbing that someone who calls me friend, who plays and talks with me weekly if not daily, can turn around and call me evil and condemn me to hell. It is distressing that there are religions that call this behavior good and right, and that there are good people like Varda and Zack and many others that believe in these religions.
ReplyDeleteYou will notice that I do not call those who disagree with me theologically evil. I believe they are wrong, and I believe that in their wrongness they have the potential to cause harm to those around them. But they are not evil.
Evil people pillage and rape and murder. Evil people abuse children and spread vicious lies to destroy those they hate. We are not evil people, not I nor Lalaith nor Varda nor Zack nor Seriosome nor Bradley nor even my inlaws (though they fall within the vicious lies category). To say we are diminishes what true evil is, and our ability to recognize it.
I would say that one being is evil, did he exist, but I will not say it here, out of kindness and deference to my "friend" Varda who is not evil.
To say you are not evil diminishes the scope of what is evil. If I were to call you (or I) good, I would diminish what good is. God is good. I am not. You are not. We are sinful beings. To say differently is to diminish the seriousness and the breadth of our offense. To say we are good is to diminish the person of God.
DeleteYou always seem to react to this as if it's a great slight, as if I'm slandering you, but you know that I'm not calling you all those things that you named as evil. I'm not using your definition. I don't call you a child molester or a murderer. I call you a God-hater. Your "Biography" named yourself as much. By Biblical definition, you called yourself evil.
I never condemned you to Hell. For one, I don't have that power, and for two, I wouldn't be praying for you if I thought you were past hope. Your actions, your self-proclaimed message - those are condemning you to Hell.