Welcome to the first Episode of:
Say It On Saturday!
The post where I share my honest feelings about an issue that’s really bugging me of late and possibly lose some readers along the way. Rant? Hopefully not. But I do hope it will be informative to people on both sides of whatever I end up talking about.
It was difficult to pick just one topic this week, there are so many after all. I think my main annoyance with things are when situations are misrepresented against one side so far that it becomes ridiculous.
The Phobics
Have you ever been called gossip-phobic?
How about adultery-phobic?
Or maybe slanderer-phobic?
I think we all agree those are sins. Okay, okay, I know some of you don’t like that word but I’m a Christian and according to the Bible those are some sinful things. And who among us has not probably committed every one of them. Remember, adultery to Jesus was even thinking about it.
But I’ve never been called liar-phobic or any other phobic about sins mentioned in the Bible. So why does a Christian who says the sexual act between same genders is a sin called homophobic?
Notice what I said. The sexual act, I did not say the act of love. I want to make that clear. I have been adamant here on my blog that any sexual act outside of the God identified marriage of man and woman is a sin. It doesn’t matter who the partners are, no marriage plus sex equals sin.
Am I a Phobic?
Now do I fear anyone that is gay? Not unless they are planning to beat me up or shoot me or something like that. So I fear a gay person as much as I would fear anyone. You see I am, and I would like to say most Christians are, not afraid of gay people or their engaging in sex with their own gender. Believe me, most of us are of the opinion of do with your life as you want to. It’s just there are some vocal idiots out there that make problems and use God and Jesus as their battle cry hoping to get some support and people opposing the noise makers end up saying or doing something that includes something Christians can’t support.
It’s kind of like when the political parties try to pass a bill that is for one thing but includes something else and because of that something else the other political party votes no.
It’s not that the political party is against the main point of the bill, but they can’t pass it because the minor point is against what they are for.
Being a Christian
Part of being a Christian is not forcing our faith on people. We should love our neighbors as ourselves. Part of that loving is not butting into their bedrooms and the like. There is nowhere that it says we do anything like that.
But then we come to some political issues where a Christian who believes in the Bible as written is faced with having to decide to vote or support something that goes against what the Bible says. Now if the Christian says no to that issue then they are said to be a bigot or something like that.
And we are actually not surprised by any of this. Consider the environment the first Christians were in with Rome. At least we haven’t been used as torches yet. I tell you, that was some serious faith back then. You have to really believe to go through what those people did and not back down.
What About Me
I don’t think anyone can say anything bad against me from what they have experienced on my blog. I believe I have been respectful and hopefully informative about my faith so everyone can better understand what I think a Christian should be, what I think Jesus meant for us to be.
We are not to judge. We are not support what the Bible says is a sin. But we are also not to apply our Biblical laws to those who are not believers. God will handle that later.
1 Corinthians 5 NIV
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”~Paul to the Corinthians
Matthew 5 NIV
11“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”~Jesus, Sermon on the Mount
The following has been added after posting:
Now if this has been a bit confusing and you don’t get exactly what I am saying which I have a feeling a lot of people aren’t, visit the comment below by Florence. The link will take you right to it.
https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/i-am-blessed-but-you-call-me-bigot/#comment-14511
Much Love, Success, and Respect
Ronovan
© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015
Sigh, prickly topic here. Something that upsets me from each side. I’ll wait to see you have to say then next week.
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So you’re saying from your perspective as a Christian and a believer of Christ, certain ACTS are considered sins according to the Bible. And when you declare/expressed them to be so, then you are accused of being a bigot… despite not having any negative or derogatory or offensive thoughts about the persons involved (the ACTORS)?
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Correct. One of my best friends is gay. A great person. Some might say then you have a problem with him being gay. I would say no, I don’t have a problem, just like I don’t have a problem with any other friend who has ever broken other sins according to the Bible. But I do have a problem with people saying I’m not allowed to express my views in a forum when it comes to whether or not things will become something that will intrude on my way of life, not that the gay lifestyle would that I know of. 🙂
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I like that you take time to explain and explore your beliefs, and take ownership of even those that a lot of us find deeply offensive. I think I’m like a lot of folks in believing that finding certain things “sinful” is not in and of itself bad behavior. A lot of people like to cook green beans in butter–I think that’s a horrible thing to do to a perfectly good bean, but who am I to tell someone else what they should put on a table, even though I believe that steaming green beans–or not cooking them at all!–is the only natural method of acceptably preparing them. The problem with dogmatic rejection of homosexuality, ultimately, comes when Christians, either individually or institutionally, or both, project their belief system. As the protest signs say, “Don’t like gay marriage? Don’t have one!” That’s one thing I never understood, even when I was spoon fed Methodism as a child: why the compulsive need to conquer and convert? Now that I’m older, I still find it fascinating that Christians can’t step back and see how they are perceived by the rest of us? The act of proselytizing, for example–a basic tenant of many sub-sects–is deeply intrusive and offensive. Imagine strangers stopping you on a street corner, or knocking on your door, just to tell you how terrible you are, how much better the things they believe are compared to the things you believe, I’m very quiet about my non-belief, because it would draw ire, disdain, and–as a public official–quite likely removal from an office I quite enjoy. Because I don’t believe in an invisible space-dwelling super-being that dreamed up the universe on what seems to be a bit of a lark. So, I’m quiet–because reprisal is a very real thing.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-atheists-we-distrust/
I’m also quiet out of respect and politeness. Why can’t Christians do the same? Why aren’t they content to live and let live–and the whole “what about the moral opposition of wedding cake bakers?” argument doesn’t wash. In the end, you don’t like me, and you don’t like my gay friends–that’s great. We’re cool with that. You–the collective “you” not necessarily you personally–feel how you want. It’s America–we’re into that. Freedom. In fact, I’d wager we appreciate the idea of freedom from the bottom a lot more than you do from the top. What we don’t understand is this: why can’t you just live your lives without trying to change the lives of others? It is freedom to be how you want–but not being able to dictate to others is not a lack of freedom for you.
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First of all, even though I am from the South in the US, I agree about the green beans. Some people even put them in a skillet with some form of fat to basically fry the poor things to death. I kind of like to taste the food that I am eating, not a lot of additions to it sometimes.
I think one reason some Christians are screaming so loudly about this issue is because they are being told they are wrong. They are being told they are bad people. They are being told they are evil. And they are being told this on the national stage, in the news, by the President.
There aren’t that many Christians saying things out there about this. Most of us sit quietly and watch what happens. I use my blog at times to hopefully show some Christians there are other ways to look at the Bible than the denominational way they have learned. For example, I don’t know how many denominations would agree with my stance that being gay is not a sin, but that the sin begins once the sex acts begin outside the God given marriage between man and woman.
Also a lot of Christians forget those verses I mentioned where we don’t look at a Non Christian and judge them by New Testament standards. just as I wouldn’t look at a Jewish person or a Muslim person and say they were wrong for not eating pork even though in the New Testament God says all things are allowed to be eaten for food now.
As to what is and is not a sin or wrong, I think people like to pick and choose those things. And for Non Christians as long as that choice doesn’t harm someone else then cool, I’m not going to judge them based on my beliefs.
My goal here today was to show how Christians as a whole are painted as being something when they aren’t.
Thank you for your comment. 🙂
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I’m thinking this is the post you alluded to in the next one? Any way, good job. 😉
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It is, I decided to put it back up. 🙂
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I think even Christians sometimes forget that much of the Bible was written to Saints, not the Sinners and that those under grace (saints) are separate from those still bound by the Law (sinners). Although we are are under grace, no longer bound by the Law, we all are still expected to do our best to keep God’s Moral Law, the 10 Commandments; under grace we just have an advocate that intercedes for us that those without grace don’t. Two good articles in my opinion.
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It somewhat falls at the feet of many preachers who have preached differently over time, but hen they were taught that way. I say preachers as opposed to pastors. One great man, pastor, who also was my mentor in Apologetics explained the difference between a preacher and pastor. Pastors are so rare. It’s been some time since my church has had a true pastor. But we’re a strong church in many ways and survive.
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I agree. And I totally understand the differentiation my friend!
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