Yes, and that's all I GIVE, MB.
Ok MadJW, then I have to ask, how do you think your responses here to some posters, provoked or not, justified in your mind (or mine) or not, fall in line with being a christian? As one who is studying with witnesses, trying to find my own way on my spiritual path, it comes across as hypocritical and judgemental.
I understand your passion, and that is one of the things I admire about witnesses. When you read some comments on this board, there is a part of you that wants to shout out "that's not who we are." But you have to remind yourself that the task is not to be defensive, but instead to try to
understand how these myths (as you see them) came to be.
We all know a hypocrite when we see one but surprisingly don't always see or catch ourselves being hypocritical. When those outside of the church say Christians are hypocritical they do not find hypocrisy the problem. They understand that we all have that inside of us, we all can be hypocritical to a degree; what they dislike about Christians that are hypocritical is that we are not honest about it. We either say with our attitudes or words that we have it all together, we have it all figured out, but our actions obviously do not convey that. Those outside the church want us to be honest, to be transparent, to be real with them and many are not seeing that. I'm not seeing that. Many posters here aren't seeing that.
I read somewhere that newspapers a hundred years ago had the power, among other things, to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. How accurate of a statement is that for what Jesus came to do? Or what we are called to do? I think that is a pretty good mission for Christians. We are here to comfort those in pain, working through junk and to make you uncomfortable if you have become satisfied with where God has placed you. Because God always has more work to do inside each one of us than we have breath to live on this earth.
The Pharisees. So what does Jesus say about the Pharisees, the religious folks of his day. He starts by saying you should listen and obey what they tell you because they are teaching from the Law of Moses. They are teaching the right things! The problem: they don't live what they teach, they don't practice what they preach. They don't follow their own advice. Sound familiar? Jesus says "They crush people with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi...' "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people's faces. You won't go in yourselves, and you don't let others enter either" (Matthew 23:4-7, 13-14).
Everything they do is for show. They don’t practice what they preach. Harsh words from Jesus that end with being blocked from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. I read these words and it is impossible for me not to look in the mirror and ask some questions: where do I fall short practicing what I preach? Do I do everything just for show? Where do I put up impossible religious demands without lifting a finger to help? Because I am certainly a hypocrite.
Today, Jesus may make the very same charges against us. We think we teach the right stuff, the good stuff but we don’t follow our own advice. We tell other people to be honest, to be generous, to follow purity in our relationships, to give to the poor, to help those who need a friend, and to follow Christ in all we do. We believe we have the best way to live, the most complete way to have life and live it to the full in this life and in the next. But when we tell other people about it, it comes off as judgmental, condescending, and self-righteous.
One solution is to stop holding ourselves and other Christians to standards. That’s one way to stop being a hypocrite but not the best in my book. I believe the solution is not to get rid of our standards in any of those areas but to be real, to be honest about where we struggle. Yes I strive to be honest in all things but I mess up. Yes, I try to have purity in my relationships but I don’t always get it right. Yes, I try to be generous but I still spend way too much on myself. It is telling the truth about lifestyle standards but offering grace as well, just as Jesus did.
So what are outsiders looking for? What are most of us here looking for? Christians to be honest and authentic, that even though we have standards we try to reach, we are not perfect. We do not get it right every time with our words or actions. This is what they want to see. We need to find that balance of truth, having standards, and of grace, showing forgiveness when we don’t make it. It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to not have it all figured out. It’s okay to be honest. You don’t have to have all your stuff together before coming to church, much less before coming to Jesus.
Churches today still struggle with how to create an honest, authentic community where you don’t have to put on airs that you are all put together. It's my hope that we strive for the standards God has set out for us in the good life but be honest with ourselves, with others, and with Christ when we fall short. May we then get up and try again.
That's it, I know I rambled. I'm not the best debator or wordsmith. I hope you take this for how I intended it.