In Defense of Today’s Christians
In Defense of Today’s Christians
12/28/2022
One of the more cynical TV pre-match weigh-in spectacles, someone pitting themselves against today’s Christian Lightweights that I have witnessed, up to now, seemed to be someone who was railing against the ghosts of Medieval Religious Leaders of the Christian vein. Training with the sparing partner of the archaic trail of presumptuous positional errors and then his feet slipping in the sweat of their poor suppositions and skewed perspectives about the meaning and implications of Bible passages, and forgetting that those intellectual Leaders were more than likely making conclusions precipitating more from the bribes of their conflicting political positions rather than from sporting revelations from God. The efforts of those rants, in which they are only shadowboxing Strawmen, have no real victory, no championship belt. The only result is exhaustion of the reader trying to come to a a reasonable decision of who won!
Those religious leaders are dead. Let them rest in peace! The strategy of that shadow boxer is likewise dead. Let it go!
Nevertheless, the Reformers got at least one thing half right. Jesus came as an ordinary human being and taught ordinary Human beings and died for ordinary human beings and ordinary human beings ought to have Bibles they could read in their ordinary language.
The Roman Catholic Church also got one thing at least half right. Ordinary human beings would ordinarily misunderstand, ordinarily misinterpret, and ordinarily misapply the Bible no matter in what language it was written.
This ordinary principle is interwoven in at least two Bible passages:
- “{Paul} writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:16. This seems to me to be self explanatory.
- “Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.’” Matthew 13:36. Even the Disciples had difficulty understanding Jesus.
So, ignore the rants of shadow boxers fighting strawmen.
Then there are other people who unfortunately exist who have made it their life’s mission to cause trouble between people. They get some perverse thrill entertaining themselves, standing back just to watch the fight. They seem to have no other struggle in their lives than to come up with various ways to jerk people around. They stand on no moral ground and ignore the slippery slope and sand falling away into an ever deepening sinkhole beneath their feet.
Ignore them, too, and certainly don’t follow them or stand next to them.
Last of all, are evil people who, for strange reasons of their own, hate God, hate the Bible, hate Jesus, and /or hate Christians- no matter what ilk. That is just sad. Hate eats away at a person. It eats away at a person’s brain. It devours a person’s spirit. It consumes a person’s life. It annihilates the person’s soul. They refuse to believe they even have a soul, They don’t believe God exists and therefore are only answerable to themselves. They are disrespectful outside other people who are like minded.
The apostle Peter warned, “…just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.” 2 Peter 2:1–3.
So, don’t believe one word they spew. Don’t follow them down their primrose path, either.
As for those who preach the Gospel to make money and other such self pleased and arrogant Christian Leaders, this is what Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’” Matthew 721–23, Berean Study Bible.
Recognize them for the charlatans they are. You’ve got better things to do.
Notwithstanding all this, I have never known anyone to quit supporting their favorite sports team because of one person or even a few people behaving in an unsportsmanlike way. Neither have I heard about people quitting their favorite restaurant because of one loud customer… never heard of someone leaving their house and home because of one loud neighbor down the street… or never buying another Chevy, because of a flat tire.
You cannot judge a book by its cover. So, read the Bible for yourself and ask God to open your understanding. Don’t let anybody get in your way or try to put words in His mouth. Besides, anyone can understand these two Bible passages:
- “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8.
- “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” John 3:17
Please take a seat at Jesus banquet table. The food is good and the atmosphere is really nice…
Here’s an app for ordinary people who want to hear from ordinary Christians in ordinary language the extraordinary truths of the Bible: https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/
