UnChristian Love!

Psalm 52:4, “You love any words that destroy, you treacherous tongue!”

I have talked about love before in some of my blogs, but typically it was on what love looks like in its entirety and not just the emotional level typically fixated on by the average Christian writer. I still think there is a lot to say about love from this perspective, but today I want to focus on another concept. How not to show Christian love!

You think that would be easy, right? Wrong. I am not going to get into self-debasing Christians, otherwise known as “eating our own,” because too many Christians do that today. It has become popular among certain Christians to continually criticize and point out all the flaws within Christianity. I can see it to a point, but we need to do it in a manner that also reminds them that Christianity is the answer. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). I have looked at a lot of verses about love in the Bible and I do not see where we are to apologize in such a public forum, except to God. We are to apologize to those we sin against whether a group or a single person, but how that is to look, it appears to me, is much different at times then what comes across in a lot of “popular” writings and articles today.

With that said, I am going to apologize for the actions of someone that calls themselves a Christian and yet did exactly the opposite of what Christian love is. “And to love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33). Of course I always ask if you treated someone the way you treat yourself, then how would it look? I want Christians, those looking at Christianity and those not considering Christianity yet to know that I apologize for the person that I am about to write about next and they do not represent true Christianity in my humble opinion, and actually represent the opposite of it.

One terrible example of this just presented itself to me. You can see the picture in the beginning of this blog of what was written. This note was left on someone’s car while they were in a store. They based their note from a bumper sticker on the car, which you can see right next to this paragraph. What kind of witness is this for the Christian faith? Instead of getting to know the driver of the car by waiting to talk, or leaving a note asking them to meet and discuss the bumper sticker; instead they leave a note with an apparent hate sentence included, “Burn in hell you demon.” Personally, I am not a fan at all of the note or the process they took as there is no real evangelism, outreach or true love in this type of note.

One question I thought of right away is, how do they know they did not just buy the car and the bumper sticker was on there and it was not taken off yet? How do you know that someone did not borrow the car for the day and you left the note for another to find (not that it makes it right)? What would that do to the person ever listening about Christianity? What if the person just lost a family member, or found out they had cancer, or was thinking about suicide and came to their car and find that note? Everything about the note reeks of hate and bile and it is uncalled for in the Christian circle. There is a big difference between holding someone accountable within the church and treating someone you do not know with such contempt. I must say that I would not treat someone in the church that way either.

Unfortunately there are those out there that will call themselves Christian and yet live a life without showing it in any real form. This is another reason why I am not a big fan of just using words, and instead we must follow it up with action. Words can be deceiving. I can say one thing to you and make it sound so encouraging and loving, but turn around and treat the same person with disdain with my actions. Which is more true, my words or actions? My actions because they demonstrate what is truly inside. We see this issue with many of the Sadducees and Pharisees in Jesus’ day, and we see it with this note writer today.

This blog is meaningless unless my actions line up with my words and I can guarantee you that I would never leave such a note on someone’s car. Since I know this person, I can tell you they would have talked about the differences in religion and done so respectfully and also in an engaged fashion. How do I know, because I have had those discussions with them over the past two years. Will we all make mistakes? Absolutely, and that is why we are to point people to Jesus and not ourselves. Let Christ deal with them in His time.

Words are important in one way for sure; they will demonstrate whether you truly line up with what you do. Like the old adage says, “actions speaker louder then words,” and seems to line up with James, which is talking about justification before the world. Instead of writing hateful notes, how about building a friendship and a dialogue about truth, another name for it – Evangelism.

James 2:19-20, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”

Christian Lyrics--A Positive Take

I want to do a follow up to the previous blog, so if you have not read that one yet, read it first and then read this one as it will only make partial sense if you do not.

In the last blog I was working through the issue of some songs and how their delivery did not seem to line up with Scripture, though some of the message could be seen as a plausible message. I still do not see anything plausible about his message regarding Heaven though.

On the other side there are groups out there that challenge the Christian church, and do it without shock value, such as vulgar language and videos that promote the very thing they are singing against. Remember I mentioned the video that has his friend smoking a cigarette while he is singing worrying about people dying everyday. The message becomes garbled and incoherent in its delivery and as mentioned does not glorify God.

But if done right, there is a way to challenge with song and glorify God, and I think Casting Crowns gives us a great example of this, as seen from the two songs below. Interesting enough, I think the two songs are the same message that Derek is trying to get across, but because of his delivery his is lost in translation. Casting Crowns does it in a way that hits you in the face with what we as the church should be doing, but does not use vulgar language to make their point. Nor does Casting Crowns make a mockery of the Gospel by doing what it says not to do in trying to tell people to do what it says.

I think Casting Crowns applies 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 well, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. . . .” They try to get the church to wake up by asking questions through a song and challenging what they see the church doing in an honorable way.

What if His People Prayed

What if the armies of the Lord/Picked up and dusted off their swords/Vowed to set the captives free/And not let satan have one moreWhat if the church, for heaven's sake/Finally stepped up to the plate/Took a stand upon God's promise/And stormed hell's rusty gatesChorus:What if His people prayed/And those who bear His name/Would humbly seek His face Yeah/And Turn from their own wayAnd what would happen if we prayed/For those raised up to lead the wayThen maybe kids in school could pray/And unborn children see light of dayWhat if the life that we pursue/Came from a hunger for the truth/What if the family turned to Jesus/Stopped asking Oprah what to doWhat if His people prayed/And those who bear His name/Would humbly seek His face Yeah/And Turn from their own wayHe said that they would hear/His promise has been made/He'll answer loud and clearIf only we would prayIf My people called by My name/If they'll humble themselves and pray/If My people called by My name/If they'll humble themselves and pray

What would happen if we followed the song? It would be a good thing, more prayer. They challenge the aspect of what the church body is truly doing in communication with God and not bashing the Church for shock value. Basically the essence of “eating our own,” as seen in my previous blog.

There song follows the command of God (Jeremiah 29:12; Acts 8:22; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Peter 3:15-16).

If We are The Body

It's crowded in worship today/As she slips in trying to fade into the facesThe girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know/Farther than they knowChorus:But if we are the body/Why aren't His arms reaching?/Why aren't His hands healing?Why aren't His words teaching?/And if we are the body/Why aren't His feet going?Why is His love not showing them there is a way?/There is a wayA traveler is far away from home/He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back rowThe weight of their judgmental glances/Tells him that his chances are better out on the roadJesus paid much too high a price/For us to pick and choose who should comeAnd we are the body of Christ

This song definitely is challenging the church with the great commission seen in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

It is easy to see this in their songs and the challenges are very clear and is not offensive in language or using some form of shock to try to be like the world.

I think it important as anyone thinks through it to consider that there is a way to write a song without using foul language, or denigrating Heaven as a self-proclaimed Christian, and this is where the world could cry out – Pharisee or Hypocrite.

Let’s be like Casting Crowns in writing lyrics. Music applied can be different, as I liked a lot of the beats from Derek, but that is where a lot of it ended. Time to be in the world, but not of the world, including in our “Christian” lyrics!

John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”