There is a fine line between hate and love. Unfortunately Christian history is filled with "Christians" proliferating hate in the name of love. What seems so obvious to us today was not so simple at different points in history. We now live in a time where everyone in the western world has access to the Bible and we each have the ability to read and understand it. This has not been so for most of Christian history. Imagine trying to be a follower of Christ and only getting input from a priest. Most of the people in Christian history would not have been able to read the Bible even if it had been available to them. There have been many times in our history where "the church" spawned more hate and murder than the most sinful of nations. Oh how well the devil has been able to harm the world's view of Jesus through jaded followers.
I would like to believe that since we now live in an age were the Bible is readily available and accessible to all in the western world that we would no longer have the problems of our past. Unfortunately, we all know that this is not true. We still have people who twist the Bible and then teach their twisted perspective to willing followers who chose not to read and understand the Bible for themselves. What is even worse is today we not only have hating, bigoted, vile people who profess Christianity, we also have many Christians today that believe Christianity is no better than any other religion and is only one way to find peace and heaven in this world. The devil is still at work in our churches and there is still a large majority of people who have chosen not to read the Bible for themselves but to be swayed and wooed by men who intend to use the Bible for their own purposes.
Though I have to admit that I struggle greatly with both ideologies in our world today, I know that the only answer to truly battle the false teachings within the Christian realm is to truly live Christ authentically and boldly. Hatred plus hatred does not equal love. Vile words plus vile words does not equal peace. judgment plus righteous anger does not equal living Jesus. We have to live love. We have to live truth. We have to stand for the principles that Jesus set in place. We have to love our enemies and let Jesus be the judge not us. We have to be willing to humble ourselves to serve. We have to be willing to go the second mile with the one who forced us to go the first mile. We have to be willing to lay down our lives for our brothers. We have to be willing to sacrifice everything we are for the love Jesus lived and died for.
Jesus did not reach the world for himself by fighting the world but by dying in the place of sinners that they may have salvation available to them. We have to learn from Jesus, Paul, and the disciples. We have to stand up and be different from the world. We have to live love even when the world wants to perpetuate hate through intolerance. We have to want to speak the truth when the world want all truth to be equal. We have to live counter culture. We have to authentically live Jesus daily no matter the consequences, which may include: broken relationships, lost jobs, and persecution. Jesus intended for His followers to draw the world to Him not repel the world from Him. It is our time to live authentically in Christ! I challenge you to stand up and live Christ fully today.
Blessings,
Greg
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