A Christian Response

This post originally published at www.modernchristianliving.com   Bill Petite

There are many times in our Christian lives when we will be questioned or asked to reply to
the world concerning its lack of understanding about Jesus or our faith in general.
Depending on what the question or inquiry might be, will determine how we answer. There are always going to be those times when we will be challenged about our faith in Jesus or about Christianity in general. Sometimes, these challenges can be presented in a mocking or abusive way and we will be challenged to simply keep our cool while responding. A

Christian response to any question or challenge must come from the heart first and then from our head. If we allow our ego, pride or flesh to roar and get out of control, the world or the non-Christian will have won a victory and we will have had our witness for Christ tarnished. A Christian response to anything the world throws at us should be thought through and even quickly prayed over and then given in a manner which will allow the world to see the love and compassion of Jesus. Remember, we represent Jesus to those who do not know Him and it is extremely important that they see the real Jesus, not our flesh. I always like to read the comments to articles on a certain Christian web site. The comments from the non-Christians and self-proclaimed atheists are typical of those who love to instigate and aggravate; some are very clever and some are simply rude and abusive. We expect that from those who don't know Jesus and are not saved but, what bothers me is not the comments from those who are not saved but from those who call themselves Christians. I remember reading some comments following an article on the Gay victory in the Supreme Court and one individual commented that "we will have the last laugh." It is comments like these, coming from Christians, that turns the world off when people talk to them about Jesus. Does God laugh when an unsaved person dies? Does He laugh because He knows that person will spend eternity in hell because they died not knowing Jesus as his/her savior? NO! God is a God of love and compassion and wishes to see nobody spend eternity in hell.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  2 Pet. 3:9   NKJV

This scripture tells us that God doesn't want anyone to die and spend eternity in hell so to make a comment saying "we will have the last laugh" is ridicules. When world events, elections or social agendas turn in the world's favor, we are not to ignore but we really need to pray over any response we may want to give.

A Christian Response To Worldly Agendas

When Christianity is challenged and mocked and Christians are referred to as bigots and such, we need to be very careful not to get caught up in worldly arguments. It is so easy to get on Facebook or Twitter and start proclaiming our ideas on such injustice or anti-Biblical social schemes. We open ourselves up to the attack and mocking of the world (and sometimes blow our witness); these people love to bash Christianity and if, in our ignorance, we open the door for them, they will jump at the chance to oblige. Social media is an excellent place to expose the world to Jesus and the Christian faith but we need to seek the Lord's guidance on this as we would any other form of evangelism. We have a president in this country who is the first president to publicly and openly endorse a sinful social agenda. What I mean by that is other presidents have been involved in sinful situations and some have been exposed (Clinton sex scandal, Nixon Watergate) but this one has openly and publicly endorsed sinful agendas and congratulated their victories. He has praised Planned Parenthood and in his ignorance, asked God's blessing for it. That incident proved the man's lack of knowledge and understanding of who God really is and what He is about. I realize how difficult it is for some Christians in this country to control their emotions when Gay marriage is legalized or when abortions continue, and when it is referred to as women's health. That last one really bugs me, but I have to keep my emotions in check, pray and seek the Lord's guidance before I make any response. Consider the following comment on the gay lifestyle.

I have nothing but compassion for those trapped in the homosexual lifestyle. Those who strongly believe in the Bible and God’s will regarding sexual behavior, also strongly believe in unconditional love and forgiveness. To say that authentic Christians hate, or fear, those trapped in the homosexual lifestyle demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of the principles of the Christian faith. To “speak the truth in love” simply comes from a desire to honor God, and to truly love and care for others. Times change but God’s standards do not change. No matter how many laws are passed in favor of same-sex marriage, it will not change God’s mind. His principles are guardrails through the canyons of life. They don’t prevent us from enjoying life; they protect us from falling.  -Pastor Shane Idleman

http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/regaining-lost-ground/read/articles/a-biblical-response-to-gay-marriage-part-2-14308.html

This is a very loving and sound Christian response to the gay lifestyle; most Christians feel this way and are not bigots and haters. The Christian who is harboring an attitude of hatred and bigotry is in serious trouble with his/her faith and needs to repent. God is a God of compassion and we are saved because He had love and compassion for us.

Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, Christians used to form picket lines in front of abortion clinics or handcuff themselves to the front doors of those clinics. It got pretty radical and out of hand and finally it got way out of hand.

·    March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn of Pensacola, Florida was fatally shot during a protest. He had been the subject of wanted-style posters distributed by Operation Rescue in the summer of 1992. Michael F. Griffin was found guilty of Gunn's murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

·    July 29, 1994: Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, a clinic escort, were both shot to death outside another facility, the Ladies Center, in Pensacola. Rev. Paul Jennings Hill was charged with the killings. Hill received a death sentence and was executed on September 3, 2003. The clinic in Pensacola had been bombed before in 1984 and was also bombed subsequently in 2012.

·    December 30, 1994: Two receptionists, Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, were killed in two clinic attacks in Brookline, Massachusetts. John Salvi was arrested and confessed to the killings. He died in prison and guards found his body under his bed with a plastic garbage bag tied around his head. Salvi had also confessed to a non-lethal attack in Norfolk, Virginia days before the Brookline killings.

·    January 29, 1998: Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer who worked as a security guard at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, was killed when his workplace was bombed. Eric Robert Rudolph, who was also responsible for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, was charged with the crime and received two life sentences as a result.

·    October 23, 1998: Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot to death with a high-powered rifle at his home in Amherst, New York. His was the last in a series of similar shootings against providers in Canada and northern New York state which were all likely committed by James Kopp. Kopp was convicted of Slepian's murder after finally being apprehended in France in 2001.

·    May 31, 2009: Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed by Scott Roeder as Tiller served as an usher at church in Wichita, Kansas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion-related_violence

Now, not all these crimes were committed by Christians but it is obvious that some were. Operation Rescue handing out wanted posters with doctors names on them? Is this something Jesus would approve of? Shooting abortion doctors and handing out wanted posters and blocking the entrances to these clinics? I don't think we would have ever seen Jesus taking part in any of these activities. Does He approve of what is going on inside these clinics? No. But He would have never picked up a rifle and killed an abortion doctor and we don't have the right to do that. Instead of shooting them or blocking the entrances, there needs to be prayer for these doctors and everyone involved with these facilities. Prayer and counsel for the women who consider abortion; ask God to change their hearts.

There is a way to let the world know that we Christians stand against the murdering of babies and we disagree with the Gay lifestyle without becoming violent. We don't need to react in the same manner as the world does; the world reacts with hatred and abusive language and with demeaning type remarks. Why would we as Christians even consider a response such as that? But, it can be found on Christian web sites or heard in conversations. We Christians have to understand that this world is not our home. We live here but this is not our home; our home is in heaven and some day we will inherit that home and reside there for eternity. Consider what Peter says about this:

 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.  1 Pet. 2:11  NLT

I remember when I was young and attending school. My mother would tell me not to pick up any bad habits or bad conduct from anyone in school. The school I attended graded us on how we conducted ourselves and my mother put more emphasis on that grade than any other. She didn't want me acting like a fool or any other way except proper. She raised us to conduct ourselves in a very polite and cordial manner. If I brought home any grade less than an A in conduct, I was disciplined for it. The Lord is the same way; He knows we live in this world but He doesn't want us picking up the habits of this world. He told the Israelites to run the foreign nations out of the land when He led them in because He knew they would start to worship the false Gods of these nations and that was a no-no. It is the same with the Church. He doesn't want us to get involved with the practices of the world. If we are hanging out with the world, we will begin to act like them and our responses will be like those of the world. Shouldn't we be more concerned about our real home instead of this world? Remember, we are just passing through so don't get too attached.

So, when elections don't go the way we want or when the Supreme Court renders decisions which go against our faith or if the government threatens to take our guns, we must seriously consider how we respond. A Christian response should be one which brings glory to God and plants seeds in the minds and hearts of the unsaved. When these social/political events go the way of the world, we need to see them as opportunities to share our faith in a manner which is not arrogant or argumentative. The world needs to see Jesus in our response and they need to know who He really is, a God of love and compassion. The world needs to know Jesus as Lord and savior, not as a bitter, hateful God as some have portrayed Him to be. A Christian response should be................you fill in the blank.