Preach the Gospel... use words if you must.

I think the worst thing that can happen to my brothers and sisters in Christ is to have a microphone, gavel, or TV camera shoved in their face. It seems that when a Christian is asked for their opinion on any issue, good or bad, they feel duty bound to answer the question with an authoritative response as if they speak for all Christians everywhere. Even in the rare case where these spokespeople do speak for all Christians, they seem to forget that they don't necessarily speak for God.

I say this because I have seen the struggles of faith firsthand in the churches and in larger regional bodies of church government over issues that divide the rest of the world as well. Abortion, Same Sex relationships, the Death Penalty, and on and on, these issues divide the church as easily as they divide the nation and the world. Yet if you turn on the TV there is always some Christian pundit ready to give an answer for the Church that is so authoritative, you would assume it was written in stone by the hand of God.

While I think every Christian ought to have the moral authority to speak their mind on these issues and to attempt to prayerfully discuss these issues with other believers and non-believers alike, I think this mind-set that some Christians have that their thoughts MUST be correct and that everyone else is wrong is starting to get out of hand.

It's one thing to say that you believe Same Sex relationships are wrong and that the Bible clearly spells that out. It's another thing to say that you should punch your children if they display same sex tendencies as one Baptist minister did a few weeks ago. That message flows from the outright conviction of the Baptist Minister that he is 100% correct in his thinking and that, therefore, the next logical step is to do whatever it takes to prevent such a horrible outcome for your children.

I read, too, of a conservative minister who has preached that extending the right to vote to women has been the cause of our great nation's demise.  Now you might think that God does not want women to be deacons or elders in your church (and certainly not ministers), but to suggest that their ability to think and to vote their conscience has somehow caused this nation harm is taking your religious views and perverting them to the point where they no longer support your thoughts but undermine them. You not only sound like a loon when you say things like that, but it also speaks to the fact that the words you are speaking are coming out of your mouth and not your heart.

My biggest issue with a great deal of what is being said by Christians is that these words have taken on legalistic, exclusionary tones that damage not only the work of the Church but also the message of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that They will know we are Christians by our love. These things that are being said show no form of love that I would ever want to be associated with - and I'm a Christian. You can imagine how the rest of the world views us.

I do not know what the solution is. I would not muzzle my brothers and sisters or attempt to control WHAT they say, only the way that it is said. You are free to have your convictions in Christ. You are free to disagree with mine. You are free to argue with me, plead with me, and entreat me to come over to your view. But please, do not allow your views of Christianity to come before God's. Speak with your heart, not with your mouth, and that will make all the difference.