There is a very frightening trend going on in Christianity at present, and it probably poses a bigger threat than anything the devil could throw at us. I'm not a naive person, been around the bloke far too many times to be that way, and i know these things have always gone on, they have always happened. So is today, now any different? Yes it is, because we no longer live in a big world, due to technology we live in and on a very small planet, and that causes us problems. Because despite the good an online community or forum can do, it can and does cause a lot of damage. This week i left a forum i belonged to because to be honest on a personal level i see little of Christ in it, and a lot of humanity and not in a good way. The week stated badly when i received an email from a minister who said that because i used the wrong word in an argument the perception was " you could be seen as ill-educated" i never replied to it because in all honesty there was little point in doing so, i maybe ill-educated (tho i'm not) i speak from the heart and hope it hits home which is what we all do at some point, i just tend to live my life that way.
So what is this big threat? DIVISION it's happening more and more and getting worse. It's either one or the other in the USA you are either a conservative Christian or a Liberal Christian, in the UK it's traditional evangelical or a Liberal and never the twain shall meet. This is not just about politics, it's also about how you believe in the Bible and the God of the Bible. So we have people from the evangelical wing being less than Godly and not seeing that they are, we have Liberals being less than Godly and denying they are. Justification of the rants take many forms, " Oh it's just a robust debate, we have learnt so much since the Bible was written, in the 21st century there is no place for the supernatural it's not scientific enough" all these things could be seen as true depending on where you are coming from.
This then flows into a massive argument and a point scoring exercise and eventually turns to bullying. Of course none of those involved would class themselves as bullies, but there actions are little, if no different than the kid who steals the lunch money of a younger kid in the playground. This gets played out on the world wide web where people can look in, people who are not Christians look in and see believers in Christ acting like jerks, and being less than Godly and we all think we are right. This brings us onto the other problem that comes with division "the need to be right and have the last word" we have to be seen to get the last word in, heaven forbid that someone could make a valid argument and we may have to shut up and concede. We are meant to be a body of believers, followers of the one true God, if our bodies reacted like some of us do today we would be in hospital on life support because our vital organs would not be functioning. There comes a time when we have to stop the petty mindedness, stop the one upmanship and look differently and just SHUT UP before we do more damage.
On that note i'm going to shut up.
Peace
Andy
The key could be to sit in the situation and beseech unity, find the common ground and work on the other bits together.
ReplyDeleteWhen the loudest people in the room are heard alone, it gives a skewed version. I would love to meet a loud person without an opinion
Suzie
ReplyDeleteThat would be a great idea sit everyone in a room together, but a real room. Where tone, intonation and eyes could be met. When you could see the reaction to the words. But i'm guessing it would cause an argument as to what room was used. Yes you are right as well, loud people have opinions, and can shout louder than others who are speaking
Andy, I feel your pain. At its best that group can be a great forum for support and conversation - I have just had coffee with a church member who was saying how valuable the discussions there are. I think we all need to persevere and seek to model good behaviour. Unfortunately, there are some who are looking for an argument and will never, in your words, SHUT UP despite reasonable requests from other group members to give things a rest.
ReplyDeleteIf being in the group is not building you up, then by all means don't be in it but please do recognise that there are plenty of members trying hard to make it a constructive and Christian place.