Sounds totally contradictory from how I should live my life, right?
I guess I should word it more like, "I'm embarrassed by other Christians out there".
Now you might know where I'm going with this. The Westboro Baptist Church. They give Christians a bad reputation. So do picketers with their "repent or die" signs. But Westboro hits me so much harder. They are constantly in the news about all of their bad decisions.
This is like the Christian equivalent of Hitler giving a bad name to all Germans, Obama giving a bad name to Americans, drug cartels giving a bad name to Mexicans and Cubans, and the mafia giving a bad name to Italians. Any other good examples? Al-Quada giving a bad example for all Muslims and all Iraqis, Persians, Armenians, and anyone else who might generally look like Al-Quada or speak their language, or a similar language to it. Every culture, nation, and religion has that one person or group of people who make their culture look bad. Westboro Baptist Church is the Hitler of the Christian world.
Part of me wanted to say, "Apologies to people who attend Westboro," but I won't say that. I'm sorry it had to come to this, but I don't apologize for what I say. Westboro hasn't apologized for the decisions they've made. Then again, they don't see their decisions as rude, hateful, ungodly, un-Christian, and negative in any manner. They feel they are doing God's will. Here's a link to their website. Before you read anything, read what the website address is. Does that look Godly to you?
I actually hope that someone in the Westboro church reads my blog. I hope they hear from another Christian, who grew up in a baptist church, that what they do is hurting us as a group of people.
We already get persecution if we are a Christian and go live in another country, or even visit another country. Christians are being killed for their faith. So why enable it by persecuting your own people in your own country?
I had this discussion with a friend the other night. She is someone who grew up in the Jewish faith, but has since walked away and sees life from a neutral perspective. She says her upbringing gives her a moral compass, but through study of the world, and various religions, she no longer believes in God. She respects someone else's decision to have faith, but she doesn't want faith thrust upon her. I don't want to go too much into her life story, but we were talking about judgement. NO ONE is allowed to judge. God is the Great Judge and He is the only one capable of judging your actions, thoughts, and words. But no human is allowed to judge someone else. You can take the Bible, or other religious teachings and apply them to your life. You can teach others how to apply religious teachings to their life, but you can't force someone to apply the teachings.
Example which is biggest with the Westboro church: homosexuality.
Apply it to your own life: Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 says that a man should not lie with another man the way he lies with a woman. OK. I will apply it to my life. I will not sleep with someone of the same gender as me.
Teach someone how to apply it to their life: Leviticus says that homosexuality is a sin. Read the chapters and consider how God sees your actions. Aim to be like Christ. Aim to be righteous and holy. Dont allow yourself to sin "just because" you know God forgives anyway. Forgiveness isn't an excuse. (Hopefully this blog comes across that way)
Force someone to apply the teachings: GOD SAYS HE HATES THE SIN THAT IS HOMOSEXUALITY. GOD WILL SMITE YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE SINNED. REPENT NOW OR YOU WILL BE BURNED IN THE FIRES OF HELL!
See, thats not nice, its not kind. It is not what Jesus would do.
I guess my whole point of writing this is, I hope the news of Westboro church hasn't turned you off to Christianity. I hope that picketers don't scare you away from Christianity. I hope you can learn for yourself the grace, love, plan, and power of God so that you would believe. I pray for your salvation. I won't hold a gun to your head and demand you repent before I kill you. I hope you can join me in praying for the picketers and Westboro church.
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