Gosh, Darn -- Charles Barkley Doesn't Like Me.
Sir Charles Barkley has decided to weigh in on religion. Not sure what qualifies him to make this kind of pronouncement, but nobody asked me, and so he did. We're not real Christians, we conservatives, because we judge others. We're too judgmental.
The Reformed Chicks who babble over at Beliefnet made an interesting point. Sir Charles quoted Matthew 7:1-2. He doesn't seem to have read verse 3.
Jesus is trying to give us a warning -- don't judge the motivations of others. Don't you decide why someone is doing what they're doing. And we're all guilty of this, but one of the things that always bothers me when people use this passage against Christians is that the folks doing the quoting are doing some judging, too. By invoking this verse against anyone, you are violating it. That's why we're told to get rid of the log in our own eyes before we go after the speck that's in our brothers' eye. When I preach and teach against sin, I'm not judging anyone. Judgment will be passed by God, and it will be passed based on what each of us has done with Christ. When I preach against sin, I do it to show God's salvation to everyone. Because until someone realizes that they're lost, they don't know they need a savior. So as Christians we do an extreme disservice to people when we simply let them go along the way they have been, without letting them know of the danger they're putting themselves in. Was Noah being intolerant or judgmental when he told everyone to get into the ark? Was Jesus being judgmental and intolerant when he told the woman caught in adultery "Go, and sin no more"? I'd love to ask Sir Charles those questions, but he probably won't talk to me. After all, I'm too judgmental.Posted by: Warren Kelly at 03:26 PM
Comments
1
i think charles barkley (and he was not insulting all Christians) brought up a point. There is a serious problem regarding the perception of Christians in America and a lot of it has to do with the actions of the so-called "values voters."
They may not mean it but they do sometimes come across as pushy, hypocritical and self righteous.
They may not mean it but they do sometimes come across as pushy, hypocritical and self righteous.
Posted by: a. mcewen at February 17, 2008 03:44 PM (XnmCz)
2
You're right, he wasn't insulting all Christians. He was insulting conservative evangelicals, which I am.
He was insulting Christians who take Christ's message to "Go and sin no more" to the world. I guess if I shoved a friend off a railroad track, I'd be a bit pushy, too -- but they may not see the train coming at them.
In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 of His followers on an important mission. They were probably a bit pushy, and they probably upset some people. They weren't supposed to go through the traditional greeting that travelers would normally go through when they met people on the road. If they weren't received favorably, they were supposed to react the way Jews reacted to Gentiles -- shake the dust off their feet and move on. The mission Jesus sent them on was that vital.
We've got a calling today. We're called to preach the Gospel to every creature -- the Gospel that there is healing and forgiveness through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And as I mentioned -- people who think there's nothing wrong with what they're doing don't realize their need for a savior.
The problem is that too often Christians forget that they used to be people in need of a savior. So while I'd agree that our methods aren't always the best, and that our lives certainly don't measure up to the standards that God has for us (that's what Romans 3:23 is all about, of course), I disagree with Barkley's assessment that we're all judgmental, and I certainly think he needs to watch the beam in his own eye.
He was insulting Christians who take Christ's message to "Go and sin no more" to the world. I guess if I shoved a friend off a railroad track, I'd be a bit pushy, too -- but they may not see the train coming at them.
In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 of His followers on an important mission. They were probably a bit pushy, and they probably upset some people. They weren't supposed to go through the traditional greeting that travelers would normally go through when they met people on the road. If they weren't received favorably, they were supposed to react the way Jews reacted to Gentiles -- shake the dust off their feet and move on. The mission Jesus sent them on was that vital.
We've got a calling today. We're called to preach the Gospel to every creature -- the Gospel that there is healing and forgiveness through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And as I mentioned -- people who think there's nothing wrong with what they're doing don't realize their need for a savior.
The problem is that too often Christians forget that they used to be people in need of a savior. So while I'd agree that our methods aren't always the best, and that our lives certainly don't measure up to the standards that God has for us (that's what Romans 3:23 is all about, of course), I disagree with Barkley's assessment that we're all judgmental, and I certainly think he needs to watch the beam in his own eye.
Posted by: Warren at February 17, 2008 09:33 PM (6ZwcZ)
3
clwgvu wwsybfq http://cjjhlik.com odxycw wwsybfq [URL=http://caikvq.com]jwqybq[/URL]
Posted by: cmwlhj at January 06, 2009 04:50 PM (Ggocw)
Processing 0.0, elapsed 0.0073 seconds.
18 queries taking 0.006 seconds, 11 records returned.
Page size 6 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.