Christ against Christendom
Christendom: "Do not consider anyone to be your enemy."
Christ: "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Christendom: "If someone acts wrongfully, pretend like you didn't notice."
Christ: "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private;"
Christendom: "Go, and consider adultery wrong no more."
Christ: "Go and sin no more."
Christendom: "Money is a root of all sorts of evil."
James: "The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil."
Christendom: "If your brother sins against you and repents, forgive him. If he continues doing it, though, his repentence was phony and you do not need to forgive him."
Christ: "If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, `I repent,' forgive him."
Christendom: "Of course Jesus liked to laugh and joke around. Everyone does."
Christ: "That which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God."
Christ: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep."
Christendom: "We have to start changing the social policies, the environmental situation, the world's opinion of us and our country because we could be facing a crisis soon!"
Christ: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Christendom: "Sacrifice. That's what God's looking for. Don't ask God for anything, ask God what you can sacrifice for Him."
Christ: "Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'."
Christendom: "If we provide good logic and evidence in defense of our beliefs, people will naturally want to become Christians."
Christ: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."
Christendom: "Sin is going to happen. It's inevitable, really, so stop worrying about it."
Christ: "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire."
Christendom: "It's perfectly fine to love the world and the things of the world."
John: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world-- the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches-- comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever."
Christendom: "Feed the appetites of the sick and the poor because that's all we are ... appetites."
Christ: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth of God."
Christendom: "Christ didn't die to make us comfortable."
Paul: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ."
Paul: "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word."
Christendom: "As soon as you enter into God's presence, people will see the difference in your life and find that excellent. So if the world hates you, you're doing something bad."
Christ: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you."
Labels: Bible Reflection, Misunderstood
7 Comments:
Some of that I have to disagree with - the examples for helping the poverty stricken and laughter - mainly for personal reasons but also on the basis of other things. Why is laughter and joking bad exactly? Is it? Isn't helping the poor one of the beatitudes? I mean the poverty thing seems to be Christ. Just imagine if all Christians donated their time and resources to this epidemic - things might be different.
I find it excellent that you disagree with me. So often I find blog comments to be a lot of flattery.
On laughter: do I find laughing and joking to be unlawful? Well, no. Honestly I often find myself telling a joke or laughing myself. The other day I was considering posting a funny story I had with a lady who didn't understand my english. But so often I find that when I laugh there is something heavy beneath it that I am overlooking (sometimes on purpose!).
My contention is merely this: Christianity is seriousness. I sometimes feel as though looking to a minister or to Christ for a laugh is to betray the deeper, inner longings I have. Better is a house of mourning than a house of laughter as the wise man says.
"I mean the poverty thing seems to be [of] Christ." SocietyVs
Christ loved the poor and reprimanded the rich, (in the same passage where he pitied those who laughed he also pitied the rich). Paul often mentioned in his letters how eager he was to assist the poor.
While Christ and Paul set examples for us to this extent, they admitted its shortcomings. For example, Paul said that if he gave everything he had to the poor and surrendered his body to the flames, it would profit him nothing. And Jesus indirectly said it was better for the woman to honor his death than to give to the poor because the poor will always have the Church. If the poor will always have the Church, there will always be poor people however generous the Church becomes.
Thanks for speaking up about your views, SocietyVs.
PS - I have no intention of deleting your comment, but I hope that you are able to find the blessedness in being censored ... a strange blessedness to be sure.
The Mockingbird story last week is in some ways a commentary on the spiritual value in laughter and the lack thereof.
I reworded the 'love of money' section. I did that part from memory and it appears I was the one who had gotten the words mixed up.
Hope I didn't mislead anyone as to what the Bible actually says in 1 Timothy 6:
"The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil."
I was trying to recall the NIV version, but that translation is getting harder to find ...
It's all good BB - our fsith is open enough to know that we can disagree - which is much appreciated. Please don't ever censor me - I don't think I am that controversial.
I love this post!
But I too disagree with the laughter part. Sure, A great deal of Christendom does say what you accuse them of saying about Christ, and they are wrong. But you are wrong in your rebuke as well.
There are many sections of the Bible that talk of celebration and happiness and all that go with it. Any of those would be a fine rebuke to the passage you cited there.
Second, as GKC said, you can only reverence a beautiful lie. In real religion you will find only laughter and war. I believe that with my whole heart.
You see, God does laugh. It is just that he must hide it from us. That is another thing that I picked up from Chesterton. The idea is, that when Christ went away to be alone, it was so that he could laugh in private. He did not hide his tears. He did not hide his anger. He did not hide his mercy. It might just have been that he did hide his laughter.
Hi Al,
Thanks for stopping by. I have a lot of respect for the views you take up if you do indeed take them up 'with your whole heart'.
I am a perplexed about how the rebuke I used is wrong since both verses are direct quotes from Christ.
I am not sure I am ready to say all laughter is wrong ... I think Jesus was saying "Woe" in the sense that it is better to be in a house of mourning than a house of laughter.
I am considering responding to your comment with a smattering of quotes from various writers about laughter.
I decided to mention the laughter aspect in this post because I laugh so much, and it's like I can hear Soren telling me, "Christianity is seriousness."
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