In the Screwtape letters, CS Lewis notes that God is unbearably bourgeois. He has no regard for the grandeur and majesty of Our Father Below. And that he would use any means to get to a soul. If Ali converts because of the good Christianity has done, Don’t worry, God will make use of it. Anyone open to the truth eventually will hear the truth. I
“I guess that they were storing up for themselves retweets in heaven.”
Hahaha! I certainly hope God doesn’t count the number of retweets or thumbs up emojis for admission into heaven, otherwise I’d hopelessly languish outside the pearly gates for eternity.
Being deemed judgmental in Christian circles is akin to be called a racist or homophobe, etc. in left-leaning circles. It is mostly unhelpful and obstructive, shutting down dialog and branding the protagonist as evil, unchristian. After all, as we know, God is the ultimate Judge. So, if the purpose of these conversations is to encourage Christians to be more compassionate and kindhearted, I’m all for it. If not, I’m not.
Just as we cannot look into the hearts of others, we cannot judge their salvation. But we can and should question their motivation. Not with gossip but with patience and mentorship. Best to say, take a step back. Be encouraging and accepting for it is the fruit of conversion that should be the measuring stick. It takes time for new believers to begin to even partially grasp the universe shattering, angel rejoicing decision of one sinner entering into the Light. We can be gracious, we can be helpful and lovingly responsive, we can even rejoice but we cannot and should not be fooled. The Church, the body of Christ has been tricked too many times by wolves in sheep’s clothing yet the duplicity continues, is escalating and the Church and the Imago Dei suffers because of it. It is prophetic, but the canary in the coal mine has a legitimate job to do.
So, what is a Christian to do in this overly saturated, fast paced, click bait, often specious social media world? We must pray as King Solomon, seeking wisdom and discernment and from its true source, not from within us, but from God. And then keep on praying to use these gifts wisely and judiciously. We all stumble on the path and everyone, especially milk Christians are owed an abundant measure of mercy and grace. I am disheartened of late. I question a polemic that shouts agape love but whispers words like oily all while I’m being chastised.
This beautiful post goes well with my morning reading in Romans 15 MSG.
“6:That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!” ❤️
Indeed, we reach towards to the good, gazing and aspiring Heavenward. In our hearts and minds we even stretch out our hands in our architecture as we build cathedrals with towering grasping spires that stretch to heaven. It is an asymptotic task, ever near, ever close, yet always just out of reach. Maintaining this ever present desire to be closer to God is, as far as I can tell, the primary task of the church. Continuous effort towards God, not acts or deeds may be our salvation. We could say that this is the essence of love. The love Jesus wanted instilled in us to know his Father. Maybe, maybe not. Hard to say.
Well said. Salvation is offered to us as individuals. Gods loves rebirths us at our core identities. But we are then saved into something more than our mere personalized “heaven”.
The party is over here. It’s the only party. Those other guys—yeah, they look as if they’re throwing a real bash, but in the way out the door, Bubba is going to charge you everything you have…for eternity.
So, to the religious snobs, who care how or why someone comes to the party, as long as they get here and, with each passing day, they get just a little closer to The Lord?
“ its whispering voice so thin against the foghorns of the world…” wow that touched me, absolutely beautiful writing, thank you
In the Screwtape letters, CS Lewis notes that God is unbearably bourgeois. He has no regard for the grandeur and majesty of Our Father Below. And that he would use any means to get to a soul. If Ali converts because of the good Christianity has done, Don’t worry, God will make use of it. Anyone open to the truth eventually will hear the truth. I
So beautifully expressed. I have to think all this Olympic judging of Christian authenticity should have more to do with logs and specks...
“I guess that they were storing up for themselves retweets in heaven.”
Hahaha! I certainly hope God doesn’t count the number of retweets or thumbs up emojis for admission into heaven, otherwise I’d hopelessly languish outside the pearly gates for eternity.
Being deemed judgmental in Christian circles is akin to be called a racist or homophobe, etc. in left-leaning circles. It is mostly unhelpful and obstructive, shutting down dialog and branding the protagonist as evil, unchristian. After all, as we know, God is the ultimate Judge. So, if the purpose of these conversations is to encourage Christians to be more compassionate and kindhearted, I’m all for it. If not, I’m not.
Just as we cannot look into the hearts of others, we cannot judge their salvation. But we can and should question their motivation. Not with gossip but with patience and mentorship. Best to say, take a step back. Be encouraging and accepting for it is the fruit of conversion that should be the measuring stick. It takes time for new believers to begin to even partially grasp the universe shattering, angel rejoicing decision of one sinner entering into the Light. We can be gracious, we can be helpful and lovingly responsive, we can even rejoice but we cannot and should not be fooled. The Church, the body of Christ has been tricked too many times by wolves in sheep’s clothing yet the duplicity continues, is escalating and the Church and the Imago Dei suffers because of it. It is prophetic, but the canary in the coal mine has a legitimate job to do.
So, what is a Christian to do in this overly saturated, fast paced, click bait, often specious social media world? We must pray as King Solomon, seeking wisdom and discernment and from its true source, not from within us, but from God. And then keep on praying to use these gifts wisely and judiciously. We all stumble on the path and everyone, especially milk Christians are owed an abundant measure of mercy and grace. I am disheartened of late. I question a polemic that shouts agape love but whispers words like oily all while I’m being chastised.
This beautiful post goes well with my morning reading in Romans 15 MSG.
“6:That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!” ❤️
Indeed, we reach towards to the good, gazing and aspiring Heavenward. In our hearts and minds we even stretch out our hands in our architecture as we build cathedrals with towering grasping spires that stretch to heaven. It is an asymptotic task, ever near, ever close, yet always just out of reach. Maintaining this ever present desire to be closer to God is, as far as I can tell, the primary task of the church. Continuous effort towards God, not acts or deeds may be our salvation. We could say that this is the essence of love. The love Jesus wanted instilled in us to know his Father. Maybe, maybe not. Hard to say.
Where is letter #32? Did I miss something?
Well said. Salvation is offered to us as individuals. Gods loves rebirths us at our core identities. But we are then saved into something more than our mere personalized “heaven”.
The party is over here. It’s the only party. Those other guys—yeah, they look as if they’re throwing a real bash, but in the way out the door, Bubba is going to charge you everything you have…for eternity.
So, to the religious snobs, who care how or why someone comes to the party, as long as they get here and, with each passing day, they get just a little closer to The Lord?