Joe McKeever is Director of Missions of the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans. I read his blog pretty regularly...He is one of a few ministers and authors who I do not know personally, but whose ministries feed me spiritually. Others include John Ortberg, Philip Yancey, Chuck Swindoll and Tony Evans; these are my "pastors."
Anyway, Joe's blog this week includes a note about the "Christmas Wars." I'll just furnish you the link here, since he says it far better than I could. Click on that link and take a moment to read the article. Even if you don't agree with Joe (it's okay if you don't) I think you'll enjoy his writing and be better off for having read it. I'd love to hear some feedback from you...especially on questions such as:
--Why is it seemingly so easy to get Christians angry over some trivial matter, but difficult to mobilize us for evangelism, ministry to the poor, mission work or prayer?
--Why are we so gullible that we will forward sensational emails without checking the truthfulness thereof? (Especially with urban legend websites like snopes.com easily available)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Read McKeever's blog about what riles us Christians. Well said. What I think drives most of this (like anything else) is fear. We are afraid if we don't do this...if we don't stop that kind of thinking...etc etc. How much of what we do is driven by fear? And yet...didn't Christ come to give us peace? Not just Peace (as in absence of conflict) but I believe our belief means we need to experience peace...of mind. Without that, our professed belief is just that...a baseless professed belief. Thanks for the link to this minister, Jeff. And thanks for reaching out to us with this medium!
Christ's message is one of love but I'm afraid that, for whatever reason, many Christians become so threatened by perceived threats,they become unable to act in a loving way. Acting in a loving way does not necessarily mean 'giving-in' but it does mean (to me) an honest attempt to listen to others, find common ground and just maybe in the process others will begin to listen to us. I know that sounds simplistic but, at least for me, it's really tough. I agree that discernment is essential and probably underrated.
Kristy
A good friend and fellow minister put something on his church sign that I thought was really profound (and applicable to what we're talking about): "It's just as important to be kind as it is to be right." Standing up for the truth and refusing to compromise against evil ARE very important components of the Christian faith. But most of all, following Christ means love...as Kristy has already said. I think a big part of our problem is we have become so concerned with being RIGHT (and proving our rightness, and trying to coerce our enemies into admitting we're right) that we've forgotten that our main job is to show Christ's love.
Post a Comment