Don't Shoot the Message!
I was listening to someone famous, who I really enjoy listening to. It's cool how much they talk about God. It's all the time, like All Thee Time...but they curse a whole lot and other stuff too. At first I was like, that's conflicting, but someone else replied and said something like, "but everyone's process isn't always fast, like they might just be beginning, and they know they believe, but everything didn't change all at once". And I was like, True! That was a really good point, and it helped me once again on my everlasting journey to loving solely like Jesus and being less prejudice against people who aren't "churched" like me.
But this post isn't really about that. It's more about the fact that even if, by chance, this famous person was being "conflicting", was it really wrong for him to talk about God? I mean, isn't that what we want; for people all over the world, all kinds of lifestyles to hear about who Jesus is? Does the messenger matter?
Since the beginning of time, there have been all kinds of ways for people to hear something that drew them to the thought of Christ the Savior. Maybe it wasn't in a church service, but maybe it was another event that happened in a church building, maybe you saw a tweet, a status, heard something, passed a conversation, woke up early to a preacher on tv, etc...what you did with the information?
Now I know everyone isn't going to pay attention to these subtle messages but they don't realize that ignoring that slight moment could be eternally fatal. There's a million reasons why they will ignore - they may feel that Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites; maybe what our culture has made God look like is not appealing; maybe they believe that "the white slave-masters" wanted to use the Bible as a way to control us,..whatever the case is...
SO WHAT! Everybody's gotta hear it, THE GOSPEL, THE TRUTH. This is just prophecy being fulfilled.
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 17Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”(Romans 10:15)
Listen, someone may not be living the way you thought a Christian should in your eyes. Does that take away from the validity of what they're saying? Okay, it's true that lifestyles and behavior have an affect on others' view of you, and yes, actions speak louder than words; so if your life isn't matching what you preach, it will be difficult for someone to receive your message. But we're human and we mess up so what are we supposed to do, stop spreading the gospel? Of course not. The only solution I could think of is that we simply put emphasis on the message, not the messenger. In whatever manner someone heard it, they will just have to resolve within themselves that they have faith and believe that Jesus Christ the savior and creator of the world is Lord, repent, and ask for forgiveness. Period! Otherwise, you'll be the skeptic who heard the word some kind of way, and although you chose not to believe, you're still gonna be held accountable for the fact that you knew and rejected.
Every knee shall bow....it will be by force or by choice, but it's gonna happen.
But this post isn't really about that. It's more about the fact that even if, by chance, this famous person was being "conflicting", was it really wrong for him to talk about God? I mean, isn't that what we want; for people all over the world, all kinds of lifestyles to hear about who Jesus is? Does the messenger matter?
Since the beginning of time, there have been all kinds of ways for people to hear something that drew them to the thought of Christ the Savior. Maybe it wasn't in a church service, but maybe it was another event that happened in a church building, maybe you saw a tweet, a status, heard something, passed a conversation, woke up early to a preacher on tv, etc...what you did with the information?
Now I know everyone isn't going to pay attention to these subtle messages but they don't realize that ignoring that slight moment could be eternally fatal. There's a million reasons why they will ignore - they may feel that Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites; maybe what our culture has made God look like is not appealing; maybe they believe that "the white slave-masters" wanted to use the Bible as a way to control us,..whatever the case is...
SO WHAT! Everybody's gotta hear it, THE GOSPEL, THE TRUTH. This is just prophecy being fulfilled.
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 17Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”(Romans 10:15)
Listen, someone may not be living the way you thought a Christian should in your eyes. Does that take away from the validity of what they're saying? Okay, it's true that lifestyles and behavior have an affect on others' view of you, and yes, actions speak louder than words; so if your life isn't matching what you preach, it will be difficult for someone to receive your message. But we're human and we mess up so what are we supposed to do, stop spreading the gospel? Of course not. The only solution I could think of is that we simply put emphasis on the message, not the messenger. In whatever manner someone heard it, they will just have to resolve within themselves that they have faith and believe that Jesus Christ the savior and creator of the world is Lord, repent, and ask for forgiveness. Period! Otherwise, you'll be the skeptic who heard the word some kind of way, and although you chose not to believe, you're still gonna be held accountable for the fact that you knew and rejected.
Every knee shall bow....it will be by force or by choice, but it's gonna happen.
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