God Warrior
Many Christ followers have forgotten that it is not our job as the wheat to be the ones to pull up the weeds. In fact, as citizens of the Kingdom we are to grow along with the weeds. This means living daily among those with those who are not Christ followers. Here the full version of a clip that was shown in part on Sunday of a Christian who has forgotten that we are called to love others in Jesus name rather than blame the weeds for being weeds:
This week, remember that you are not called to isolate yourself from the weeds, but rather to live among them until the day comes that the angels separate us for good. In what ways have you chosen, this week, to live among those who have not yet chosen to follow Jesus rather than isolate yourselves from them?
cristina lopez said,
July 15, 2007 at 9:28 pm
I was not present in church when this video was presented, I don’t know how much was presented or in what context it was presented. I went to the CLC blog, like anyone else can do.
I find this video objectionable for the following reasons;
First and foremost it does not represent the average Christian. It in fact misrepresents Christians as a whole. While some Christians have not reached a point were we can look at others with the same love that Christ has for us we are not by any stretch of the imagination the woman shown in this video.
Second, I don’t know who produced this video but I don’t believe it was the intent of the creator to present a balanced picture. On the contrary I believe the purpose was to paint all Christians with the same brush, that we are mentally unbalanced. It is clear that this woman does not have a healthy mind.
Currently, Christians throughout the world are being persecuted, some have risked imprisonment and even death. Here in the United States while we are not jailed or put to death for our beliefs there is a not so subtle persecution. We are being presented to the world as people who are intolerant and hypocrites. Many movies, books and news stories present us as mentally unbalanced because we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are many organization and people including professors at Universities who continue to tell the “big lie” that we are the cause of all the problems that currently exist. We due to our fanatical beliefs in Jesus Christ and our intolerance have created the poor, the war and we are directly responsible for hate crimes.
There is no lack of people willing and encouraged to demean and misrepresent us, my question is “do we need to help them.” After viewing the video I asked myself, was I encouraged to love others or was I appalled at the behavior and did I want to separate my self from this person, this “Christian”.
The internet is an interesting place were you can send almost anything to anyone.It is very probable that this video will be viewed by those who are not followers of Jesus Christ. Is this the picture we want to present? Is this what we need or want shown to believers and new people to the church? Does this video belong on our blog site for repeated viewing? The bottom line is: Does this video glorify God? Does it edify, Encarta, dictionary defines edify as Enlighten: to improve the morals or knowledge of somebody. Does this edify the body of Christ?
clcbobby said,
July 19, 2007 at 12:08 am
Christina,
I agree with some of what you say. This is a poor representations of what it looks like to live as a Christian. This does tend to paint Christians with a broad and incorrect brush. Unfortunately, this particular individual didn’t make it very hard to do so.
This is why the line right above the video says “a Christian who has forgotten that we are called to love others in Jesus name rather than blame the weeds for being weeds.” It is a reminder that whether we like it or not, this is the way that most of the world views us.
Rather than hide it and pretend that this isn’t the case, the best way to fight it is to be different. To help people be aware of what we stand for rather than what we stand again. Hopefully as people drop by the site and see this video it will encourage people to consider how they are perceived and to love their neighbors more.