In The Name of God?
A see-saw.
One person on each end. Taking turns going up, down, up, down. Sometimes one child is far smaller, and is not able to make much progress. But if the children are similar in size, it’s a very predictable process. Up, down, up, down. And once they push themselves to the highest point they cannot go any higher
I remember sometimes it would be fun to try and go higher and higher while my playmate was on the ground. But after several thrilling trips higher, higher, inevitably I ended up banging against the frame- jolting myself. So, in order to make it a little more exciting (and possibly fair?) I’d jolt hard to the ground when it was my playmate’s turn up in the air.
Sometimes it seems that Christians jump onto a see-saw every chance that they get.
Oh, of course you know what I mean. Those wonderful debates. And, to be honest, I love a good debate myself. But a clean debate between believers is one thing. A ground-zero level religious debate between a Christian and a non-Christian can be sticky. Or very, very see-sawish.
I see this sort of thing all the time on Internet forums. Back and forth. Back and forth. Up, down, up, down. Two totally different wavelengths.
“God says [this]!”
“I don’t believe in God.”
“It doesn’t matter, He’s still there!”
“Just because you believe, doesn’t mean that I should!”
“You should believe, because of [this], [this] and [this]!!”
Up, down, up down.
Just like a see-saw. One tries to make a lofty point- one that the opposition cannot ignore. But the other kid is just trying to gather enough steam to push himself up higher. I have this sinking feeling that see-saw conversations like that don’t go anywhere. I have played a part in conversations like these. I’ve read and watched countless. But I’ve come to a realization. I don’t want to live like that.
I will tell people of God’s Good News in my life. That’s our purpose- to live for Him and give all the glory to Him.
However, I refuse to bash others over the head, in the name of God. How can people see that God’s grace has changed us if we’re not different from the argumentative, unbelieving world?
”By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35 NIV)
What if we lived as a testament to God’s love instead of shouting it brazenly into people’s faces? What if we got off the see-saw? Maybe our opponents (who are so stubborn, aren’t they?) would jolt a little as they struck the earth. Maybe they would wander why we’re walking away. But maybe, just maybe, if we said what we believed and then left the see-saw the Holy Spirit could water a planted seed.
Because pounding a seed into the earth won’t make it grow. That’s God’s job.
Filed under: Christian Living
A timely word, Debbie =).
”By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
A lot of people think that Christians should never disagree and that it is ungodly or unloving when we do disagree. In my experience as a Christian and non-christian, though, the interesting truth is that it has been the people who really did love me who disagreed with me — whether right or wrong. Sure, sometimes people disagree just to be nasty or to look superior (I’ve met plenty of those, too!), but in my personal experience it has been the most hurtful and the least conducive to showing me Jesus in their lives when I’ve really needed a good witness of Him (like, when I wasn’t a Christian or was “slipping” spiritually) when people just ignore me because they think that I’m wrong and sort of, or actually do, say, “I have no hope for you if you believe that way. Whatever I tell you, you’re too stupid to listen or agree no matter how I put it.”
Now, your experience has probably been different than mine. Don’t take it that I’m starting an argument or anything. In fact, I’m just sharing this to help in the times when a disagreement comes up that you need to address (like, recently my mom and I hired painters to paint the stairwell of our house and one of the painters started chatting with us and called The Passion movie “trash” and shared that he didn’t believe “Roman history” and so didn’t believe that Jesus ever existed — you’ve just gotta state the truth there).
I, maybe more than you, despise going back and forth with so-called-Christians who do want to just put me down, too — and I avoid them or going beyond each stating our side once.
Anyway, so an interesting point regarding the verse quoted at the top of my comment (from the blog entry) is that Jesus said that the disciples would be known as such if they “love” one another — not get along, but love. A lot of people confuse the two. I’ve read your post twice, and please know that I’m not coming down on this post or saying that you have the two confused — I’m not — and I do think that you are, in fact, making a valid point about not pressing our beliefs or pounding them into someone (I’ve been “pounded” with a few beliefs, myself!). I just wanted to share something closely related to, and often confused with, your point. I just wanted to share that love does mean speaking the truth — like Jesus did. And that I’ve been learning (it’s a process, so although I’ve been learning, I’ve still got a ways to go of applying what I’ve learned all the time and still learning) that one way to avoid the pitfalls of “debates” between believers or unbelievers is to constantly be sure that our focus is on the Truth, Himself — seeking Him and knowing Him and making Him known — and that we continue to love the individual (or individuals) we are speaking of Him to. It is SO important to not be focused on winning, on appearing (or being) superior, etc. and it is also important to truly focus on both knowing the truth, making the truth known, and being sure that God wins and is glorified and that our love for Him and each other is actually strengthened by our common, though at times disagreeing, pursuit of His truth. And it is important when we don’t agree or end up agreeing (which can happen if we both aren’t really focused on finding and knowing the truth — because if we were, and we searched with our whole heart, we would know it and, I believe, end up agreeing wholeheartedly) to continue to, and continuously, pray for ourselves and the other person to know the truth, to seek the truth, and to be filled with His love so as to grow, as Christians, in God’s love for each other each day and thus be a better witness to each other and the world.
To sum it up, the best way to avoid the “pitfalls” of debates is to be sure that our heart is right before God and that we are raising Him up and glorifying Him and not ourselves.
Feel free to add to what I’ve said or to say if you disagree with me — but do know that I’m just sharing something to “add on” to this post, if you will, because its message did hit home for me and I do not at all intend to argue, etc.
Thanks and God bless you all!
Thank you for your excellent thoughts, Nicole. I whole-heartedly agree with you.
This post was inspired by, and written primarily about believers interacting with NON believers, which I hoped came across. But I can certainly see how this topic would inspire your comment, so thanks for it.
Debbie Jane: The first time I read your blog entry through I read it quickly so I didn’t get the idea that it was about Christians interacting with non-christians. But then I read it through a second time and got the correct perspective (I went over each point more carefully rather than rushing along). And then I thought, well, maybe I’ll share what I’ve been learning lately regarding any type of discussion — you know, as far as keeping our focus right so WE don’t get out of hand in any situation. More often than not, as your post showed, is it we who are the unruly ones. I was actually kind of excited to share what I’ve been learning as to how to honor God whatever kind of discussion it is that we participate in. I did understand your focusing on non-christians, but just sort of grouped both kinds of discussions into my comment because I had been dealing more with the Christian to Christian debates recently. Whenever someone talks about one thing, I tend to talk about that AND the next thing. “Oh, you’re talking about that? That is a lot like this!” =)
Thanks for your response and for bringing the topic up.
God bless!
I am extremely encouraged by this post. One of my favorite scriptures is from 1 Corinthians I just love how it explains the process of “plantnig the seed”.
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants not the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are God’s co-workers;you are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 TNIV
That passage always helps me remember that I can’t just pull up my soapbox and start preaching to everyone around me. All I am called to do is plant the seed, I’m not called to make it grow, or even to water it. Those are other peoples’ and God’s jobs. We cannot try to do God’s job for Him or we will end up like Saul when he made the sacrifice for the Lord in 1 Samuel before samuel got there. I don’t want to be cast out of favor with the Lord. I am so grateful for the post, it was a lovely reminder of what we, as Christians, are called to do.
-Bee-