Tangled
In response to his first question regarding how the Bible came into existence, I told him that his answer required a really long reply (which would not be properly addressed in a chatroom) and then referred him to some legit online pages that I felt somehow answered his query.
He then proceeded to throw his second question: "what church did Jesus Christ establish on earth?" At first I thought he was simply an inquisitive guy who was probably seeking answers in his journey of faith. So again, with as much aplomb I could afford him, I proceeded to explain that Jesus only set up one church on the planet, that is the body of Christ, which is composed of people who believe in Jesus and who worship God in spirit and in truth. And since I was familiar with the contents of the Book of Acts in the New Testament, I gladly directed him to it as recommended reading so that he could follow the development of "the church" as documented in the Bible.
I was feeling a bit satisfied with myself having directed someone to peruse the truth for themselves, hoping that the Holy Spirit would enlighten them along the way. However, that feeling of satisfaction gradually turned into annoyance when this guy threw a follow-up question, demanding to know what that church -- "the one that Jesus established" -- is called today.
While holding back as much vexation as I could, I sternly repeated my response, highlighting it with "I already answered your question..." and restated my stance on the issue: "the church Jesus founded is the Body of Christ, MADE UP OF PEOPLE (emphasized, as I sensed he was waiting for me to name a specific religious organization or sect) who obey Jesus and live out His teachings, whether they are Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptists, Evangelicals... as long as they worship God through Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth." (Can you sense the annoyance between the lines?)
After sending him that reply, I somehow got an increasing discernment in my spirit that this guy was not really inquisitive or searching for biblical truth; he was looking for a religious debate, and it felt like he was out for blood (not Jesus' , too!). So, I figured I'd just leave him be and not encourage him to continue his line of questioning (and attack) by feeding him futile answers. I logged out of the FB church page and decided to go back to work.
The following day, I believe it was, our office receptionist, who happens to be one of the many administrators of the church's social media page, asked me if I knew so-and-so and if I already saw his recent questions on our inbox! "What? Really? He's not done yet?" was my immediate outburst! So I went to my desk, opened my computer and checked the messages left by the 'debate hunter'. There were four successive questions -- argument-baits, if you will -- posted on the chat page. These were the messages (edited grammatically for clarity):
- - - - -
"So, sir... all churches save? All are worshiping God? Try Matthew 7:21-23. Just read it. Not all churches do."
"Can you explain to me, sir, about this [religious group]'s official magazine, [name of publication], dated July-August 1988, which says that the [name of another religious group] is the church of Christ in first century?"
"Sir, what church was founded in Jerusalem? You cannot find the roots of [your church -- he spells out the full name of our congregation] in Jerusalem."
"Sir, what can you say about the emergence of the born again Christian church based on world history? The born again movement was founded by [name of person] in Kansas, USA in the 1900s. A lot of Christian denominations have come up since then, like [he then goes on to name several Christian congregations]."
- - - - -
As I read each of his questions, I felt that my discernment was proven correct. The guy's mind was already made up! It seemed to me that, for him, "his" church is THE ONE TRUE CHURCH and he's not having any of these other so-called churches of Christ! At this point I have already somehow formulated my opinion of the guy but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. So, I visited his Facebook page to just try and glean some context of where all his aggression came from.
Without going into detail about his religious affiliation and the content of his social media account, he seemed to be coming from a background of religious intolerance, with the exposition of fake churches as a staple on his FB page. There was also an infographic that conveniently validates "his" church as the legit one of Christ.
After browsing through his social media page and getting a snippet of his crusade, my annoyance dissipated... and my heart sank, feeling pity instead of anger.
Is this how a person -- who claims to have found the one true church established by Jesus Christ -- represents God to the lost? With self-righteousness, bigotry and aggression? I can understand if a true follower of Jesus holds fast to his faith with all of his life, confesses it with great conviction, and even be willing to die for it; but representing Jesus with a spirit, intention and methodology that is completely the opposite of everything He demonstrates in the Gospels is just a disappointing attempt at evangelism and a blatant visual aid of how absent one's comprehension of the Savior's character is!
This is probably one of the reasons why many people stay away from organized religion, avoid coming to church, or turn their backs on God altogether.
It is really heartbreaking for me: that ministers who have been hurt and are still hurting end up creating an agenda other than Christ's and in the process leave a trail of souls alienated from the Truth -- the person of Jesus Christ; that people claiming to know Jesus represent Him without even knowing about and/or displaying even a shred of Christ-like character; that the religious debaters and spiritual supremacists are more concerned about being right than actually doing what is right.
1 John 4:8 says "God is LOVE." Jesus is the physical representation of that love. If we claim to be part of the true church of Christ, then the true love of Christ must be evident in us. If not, then Jane Wiedlin's words would aptly describe the kind of people we are:
"Twisted up like a lover was never ever meant to be!"
- - - - -
"So, sir... all churches save? All are worshiping God? Try Matthew 7:21-23. Just read it. Not all churches do."
"Can you explain to me, sir, about this [religious group]'s official magazine, [name of publication], dated July-August 1988, which says that the [name of another religious group] is the church of Christ in first century?"
"Sir, what church was founded in Jerusalem? You cannot find the roots of [your church -- he spells out the full name of our congregation] in Jerusalem."
"Sir, what can you say about the emergence of the born again Christian church based on world history? The born again movement was founded by [name of person] in Kansas, USA in the 1900s. A lot of Christian denominations have come up since then, like [he then goes on to name several Christian congregations]."
- - - - -
As I read each of his questions, I felt that my discernment was proven correct. The guy's mind was already made up! It seemed to me that, for him, "his" church is THE ONE TRUE CHURCH and he's not having any of these other so-called churches of Christ! At this point I have already somehow formulated my opinion of the guy but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. So, I visited his Facebook page to just try and glean some context of where all his aggression came from.
Without going into detail about his religious affiliation and the content of his social media account, he seemed to be coming from a background of religious intolerance, with the exposition of fake churches as a staple on his FB page. There was also an infographic that conveniently validates "his" church as the legit one of Christ.
After browsing through his social media page and getting a snippet of his crusade, my annoyance dissipated... and my heart sank, feeling pity instead of anger.
Is this how a person -- who claims to have found the one true church established by Jesus Christ -- represents God to the lost? With self-righteousness, bigotry and aggression? I can understand if a true follower of Jesus holds fast to his faith with all of his life, confesses it with great conviction, and even be willing to die for it; but representing Jesus with a spirit, intention and methodology that is completely the opposite of everything He demonstrates in the Gospels is just a disappointing attempt at evangelism and a blatant visual aid of how absent one's comprehension of the Savior's character is!
This is probably one of the reasons why many people stay away from organized religion, avoid coming to church, or turn their backs on God altogether.
It is really heartbreaking for me: that ministers who have been hurt and are still hurting end up creating an agenda other than Christ's and in the process leave a trail of souls alienated from the Truth -- the person of Jesus Christ; that people claiming to know Jesus represent Him without even knowing about and/or displaying even a shred of Christ-like character; that the religious debaters and spiritual supremacists are more concerned about being right than actually doing what is right.
1 John 4:8 says "God is LOVE." Jesus is the physical representation of that love. If we claim to be part of the true church of Christ, then the true love of Christ must be evident in us. If not, then Jane Wiedlin's words would aptly describe the kind of people we are:
"Twisted up like a lover was never ever meant to be!"
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