Hello again!
Last week a former co-worker with whom I am friends with on
Facebook posted a photo with a caption that took scripture out of context. It was targeted at invalidating Christianity
based on something they found to be offensive.
I took offense and posted a comment that contextualized the subject he
had presented and explained the reason why the passage had been written. One of his other friends chose to jump on the
bandwagon and gave another argument against Christianity based on a twisted
interpretation of another passage of scripture.
I really wanted to let that guy have it!
I was greatly offended and really wanted to give them a dose of “righteous
indignation.” But then I remembered
something I had heard a long time ago, “If you’re going to give someone a piece
of your mind, make sure you’ve got enough to spare.” That made me pause and think about things for
a minute. I asked myself what my reasons were for
getting into an online argument. Was it
just to be proven “right?” And if so,
what did I hope to accomplish. Another one
of those little sayings that came to mind was “You can’t argue someone into
Heaven.” I realized that if I were to attempt
such a task I would most likely fuel the fire which so many that don’t know
Jesus tend to fan the flame when they say that Christians are intolerant,
close-minded, and that they don’t display the love that they are always
preaching. So I responded by saying,
something to the effect, that I disagreed with what they were saying and would
be happy to have an intelligent conversation about the subject in a different
forum and that most of us Christians actually want to love people and make the
world a better place. The person who had
commented responded favorably and explained that his lifetime of faith-based
education had kind of soured him on the whole concept of organized
religion. And he even ended by saying “I
love you Jimmy J”
Yesterday the Bible app on my tablet had this to say:
Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers all wrongs. Proverbs 10:12 (NIV)
I really like that!
I am praying for these guys and that there will be more
opportunities to show them what the love of Christ looks like.
Proverbs 29:9, "If a wise man has an argument with a foolish man, the fool only rages or laughs, and there is no rest."
ReplyDeleteOoh, good one too!
DeleteNice, Jimmy! That's a great reminder to not lose your temper when arguing things that matter greatly to you. Thank you for that. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Megan, hopefully writing about it will help me remember this approach more often :)
DeleteI'd never heard this before: “If you’re going to give someone a piece of your mind, make sure you’ve got enough to spare.”
ReplyDeleteBut now I'm going to have to remember it!