Ok so I’m not much of a writer but since I wrote a huge comment on my friends website I feel the need to share it on here hehehe To preface my comments…My friend wrote a blog about being calloused toward God as a Christian and how sometimes in life we are really sensitive to sin when at other points we are “calloused”. He then talked about the opposite of that and believers who are self-righteous and asked if there was a happy medium somewhere. Here are my responses…
Friend, sigh, I found this video really disgusting. To be honest I couldn’t even watch the whole thing as I saw that it was going to progressively get worse I didn’t care to subject myself to the lewdness just to see what was supposed to be so funny.
I agree that there have been times in my life when I have been “calloused” toward such lewdness but it wasn’t something that happened over night much like any callous it took time for it to work its way there. Instead of choosing Christ daily I gradually fell into the habit of seeking the fulfillment of my flesh. Eventually lacking self-control and getting into situations that now I regret but have learned so much from. I see now that the guilt that came after giving so much of my heart and “body” to someone who I “thought” I loved was the conviction of the Holy Spirit on my heart telling me what I was doing was wrong. I know that if I would have continued in that behavior eventually I would have been so far off removed that I would have regretted a whole lot more. Each time it happened it got easier to go a little farther and give in to a little more of my fleshly desires. Thinking and justifying everything along the way. I was hardening my heart toward God and that’s precisely what this callousness of yours is. It’s a heart that is hardened toward God. I’ve known you in your “self-righteous” days and in your seemingly perpetual cycle of seeking then falling. To be entirely truthful I miss the old friend. The “self-righteous” friend, that was the friend that I feel in love with as a friend. The one that was constantly challenging my beliefs and teaching me how to pursue God with all my heart, soul and mind as He tried to do the same. I know that it wasn’t your truest desire to judge these people with a heart of self-righteousness you just let yourself get in the way of God’s work in you. Which was and is to consider others as more important than yourself and to pursue correcting them with humility and gentleness. Just because that was a time in your life when you were the closest with God doesn’t mean you had everything straight. I too find myself deeply troubled by the daily lives of “christians” around me. My father definitely takes the crown on this one. Do I question his salvation? No, that is not for me to question BUT if he is going to claim to be one then I’m going to treat him like he is. I’m going to seek how I can help correct his behavior when it is not honoring to God. Because as a believer (which he claims to be) we are ambassadors of God and I don’t want to see him representing God in a life drenched in sinfulness because that is not who God is.
I disagree with your statement about passing judgment on other believers. I think it is our heavenly duty to look out for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Who are you to pass judgment? You are a follower of Christ, a disciple of the almighty God who is the creator of heaven and earth, the holy one. We seek holiness because He is holy and the only way to grow closer to Him is to put off the desires of this world and run fast toward Him. So what if I don’t watch lewd videos or listen to explicit lyrics. That’s not what makes you a Christian it’s the increasing lack of a desire to do those things. Not because you are better than those who do but because you are seeking to commune with God and He is better than those things. Does God accept us as we are? Yes So, does this mean we should keep on feeding our flesh? NO! If we are a new creation and alive in Christ how can we continue living in the bondage of sin? Does this mean we are sinless? No, we are human and working out our salvation but we should be sinning less or in the very least making efforts to do so and even just making efforts is rather pitiful from God perspective, yeah? Anyways, back to judging other believers. I think there is a stark difference in judging other believers because you think you are better than them and judging them because you understand how easy it is to fall away and want to help them pursue holiness not just for there own benefit but for the glory of God. How beautiful it is when God’s children worship Him through obedience. I think that’s what Paul sought to do. He didn’t correct the people he discipled because he thought he was better than them but because he understood them and wanted to help them and glorify God. I have been studying 1 Corinthians and Paul says some heavy stuff on this topic in chapters 5-6 (chapter 4 is talking about salvation/trustworthiness which i agree with Paul that his is not something we judge but for God alone. Salvation and discipline however are two different things that Paul distinguishes in the realm of judgment. If Paul was saying in chapter 4 that we are not to judge others in any circumstance then he is a hypocrite and manipulator in chapters 5-6).
In regards to what you said “I think what I really miss about that time is the constant call that I felt to be, “set apart”. This concept of being set apart is a defining concept of God’s church. But I think it is so easy to misunderstand what God intends. The leap from “God wants us to be good” and “being good makes us Christians” is too easy for most of us to make.” I agree it is a thin line and one that the Pharisees had one of the hardest times with. Ephesians 2:8-10 says pretty clearly what it is that saves us as well as the fact that God created us for good works. So although they do not save us they are important for us to do as that is a part of what we were created for.
-Melissa
Heb. 3:12-13
I can see how easy it can be to become so self-righteous, just as you once were. I hope it didn’t sound as if that’s what I wanted you to be like again because it’s not. I simply saying I miss your zeal for the Lord but I understood how it was easily transformed into self-righteousness. A lot of that grows from comparing yourself with others and not God. When we correct people because we think we are better than them that is self-righteousness. When we correct because we too are co-struggler’s (for lack of a better word) before God then we find that balance. It becomes increasingly more difficult to correct someone in self-righteousness when you understand you too struggle before God. It’s as if we need to view ourselves in a battlefield and we must never leave a fallen comrade. We are constantly in a spiritual battle and being in Japan I have felt this more than ever.
I’ve taken many spiritual gifts test and each time I think the actual battery of questions is lame but I talked to a wise man in the faith about spiritual gifts and he explained it as something we discover more concretely as we live life and see how God uses us the most. I’ve discovered through years of evaluation that my gift is exhortation. That is why I think I understand what you are seeking when you say you want to have that balance. I wouldn’t say that I’m disgusted with humanity but I do see a fervent need for everyone to come to the Father. And that is what spurs me to be where I am at today. To tell everyone the good news and the hope that we have in the savior. Does this mean that I am always hanging out with non-believers? No, I’m not God, I need to be refueled. I need to fellowship with other believers and with God lest I start reflecting unbelievers more than God! However, I do need to be where there are unbelievers. How will they hear in less I tell them? How can I tell them if I never build a relationship with them? Christians in America are always talking about how we want to change but how many times do we actually make efforts to meet unbelievers and minister to them? This was something that I have been really convicted about. I can see now how different my life in Tokyo is from what it was in California. I actually blogged about this before even getting here.
My thoughts on being disgusted with humanity make me ask if some Christians true desire not to be disgusted with humanity is because they want to accept and incorporate more of “humanities” lifestyle into there own i.e become just a little calloused. I don’t know, I could be wrong, maybe a true desire to engage the enemy for Christ really does empower them! But, I would say for everyone, me included “Look at your life.” Look at how you spend your time and you will find that actions speak louder than words. How you act is what you truly believe. You can say you don’t believe in abortion but if you have one then wouldn’t we have to question what you say you believe? The same is true for Christians who say they believe in exhorting your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you believe in exhortation then see your brother living in sin and ignore it or worse, accept it doesn’t that make you a hypocrite? However, ministering to unbelievers is far different than ministering to other believers. Yes, we have to be wise in our actions with both family and with strangers also knowing that we must guard our hearts and flee from sin. In other words we can minister to crack smokers but that doesn’t mean it’s ok to smoke crack and understanding THAT principle is a huge part of the balance.
