GLEANINGS FROM THE SCRIPTURESChristian BashingBy Keith L. EstesI dug this article out of my archives and wish to share it with you. There was no author's name attached and it was originally titled, "Guilty As Charged." I changed it to "Christian Bashing" because there seems to be the belief that Christians should not get involved in politics or the issues of the day. Just stay in your little church pew and don't make any waves. Do what you want, while you are in Church, but don't propagate your views on the rest of us. At the bottom of the article there is a picture of a man in court being asked by an attorney, "Okay, Christian, You're charged with aggressive meekness and bold humility. How do you plead?" Have you noticed how often the enemies of Christ contradict themselves? Just listen to them! Christians are too gloomy, says one unbeliever. They're always pointing to sin and saying doomsday is at hand. But the very next unbeliever says Christians are too happy, always cherishing their blessings, expecting peace on earth and God's Kingdom any moment now. Christians are too aggressive, claims one atheist. They're too meek, says another. They say this life doesn't count, complains one unbeliever. They say this life is God-given and sacred, complains another. One atheist says Christians are wimps, quietly obeying all the rules and regulations. But the very next atheist says Christians are too militant, always proclaiming that God's laws are higher and preaching their beliefs to everyone in sight. They're always going to war. Always working for peace. Always helping others. Always telling other to help them-selves. Listen to the unbelievers. After a while, it seems like any stick is good enough to beat the Christians with. But suppose there was one perfect man. Short people would say he was too tall; tall people would call him too short. Skinny people would call him fat; fat people would complain he was too skinny. He is too ugly, too handsome; too bold, too mild. If you listened to the critics, it would seem this perfect man had more flaws than anyone else at all. When you finally sort it out, the reasons are obvious. Christ was the perfect, man, the Messiah, God the Son. Who else could make unbelievers so angry, and moreover, who else could make them contradict themselves so much? So the world stumbles all over itself by complaining about the Christians. That just proves we're accomplishing his work, and that's something to rejoice about! The refrain of the apostle Paul is, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." I have yet to find the person who is unworthy of receiving God's infinite love. It's this love that is propagated when we Christians share the Good News that there is hope and salvation in Jesus Christ. Reference: Philippians 4:4 - The Holy Bible. |