Thursday, April 21, 2016

Religious Freeedom

It is amazing to me we have allowed ourselves, especially Christians, to be so confused as to which bathroom people should use, who should be allowed to marry and what God's take on homosexuality is when the Bible is very clear. I do mean very clear. I will only use the New Testament because the Christian church's standards are there.
Jesus defined marriage as being between and man and woman in Matthew 19 verses 4 through 6. These are Jesus' words. Very explicit in their definition and shouldn't be open to discussion. He wasn't speaking allegorically or euphemistically. Jesus was being literal.
As for homosexuality just read Romans 1 verses 24 through 27. Again it is very clear, very explicit and literal and descriptive as to these practices being sin. Later in the same chapter it gives homosexuality the same standing with other sins.
Please stop being confused, read your Bibles, know the truth, and stand on that truth. Do not denigrate others, because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yet, we have to stand up for the objective truth of the Word of God in a loving and caring way with grace.
The truth is, it is none of my business whom you are with until you bring me into your confidence. When you do that, I then have to examine myself and my morals and ethics to determine if that is right for me to associate. It would be the same self conversation I would have if you told me you worked off the clock, were stealing, or any other act which is contrary to the standard set in the Bible. It wouldn't mean I would absent myself from your life or try to condemn you in any way; but, I may have to limit our involvement.
I am to be salt and light but I am not to be an active participant in sin or give you the impression I consider what you are doing is right. Tolerance is not saying something is right; it does mean I accept the fact you get to make the choices about your behavior and thoughts for yourself without my approval and I must decide whether I can associate with you or not.
We make this much more complicated than it has to be. Just because I disagree with you doesn't mean I hate you or want any ill to come your way. What is does mean is we each have free will to make the choices about our own lives and we give each other the space and respect to make those  decisions. This isn't a zero sum game. Your acceptance of Christ as Savior or agreement with me on every single issue isn't a requirement for us to be acquaintances or friends. It simply means we disagree about some things and have agreed to disagree amicably.

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