Christian Discussions of Sensitive Issues

[enoob57]

16 hours ago, bropro said:

The scriptures teach us to speak the truth in love. If we resort to condescending posts or replies, we disobey God. We are also admonished by scripture to "prefer others better than ourselves." What we need to remember is to "love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God." Being mindful of this should greatly affect how we treat others.

Gary

Gary but this in no way means we let the doctrines of God's Word slip from their eternal place in Christ....

[Guest]

3 hours ago, missmuffet said:

Those subjects should not be avoided. The best a born again Christian can do is give them information that God would want them to have. The literal truth of what the Holy Bible tells us. 

Sadly, some people are strongly attached to there positions.  A couple of prime examples, which I'm not suggesting we open here, are Genesis Beginnings, Calvinism and Roman Catholicism.  As a former agnostic, Calvinist, and Roman Catholic, I believe I can see both sides of the argument.

Thank you for contributing to this topic.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, missmuffet said:

If an interpretation is not biblical that person needs to know the Christian truth. Some times a person will argue over and over again. That is when I know I have posted God's truth and I know their mind has digested that. It is then up to them. 

The problem is, we cannot agree on what is Christian truth.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, walla299 said:

Sharing one's understanding of the Bible with others is one thing. We can discuss those things in a civil manner and it's not a problem. The problems start when one person begins judging, condemning, belittling, or other wise looking down on others who disagree with them. Probably one of the best examples of that is the line, "Well, you can't be a real Christian if ________ (fill in the blank with controversy of the moment.) That's where things go off the rails and the truth is no longer spoken in love. 

I agree.

2 hours ago, walla299 said:

Most of the "controversies" listed are things the church (as in the body of Christ in general) has had questions about from the beginning. Many of those things have been worked out over the centuries and are settled (more or less.) Other questions remain and it might be because I'm older but I realize many of those questions won't be answered on this side of eternity. Others, like what Bible version is best, to me are endless arguments I will no longer bother with since they take away time, energy, and effort that is best used elsewhere, but that's just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

As I wrote that list, I was thinking of all the brothers and sisters in Christ I've corresponded with because those subjects are NOT settled.   The problem is some questions are not being addressed.  People are sometimes bullied because their opinions fall out of the mainstream the of Christian thought.  What more can I say.  I wrote from personal experience.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Hopefully said:

Good post. God does not like us to argue but to be of one mind. That is not difficult if we stick to likemindedness instead of trying to change people’s views.

We can always edify those who believe as we do instead of being attracted to views we disagree with finding it boring to agree and edify others on the issues we do agree on.

We need to remember that it is not only the person we direct our comment or replies to, but countless individuals are looking at our posts and responses for answers or maybe even trying to decide whether of not they might want to be part of our community.

[Arrabon]

@Saved.One.by.Grace

Hot topics to me are from a carnal Christian mind set, who hasn't learned the meaning of true love, and puts their opinions above everyone else at everyone else's expense, for their own sake.

When we come on any forum, to me, we should already be thinking about how to build everyone up, and seek out like mindedness or at least be loving and disagree in a loving way with a desire for communication in the harmony of love - Godly love

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Arrabon said:

@Saved.One.by.Grace

Hot topics to me are from a carnal Christian mind set, who hasn't learned the meaning of true love, and puts their opinions above everyone else at everyone else's expense, for their own sake.

When we come on any forum, to me, we should already be thinking about how to build everyone up, and seek out like mindedness or at least be loving and disagree in a loving way with a desire for communication in the harmony of love - Godly love

I disagree.  We should not defend or accept bad Christian Theology.  This can be done with a loving and Christian way.  If you read the epistles of Paul, he spoke plainly with an intolerance for those not firmly routed in God's Word.  He even put Peter in his place when needed.

[Arrabon]

21 minutes ago, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

I disagree.  We should not defend or accept bad Christian Theology.  This can be done with a loving and Christian way.  If you read the epistles of Paul, he spoke plainly with an intolerance for those not firmly routed in God's Word.  He even put Peter in his place when needed.

@Saved.One.by.Grace

I don't mind you disagreeing.

Disagreeing doesn't make you right, it just means we see things differently. Easy peasy!!!

Paul knew these people he spoke to and Paul was very loving like Christ.

No one hears his tone of voice, and down through time I think too many have read things into what Paul said and were mistaken, justifying their own poor carnal nature to be harsh and condemning, because that was their nature, but not the nature of Paul.

 

What you have to remember was that everything Paul was, was wrapped up in his Christ-like nature of love and being honest in His carefully chosen words, taking into account that every person in a different stage of faith and growth, being careful not to cause anyone to "fall", or stumble in their faith, as we should be careful also.

Being "Legalistic about where "Everyone should be is an impossibility, because we are all at different stages along this path to glory.

Some read scripture and hear a voice of harshness, and some hear Paul's word as loving and caring about where they are in  their faith, and wants to kindly set them straight.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Arrabon

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Arrabon said:

@Saved.One.by.Grace

I don't mind you disagreeing.

Disagreeing doesn't make you right, it just means we see things differently. Easy peasy!!!

Paul knew these people he spoke to and Paul was very loving like Christ.

No one hears his tone of voice, and down through time I think too many have read things into what Paul said and were mistaken, justifying their own poor carnal nature to be harsh and condemning, because that was their nature, but not the nature of Paul.

@Arrabon  My impression when I read Paul's epistles was that he was well liked in most of the places he visited on his mission trips.  He often held down jobs so he wouldn't be a burden to the people he was preaching to.  But Paul was also a ex-soldier who many of those he preached to still held grudges against him for past actions especially in Jerusalem.  Some of those ex-soldier traits Paul retained come through in his writings.  His writings were tailored to the people of a particular group, like the Corinthians and the Ephesians.  We have only his written words to learn from his writings.  There's no tone of voice in his writings, imho.  Just as there's no tone of voice in my writings on this forum.

8 hours ago, Arrabon said:

What you have to remember was that everything Paul was, was wrapped up in his Christ-like nature of love and being honest in His carefully chosen words, taking into account that every person in a different stage of faith and growth, being careful not to cause anyone to "fall", or stumble in their faith, as we should be careful also.

Being "Legalistic about where "Everyone should be is an impossibility, because we are all at different stages along this path to glory.

I'm in total agreement with you here.

8 hours ago, Arrabon said:

Some read scripture and hear a voice of harshness, and some hear Paul's word as loving and caring about where they are in  their faith, and wants to kindly set them straight.

Both "tones" can be read into the same letter.  This is quite clear in Corinthians 1 and 2.  Some read like an attorney's summery building a case that cannot be disputed.  That may come from Paul's pharisee background.  To me, this is quite clear in Romans.  Jesus chose Paul because he had the background and personality to reach the gentile world.  Paul was the perfect choice for reaching the gentile world.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Saved.One.by.Grace

[Dennis1209]

This may be my shortest posts to date? I couldn't agree with the O.P. more