The last 72 hours have been interesting to say the least. The local paper has written what I would
consider a takedown piece on me personally. They did this in response to an article I wrote calling men to love, lead, and protect their families from evil. This article was taken down by the paper because they believed it did "harm to our already divided community." What exactly is harmful about calling men to love, lead, and protect their families from evil? Furthermore, I have been called vitriolic. I’ve been told that I hate all women as well as any and all minorities. These accusations are both exhausting and completely inaccurate. I don't hate anyone. Quite the contrary, I love my fellow human beings. I may disagree with people on certain points. This shouldn’t be a surprise when we come from two different worldviews. However, that does not call for bearing false witness against me. Disagreement doesn’t call for accusations of hatred for any person or group. It is not right to label something hateful just because one doesn’t like it.
Webster defines “disagree” as:
1. To differ; to be not accordant or coincident; to be not the same; to be not exactly similar. Two
ideas disagree when they are not the same, or when they are not exactly alike. The histories of
the same fact often disagree.
2. To differ, as in opinion; as, the best judges sometimes disagree.
Notice, there is nothing about harm or vitriol in that definition, rather to disagree means to differ on your opinion or how you view the world (worldview).
I also looked up the word “vitriol” in the 1828 Webster dictionary. This word has had its meaning
changed over the decades. It used to mean:
1. A substance of a grayish or yellowish white color, apple green, or sky blue, and when
decomposed, covered with an ochery crust.
2. In chemistry, a combination of the acid of sulfur with any metallic substance; but chiefly green
vitriol or sulphate of iron; blue vitriol or sulphate of copper, and white vitriol or sulphate of zinc.
I find it interesting that this word NOW means 'bitterly harsh or caustic language or criticism.'
We live in a culture that equates disagreement with hatred. In our culture, if someone disagrees with someone else, people take that disagreement to be offensive and serious. Some even consider disagreement an act of war.
This is the problem in our world today. Disagreeing with someone does not mean you hate them or wish harm on them. That is exactly what we're being taught by so many in the world today. We are told that if someone does not affirm your lifestyle or worldview then that person hates you and wants to see you destroyed. This is a problem because it's fundamentally untrue. Disagreement does not automatically equal hatred or harm. What happened to the days when we could disagree on issues or worldviews with one another and still care for the other person, their well-being, their soul, and care for them as a person? We’ve moved so far beyond the idea of civilized discourse that we can’t even see it in the
rearview mirror.
Yes, I fundamentally disagree with the progressive liberal, the feminist, and the LGBTQ community, but that does not mean I hate them. Quite to the contrary, I love them. The best way I show that love is by attempting to persuade or proselytize the people from that community to come to faith in Jesus Christ.
I hold to what is called a Biblical worldview, which means the scriptures are the foundation and lens through which I see the world around me. My personal standard of right and wrong does not come from what I think or believe. Rather, it is founded upon what the scriptures have laid out.
Jesus tells us, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
And what does Jesus command? Well, he tells us:
'...Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14b-15)
People will be quick to say, you can hold to whatever worldview you want, but don't try to push that on me...
The atheist Penn Jillette once said,
“I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you
believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me alone and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”
I believe the Bible. I believe that one day all of us are going to have to give an account to God for how we lived this life.
Many people believe that on the Day of Judgment their good deeds will be what gets them access to heaven. The Scriptures say that if we attempt to rely on the good things we did in this life to get us into heaven instead of the blood of Christ, we may be surprised at His response:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
The Bible describes the truth about our “good deeds” when they are put before a perfect, holy God. “All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind” (Isaiah 64:6).
Furthermore, according to the Bible we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone and not by any works that we can do.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
If we attempt to give an account to God for our lives based upon our deeds, we're going to fall short. We will be found lacking what is needed to make it to heaven because even our good deeds, done without faith, are sin against the Holy God of creation.
But listen, there is good news! There is hope!
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4-10).
If we attempt to give an account to God for our lives based upon the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, things are going to look totally different.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-3).
This is why I find it perplexing that when I write articles trying to persuade people to put their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ it is labeled as harmful.
What if I walked by your house and I saw it was on fire? What if I ignored the inferno and either kept walking or even worse talked to you, but neglected to tell you that your house was on fire? You'd say I was an evil person for doing that. In the same regard, according to the Bible, many are heading to an eternal fire that will never be quenched (Mark 9:44) and as Mr. Jillette said
“how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
So, it is not hate but love that is my motivation. I love you and I'm TRYING to persuade you to follow JESUS. “[He] is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [HIM]” (John 14:6).
Like I said, it's been a crazy and strange 72 hours but I will once again echo Pastor Charles Spurgeon. “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”
If you read this and say, think, or believe that I'm harmful and full of vitriol, know that I love you and will continue to pray for you and I will continue until I have no breath left in my body. Even if you think I hate you, I don't. I deeply care for your soul and long to see you reconciled to the God of the universe.
Truth is not unloving. It is love that motivates the telling of truth. I am pleading with you to not ignore me. I'm pleading with you to walk a different and better path. A path of forgiveness, mercy, and grace. That better path is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, alone.
Even if people attempt to slander who I am as a person or attempt to even take my life, know that I'm secure in Christ and will continue with the singular mission of preaching Christ crucified to the masses in hopes of seeing people redeemed and reconciled back to Himself.
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