Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Spurgeon's Cigar

Allegedly, Charles Spurgeon invited D.L. Moody to speak at an event he hosted.

Moody accepted and preached the entire time about the evils of tobacco, and why the Lord doesn’t want Christians to smoke.

Spurgeon, a cigar smoker, was surprised at what seemed to be a cheap shot leveled by Moody, using the pulpit to condemn a fellow minister.

When Moody finished preaching, Spurgeon walked up to the podium and said, “Mr. Moody, I’ll put down my cigars when you put down your fork.”

Moody was overweight.

 
“Christians get very angry toward other Christians who sin differently than they do.” - Philip Yancey


The above story and the quotation is an excerpt from Frank Viola's new book - Beyond Evangelical.

 
One may argue that Spurgeon was not right to respond to condemnation with condemnation (actually, someone did mention this in a thread on Facebook). My take on that opinion is that there is a difference between condemnation and popping the self-righteous bubbles. Jesus constantly popped the Pharisees' self-righteousness when they judged and condemned from their high thrones (I'm not implying that one has to make a vocation out of popping the bubbles). 

We can only speculate if Spurgeon was doing either here. Regardless of what his intent may have been here, the best antidote to self-righteous judgments is the Law itself - the same tool that is used to pronounce the judgement. This is one reason why the Law is a greasy slope. The moment I judge or condemn a person using the Law, I slide myself alongside with the same person, for the Law is partial to no one.

Fortunately, we don't have to judge or condemn anyone, because sin was nailed to the cross and without the sin, there is no need for the Law. Without the Law, we do not have an ammunition to judge and/or condemn another.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin?

I believe that the popular statement "love the sinner, hate the sin" is hollow.

It is rooted in self-righteousness. It implies that, "since I am not doing that particular sin, I have the license to judge his/her actions".

No, the person who is making the statement is merely parroting a popular line, because pure love is unconditional, and it does not look at a person through the filter of his/her action, regardless of how good or bad it is.

Friday, June 08, 2012

Religion is...

Religion, to me, is about creating boxes. Boxes contain and they create exclusive divisions.

Religion is about having a rigid and a black and white view - "I have the answer. And this is the only way for everyone."

Religion is a master at creating caste systems. I'm not referring to the caste system seen in the Hindu religion. The point is, instead of acknowledging the divine in a fellow human being, religion looks down at the supposedly less-enlightened.

Religion is religion, no matter how conservative, liberal or nouveau the label on the outside is.

Amazing Grace - Remix

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a well-meaning, self-righteous, judgmentalist like me,
I once was a parrot, but now I'm a seeker,
Was blind, but now I'm beginning to see…

Religion and Friendships

A friendship that is based solely on doctrinal agreements is no friendship at all. In this case, the allegiance is only towards the doctrine and not the person, because the moment one of the parties in this relationship starts to think differently, the true color of the said "friendship" emerges.

When that happens, don't be surprised when 'friends' get offended or leave you. In fact, it is actually a blessing in disguise. Life is too beautiful to be wasted by playing religious games.

The Cosmic Turtle

A beautiful quote that I discovered the other day.

"If you shout to the world that you have the truth and then threaten and try to silence anyone who offers a different point of view, it is a good call you don't have the truth.

Here is a simple example of what I mean: If you know the earth is round and someone comes up to you and says, no, the earth is flat and riding on top a cosmic turtle, you would not feel the need to threaten or silence this
person. The reason is, you know the truth and are not offended by someone who believes differently.

So remember, if what another believes makes you angry, or you feel the need to force them to believe what you believe, you don't have the truth! - because the truth cannot be offended and does not need to be defended! The Truth sets people free."

- Jacob Israel