Christians, Church, Book Club and Bellicocity


Bellicocity?!?!  Did you look it up?  It means: "The behavior or manner of someone who wants to fight or start a war." (Cambridge Dictionary)

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A week ago today I was with a group of ladies.  We were together to discuss a book, however, as we were eating beforehand, somehow we started talking about religion.

Now typically such a discussion would be verboten (forbidden), but amazingly the table of 6 women thought it was a good idea.  And do you know what?  THEY ALL AGREED that sometimes Christians are the "turn-off" for Christianity!  That is so sad!

As Christians we are called to love each other.  But I fear we are often offensive and rude, especially when talking to those who are not Christ followers.  We tend then to become bellicose zealots, trying to "convince" the non-Christian how wrong they are in their views, how "silly" they are for not seeing the world as we see it...

Acts 2:39 says, "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."  And so what we need to remember is that it is not our job to convince ANYONE.  That's God's job, and His alone - for only He can make a heart "soft" and accepting.  

We can pray for non-believers and we can lovingly share the truth of the Gospel:  that we are ALL sinners, none of us worthy of heaven and redemption - we ALL fall short, and it is only through Jesus that we can be saved...   

But CONVINCE them - no.  We can never do that, and we will only become frustrated and less Christ-like if we try.

Most of the ladies I was talking with also said they had all been to my church, Northridge - and at least two of them remarked, "I don't like their views on ______ "  NOTE:  there were a few different words that went into this fill-in-the-blank sentence.

But the Church is a Bible-based Christian church.  And the fact of the matter is, it is not "their views" on anything.  When they are expressing a "view" they are only relaying what the Bible says about different subjects.  

People say, "Yes, but the Bible was written thousands of years ago, things have changed."  And my response is, Malachi 3:6 says, "I the Lord do not change..." and Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Of course once people hear God's words - it is their choice whether to accept or reject.  And so many people are "cafeteria Christians" picking and choosing which things they agree with..." But as "rejection" of His word is a rejection of God - I go back to my first point - WE ARE ALL SINNERS.

Here is the truth as I see it - God's grace is given, not earned.  It is free for those who want it, and the job of Christians is to relay that message lovingly, without conflict or argument.  THAT is the message of the Bible.



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