Why I Write So Strongly About Certain Issues!
If you've read posts from this last month or so, you can tell that I write quite strongly about certain politically-charged, socially-debated issues.
But we don't often talk one-on-one with people as strongly as we write to the online mass of humanity.
For the record, I do not talk this strongly one-on-one with people. I am very gentle and compassionate and loving when I talk to others, very much concerned for their hearts and souls and feelings. But I do write this way to the general masses.
I didn't always. But here's why I do now:
1. As I've said in other posts, churches and Christians have drifted too far from the truth. They have compromised too much in order to please society, to make people feel better about their sinful choices. And their voices are loud and convincing. And, horrifyingly, they even use God's Word, Jesus's love, and the idea of being "gracious to others" to spread this compromised truth.
(Related posts: God is love, but love is NOT a god ... Jesus Wasn't Always "Nice" ... "Love others" or "love God" ... "How Christians Are Led Into Accepting Homosexuality" ... "Why do Christians make such a big deal out of certain issues?" and "Is Yoga Ok For Christians? (Here's a Hint: It's Not!)")
With that many voices spewing half-truths, spreading nonsense, and compromising truth, it is getting critical to be bolder in sharing the truth clearly and forthrightly. I am preaching truth boldly and forthrightly because so many others won't.
2. Far too many Christians try too hard to be super nice when they share truth. They try to share truth in the least offensive way, in a way that will make no one upset. Or they simply avoid sharing the truth about the harder issues, the ones that make people the most upset.
And it's great to be super nice and all. But being "too nice" and too careful with what we say and how we say it can come off as wishy-washy, wimpy, and like we are apologetic about God's Word.
And this is what society wants from those of us who share truth. To sound weak and wimpy, to make it seem like truth is negotiable, to make sure that a Gospel that's supposed to "offend" those in sin doesn't offend those in sin.
We can spread God's Word as long as we don't sound like we really believe it. We can share God's Truth as long as we make it sound optional.
And there is far too much of that happening nowadays. Far too many wimpy-sounding blogs and posts about God's truth. Far too many that don't even speak up about the uncomfortable, challenging issues, but only about the popular, easy-to-swallow ones like love and grace and unity, etc.
Who's going to respond to wimpy and wishy-washy truth? Who's going to believe truths that we sound apologetic about, like we're sorry for God's Word, like we wish it wasn't true? Does wimpy and wishy-washy preaching inspire or challenge or convict anyone? Does overlooking the unpopular truths about sin help anyone repent from their sin?
I'm done being wishy-washy, wimpy, and apologetic-sounding. I will still be as nice as I can be and as loving and compassionate as I can be, but not by downplaying truth. Not when so many people are changing or ignoring truth to make society happy.
Some people ask, "Why do Christians make such a big deal out of certain issues, such as trans-gender-this-and-that, abortion, homosexuality, evolution, gender denial, etc.?"
Because society forces us to do it. When they focus on them so much, we have to focus on them, too. We can't let society control the "truth" about these issues.
Yet that's what we so often do. We say, "Oh, let's not offend anyone. Let's just talk about love and grace. Let's not cause division by talking about what the Bible says about these uncomfortable issues. Can't we all just get along in love?"
But our silence about moral drift and decay makes us complicit in it. If we refuse to share God's truth about the hard stuff, we let society's "truth" reign. And that should not be!
Refusing to stand against something is the same as standing for it!
3. I truly believe Jesus is coming back soon. I don't know what soon is, but there are many indicators that it can't be too far off in the future. (At least, I hope it's not. I'm more than ready! I'll be doing some "end times" posts next month.)
Even if He doesn't come back really soon, we are to live like He could. We are to be doing Kingdom work, glorifying God, living for the Truth and sharing it with others.
And when you live like this is your job and like Jesus could come back anytime, it causes you to share the truth a bit more boldly. To be a little less concerned with pleasing man and a lot more concerned with pleasing God. To be a little less concerned with "feelings" and a lot more concerned with souls.
It's a balance: truth and love. Truth in love. Being gracious and yet bold. Gentle and yet honest and forthright.
4. If we won't really live for Jesus, what makes us think we're really willing to die for Him?
If we aren't willing to take bold, strong stands for our faith, what makes us think we'll be able to handle being persecuted for our faith?
If we soften truth too much because of other people's feelings, how much more likely are we to abandon truth in the face of true opposition?
In 2016, I stood before the Lord while I was in my garden, and I came face-to-face with a question. With THE question...
"If I died today, is the Christian faith really the one I want to die in? Is Jesus really the one I want to die for, to commit my soul to, to cling to in my last breath?"
Did I believe in Him enough that I would be willing to die with His name on my lips?
...
Yes! Absolutely Yes!!!
In that moment, among the plants in my garden, alone before the Lord, I knew in my heart of hearts that Jesus is the only God for me. I had known it for a long time, but now I knew it. I knew that if push ever came to shove, I would not be able to deny Him or His name or His truth. (I'm talking about in regular conversations and regular life here. I'm not assuming I know how I'd respond if I were ever in a "deny Jesus or get your head chopped off" situation.)
I knew that I chose rightly. That I would go to my grave as a Christian. That I would cling to Him in my last breath because there was no other option for me. No other faith has the same kind of truth and reliability of the Bible, of Christianity. No other god offers the love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, healing, and hope that Jesus does.
There wasn't a hint of doubt in me that He alone is Lord and King. My Savior and my God!
And I guess that ignited something in me. A new desire to cling passionately to Him, to truth, even in the face of mankind's disapproval.
I became much less concerned with the world judging me for my views and much more concerned with glorifying Him and faithfully spreading His truth.
If I really believe God's Word is truth, I need to share it like I do. Like I believe it has the power to change hearts and minds, to heal hurts, to defeat evil, and to save souls!
If I am really willing to die in this faith, I need to be willing to really live in this faith!
This is why I write the way I do.
And I'm not sorry about it.
But we don't often talk one-on-one with people as strongly as we write to the online mass of humanity.
For the record, I do not talk this strongly one-on-one with people. I am very gentle and compassionate and loving when I talk to others, very much concerned for their hearts and souls and feelings. But I do write this way to the general masses.
I didn't always. But here's why I do now:
1. As I've said in other posts, churches and Christians have drifted too far from the truth. They have compromised too much in order to please society, to make people feel better about their sinful choices. And their voices are loud and convincing. And, horrifyingly, they even use God's Word, Jesus's love, and the idea of being "gracious to others" to spread this compromised truth.
(Related posts: God is love, but love is NOT a god ... Jesus Wasn't Always "Nice" ... "Love others" or "love God" ... "How Christians Are Led Into Accepting Homosexuality" ... "Why do Christians make such a big deal out of certain issues?" and "Is Yoga Ok For Christians? (Here's a Hint: It's Not!)")
With that many voices spewing half-truths, spreading nonsense, and compromising truth, it is getting critical to be bolder in sharing the truth clearly and forthrightly. I am preaching truth boldly and forthrightly because so many others won't.
2. Far too many Christians try too hard to be super nice when they share truth. They try to share truth in the least offensive way, in a way that will make no one upset. Or they simply avoid sharing the truth about the harder issues, the ones that make people the most upset.
And it's great to be super nice and all. But being "too nice" and too careful with what we say and how we say it can come off as wishy-washy, wimpy, and like we are apologetic about God's Word.
And this is what society wants from those of us who share truth. To sound weak and wimpy, to make it seem like truth is negotiable, to make sure that a Gospel that's supposed to "offend" those in sin doesn't offend those in sin.
We can spread God's Word as long as we don't sound like we really believe it. We can share God's Truth as long as we make it sound optional.
And there is far too much of that happening nowadays. Far too many wimpy-sounding blogs and posts about God's truth. Far too many that don't even speak up about the uncomfortable, challenging issues, but only about the popular, easy-to-swallow ones like love and grace and unity, etc.
Who's going to respond to wimpy and wishy-washy truth? Who's going to believe truths that we sound apologetic about, like we're sorry for God's Word, like we wish it wasn't true? Does wimpy and wishy-washy preaching inspire or challenge or convict anyone? Does overlooking the unpopular truths about sin help anyone repent from their sin?
I'm done being wishy-washy, wimpy, and apologetic-sounding. I will still be as nice as I can be and as loving and compassionate as I can be, but not by downplaying truth. Not when so many people are changing or ignoring truth to make society happy.
Some people ask, "Why do Christians make such a big deal out of certain issues, such as trans-gender-this-and-that, abortion, homosexuality, evolution, gender denial, etc.?"
Because society forces us to do it. When they focus on them so much, we have to focus on them, too. We can't let society control the "truth" about these issues.
Yet that's what we so often do. We say, "Oh, let's not offend anyone. Let's just talk about love and grace. Let's not cause division by talking about what the Bible says about these uncomfortable issues. Can't we all just get along in love?"
But our silence about moral drift and decay makes us complicit in it. If we refuse to share God's truth about the hard stuff, we let society's "truth" reign. And that should not be!
Refusing to stand against something is the same as standing for it!
3. I truly believe Jesus is coming back soon. I don't know what soon is, but there are many indicators that it can't be too far off in the future. (At least, I hope it's not. I'm more than ready! I'll be doing some "end times" posts next month.)
Even if He doesn't come back really soon, we are to live like He could. We are to be doing Kingdom work, glorifying God, living for the Truth and sharing it with others.
And when you live like this is your job and like Jesus could come back anytime, it causes you to share the truth a bit more boldly. To be a little less concerned with pleasing man and a lot more concerned with pleasing God. To be a little less concerned with "feelings" and a lot more concerned with souls.
It's a balance: truth and love. Truth in love. Being gracious and yet bold. Gentle and yet honest and forthright.
4. If we won't really live for Jesus, what makes us think we're really willing to die for Him?
If we aren't willing to take bold, strong stands for our faith, what makes us think we'll be able to handle being persecuted for our faith?
If we soften truth too much because of other people's feelings, how much more likely are we to abandon truth in the face of true opposition?
In 2016, I stood before the Lord while I was in my garden, and I came face-to-face with a question. With THE question...
"If I died today, is the Christian faith really the one I want to die in? Is Jesus really the one I want to die for, to commit my soul to, to cling to in my last breath?"
Did I believe in Him enough that I would be willing to die with His name on my lips?
...
Yes! Absolutely Yes!!!
In that moment, among the plants in my garden, alone before the Lord, I knew in my heart of hearts that Jesus is the only God for me. I had known it for a long time, but now I knew it. I knew that if push ever came to shove, I would not be able to deny Him or His name or His truth. (I'm talking about in regular conversations and regular life here. I'm not assuming I know how I'd respond if I were ever in a "deny Jesus or get your head chopped off" situation.)
I knew that I chose rightly. That I would go to my grave as a Christian. That I would cling to Him in my last breath because there was no other option for me. No other faith has the same kind of truth and reliability of the Bible, of Christianity. No other god offers the love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, healing, and hope that Jesus does.
There wasn't a hint of doubt in me that He alone is Lord and King. My Savior and my God!
And I guess that ignited something in me. A new desire to cling passionately to Him, to truth, even in the face of mankind's disapproval.
I became much less concerned with the world judging me for my views and much more concerned with glorifying Him and faithfully spreading His truth.
If I really believe God's Word is truth, I need to share it like I do. Like I believe it has the power to change hearts and minds, to heal hurts, to defeat evil, and to save souls!
If I am really willing to die in this faith, I need to be willing to really live in this faith!
This is why I write the way I do.
And I'm not sorry about it.
