In light of the chicken sandwich debacle...
As I have read the comments going back and forth about this whole Chick-fil-a thing, I was really thinking and praying. I limited commenting on my friends statuses and posts because I did not want to be reactionary. I have several friends that are now boycotting the fast food chain. I have several that made it a point to visit yesterday.
Freedom of speech is wonderful. We all have the right to our own opinion in this beautiful country of the United States of America.
However, I do see a major problem. That problem is people that call themselves Christians live a very lax lifestyle. And for the record, I am not pointing a judgemental finger at anybody. A commenter on on of the newspaper Facebook pages cited that "Christians accepted drunks, adulterers, liars, drug addicts, those that have been divorced, those never married with kids, etc... but they could not accept homosexuals." All I can say to that is WOW. My first instinct was to reply and argue that that individual must never had their world shaken by divorce when they were involved in the church, but thankfully, I did not. I thought and prayed.
God opened my eyes to something over the last few days specifically, but it has been on going. See, Christians thought they had to "lighten up" and give in to the world in order to be accepted so they allowed some things to be okay, or to turn a blind eye. They justified their loosening of morals because the numbers on the rolls of the churches were growing. But in reality by dropping the standards and morals the waters have been muddied.
As a Christian we are suppose to live a moral life according to the Word of God. (That would be Genesis through Revelation.) Our bodies are temples to the Lord.(1 Cor 6:19) As temples to the Lord we are to take care of them, we are to be VERY aware of how we treat them. This includes what we put in them: food, beverage, drugs, etc. This includes a healthy life style. The Bible says that a man will leave his parents and join his wife, and the two shall become one. (Gen 2:24, Matt 19:5, Mark 10:7, Eph 5:31)
Having said that, I feel I should also include this passage from the apostle Paul:
Galatians 5:13-23 (NIV)
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
My point in sharing this is that 1) Sin is sin. There is not a ranking of what sin is worse than another. Only one sin is unforgivable and that is rejection of God. (Blasphemy) Possibly a more important point in all of this is my second point... 2) WE ARE TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR.
As a Christian I do not condone being drunk, I do not condone being an adulterer, I do not condone homosexuality, I do not condone fits of rage, I do not condone abusive behavior. BUT more importantly AS a Christian I do my best TO LOVE MY NEIGHBOR. Perhaps that is where we need to get back to people. Live the way Jesus did. Show people the love He did. Maybe if more people were to show God's love, Christians wouldn't be seen as a joke.
