Over the last few months I have seen similar posts from different people I am friends with on Facebook and they have stayed with me and I have mulled over it a lot in my head.
And basically the posts have all referred to two types of Christians.
1. Ones that seek justice and tolerance and helping the poor and promote the biggest virtue of God is love.
2. Ones that are highly involved in serving in the local church and are more concerned with God's truth and seeing people come to know Jesus.
And somehow you can only be one or the other but not both.
And whichever one you most identify with seems to be what Jesus was most like - NOT the other one.
And it bothers me when I see these debates because I don't think either side is right. And I hate that we even have "sides". Jesus spent time with the prostitutes and the tax collectors and he showed them love and he preached helping the poor and the orphans and the widows. Yes. He was about justice. But he also told people to go and sin no more. He turned over tables in righteous anger. He spent the most time with his "Christian friends who were most like him" - the apostles. He was Holy.
I think if you can't find a healthy balance between the two - we are all doing it wrong. Seeking to share only God's love and none of the truth does a disservice. And staying in the walls of the church and never getting out to help those who are in need and not like you is not good either.
I think it's a challenge to all Christians to find the area that they need to be more like Christ in.
I think more than anything these debates online as much as I hate them have made me dig deep and challenge what I believe. It's made me really get into God's word and try to know more about what it says and not what the voices on the internet say. Or the pastors of today. Or the Bible Teachers. Or the influencers. Because the only real authority is God and His word.
And there are days that make me wonder if I'm doing it all wrong. And that makes me seek His word more and to seek Jesus more.
You can only know God as much as you know His word.
In the end we are all just a bunch of sinners in need of a Savior and in need of abundant grace. And I want people who don't know Him to see what a difference He can be in their lives. Not what a tangled web they will step in if they step into the Christian community. I hate that Satan has caused so much division but I imagine he is thrilled with the way it has kept us from doing what really matters and that's reaching a lost world.
Just think about how you can do the next thing and be like Jesus. One moment of a time. Not the BIG thing. Just the next thing before us. I think if we do that - we get to the end of our lives and find a life that was well lived with purpose. Whether others thought it was the right way or not. The only opinion that will matter then is God.
