For us non-believers, it's helpful when members of the "true" Church are brave enough to call out evil and foolishness falsely being done in the Church's name or falsely with the Church's acquiescence, so those of us outside looking in can calibrate our opinions of the "true" Church accordingly.
It would warm my heart if I only hear the word "mulligan" ever again only in the context of golf games.
Everyone believes something. The thing or person in which you place your beliefs never lives up to the standard. We can trust the laws of physics however. The fact that Christians are human and freshly does not detract from the perfection of Christ any more than the fact we pollute our planet affects the orbit of Jupiter. The two things are not in a cause/effect relationship. My belief in God is not dependent on me any more than our shared belief in the laws of physics are dependent on our opinion.
I'm not sure what that has to do with my comment - all I'm asking for is members of the "true" Church to make their voices better heard when stuff's happening under the banner of the Church, but is not consistent with the infallible nature of the Church. Let us non-believers know when we're seeing the infallible Church on display and when we're seeing charlatans pretending to be acting on behalf of the infallible Church falsely.
It's not always clear from the outside looking in.
I see your comment below and I also apologize for misunderstanding your initial comment. I’ll address it generally. 1) It’s not possible for any group to adequately police all of Christianity. Ideally we would call out leaders in our own community and circle of influence. The guiding principle here is the Bible and even on that there is plenty of interpretive disagreement. 2) The overlap between spiritually informed politics and political religion in America is fuzzy. It should be a bright line but cultural considerations really muddy the water. So it’s hard to know when someone is simply making a tactical error or if their doctrine is bad. Especially when we don’t know that person. 3) “Keep the meat and spit out the bones…” some doctrine is worth hearing even when the source is not perfect. None of us is perfect. 4) This problem of tares among wheat is not going away and in fact is going to get worse. The Bible says it will and events do not give me reason to doubt that. Christians must focus on making disciples without committing the error Jesus warned against in Matthew 7:6. 5) Above all, love and kindness, goodness and joy are the hallmarks of the faith. If, in order to somehow force consistency of thought on the body of believers, Christian leaders must abandon those fruit of the Spirit, then the endeavor is in vain.
As for DACA, Jesus would say, take care of the widows and orphans. Mind the government authorities. Build God’s kingdom. The nation’s kingdom will take care of itself.
I can't ask for any more than you've stated above. I'm looking forward to traveling the road once more with Christian fellow travelers as both sets of us work toward leaving this place better than we found it.
(Not that I'm expecting you to answer that - just to point out one example of where plenty of Church members seem to be acting contrary to the teachings of Christ, as understood by a former believer / current outsider.)
For us non-believers, it's helpful when members of the "true" Church are brave enough to call out evil and foolishness falsely being done in the Church's name or falsely with the Church's acquiescence, so those of us outside looking in can calibrate our opinions of the "true" Church accordingly.
It would warm my heart if I only hear the word "mulligan" ever again only in the context of golf games.
Everyone believes something. The thing or person in which you place your beliefs never lives up to the standard. We can trust the laws of physics however. The fact that Christians are human and freshly does not detract from the perfection of Christ any more than the fact we pollute our planet affects the orbit of Jupiter. The two things are not in a cause/effect relationship. My belief in God is not dependent on me any more than our shared belief in the laws of physics are dependent on our opinion.
“Fleshly” not freshly
I'm not sure what that has to do with my comment - all I'm asking for is members of the "true" Church to make their voices better heard when stuff's happening under the banner of the Church, but is not consistent with the infallible nature of the Church. Let us non-believers know when we're seeing the infallible Church on display and when we're seeing charlatans pretending to be acting on behalf of the infallible Church falsely.
It's not always clear from the outside looking in.
For example, WWJD about DACA?
I see your comment below and I also apologize for misunderstanding your initial comment. I’ll address it generally. 1) It’s not possible for any group to adequately police all of Christianity. Ideally we would call out leaders in our own community and circle of influence. The guiding principle here is the Bible and even on that there is plenty of interpretive disagreement. 2) The overlap between spiritually informed politics and political religion in America is fuzzy. It should be a bright line but cultural considerations really muddy the water. So it’s hard to know when someone is simply making a tactical error or if their doctrine is bad. Especially when we don’t know that person. 3) “Keep the meat and spit out the bones…” some doctrine is worth hearing even when the source is not perfect. None of us is perfect. 4) This problem of tares among wheat is not going away and in fact is going to get worse. The Bible says it will and events do not give me reason to doubt that. Christians must focus on making disciples without committing the error Jesus warned against in Matthew 7:6. 5) Above all, love and kindness, goodness and joy are the hallmarks of the faith. If, in order to somehow force consistency of thought on the body of believers, Christian leaders must abandon those fruit of the Spirit, then the endeavor is in vain.
As for DACA, Jesus would say, take care of the widows and orphans. Mind the government authorities. Build God’s kingdom. The nation’s kingdom will take care of itself.
I can't ask for any more than you've stated above. I'm looking forward to traveling the road once more with Christian fellow travelers as both sets of us work toward leaving this place better than we found it.
Thank you.
(Not that I'm expecting you to answer that - just to point out one example of where plenty of Church members seem to be acting contrary to the teachings of Christ, as understood by a former believer / current outsider.)