Does nitpicking hurt the Gospel?
Elect or Select?
Grace and Law!
Drinking, Smoking, Rock Concerts,...
Worship style at Church.
Chairs or Pews?
Evangelistic or Expository preaching?
The list goes on, and on, and on. A customer/friend and I were discussing me changing churches a few months ago. He goes to my old church and I felt I owed him the respect to tell him in person...frankly the discussion lasted over an hour and in any other venue other than his office, may not have gone so well. My friend threw out on the table that "nitpicking among Christians does more to hurt the Gospel than anything else." He relayed a story of a lost family member who supported it.
When I left his office we were still friends. We discussed my reasons for leaving the church...and frankly there was no delicate way to say it without somehow condemning what they were doing, otherwise we'd still be there. He countered with you need to plug in and change what's wrong...and I countered, etc. Had a non-Christian been in the room, I'm not sure this conversation would make a hill of beans difference in whether or not God grabs hold of their heart. In many ways, it was because of the way in which we had the conversation...love rulled the day.
My friend Brent and I are doing some nitpicking on his blog today. I hope we are doing it in such a way that those who are lost or weak in the faith aren't turned off. I hope that those reading see love first, opinion second. I hope we are an example for those reading. If not, I hope we grow to that.
posted by Hollywood at 3:43 AM
2 Comments:
Yes, I fully believe nit-picking is seen as silly by those outside our faith. In other words, we spend so much time focusing on the minors of faith (of which I don't believe law & grace to be one, but rather the very crux of growing in Christ) like pews or a beer or styles of preaching that non-believers scratch their heads wondering why those that profess higher ordeals like "adundant lives" and "fruit of the Spirit" and "Christ" seem to wallow in minutae and appear to dislike one another--thereby nullifying the talk of higher ideals. In other words, why follow Christ when His followers don't even live it?
See, law & grace is a different discussion because it highlights the very nature of our progressive sanctification. This is not a nit-picking discussion in any way, shape or form.
Worship styles, concerts, smoking and the like are all practical applications from that teaching...no matter what the resulting stance becomes.
Hence, the discussion bouncing around on my blog isn't nit-picking, but rather the heart of growth, which I would suggest a non-believer would be intrigued with...even if positions are misrepresented by others, it's a good discussion.
What non-believers get turned off by is lack of love however that manifests itself.
6:58 AM
Cool...then we will continue on...just want to make sure we don't alienate readership.
8:26 AM
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