Posted on 02/03/2015 5:29:16 PM PST by Maelstorm
The world is also full of people who presume roles and power where they have and deserve none.
When these other people presume to define a chosen behavior/indulgence of a weakness as a disease, therefore equating it to something like multiple sclerosis or type 1 diabetes where behavior has ZERO to do with the fact of the person having the disease -- well, those people who equate behaviors with diseases are second-guessing God and HURTING the individual they presume to help.
Alcoholism, homosexuality, drug addiction, etc., are behaviors and pretending they are diseases or "orientations," no matter how good or kind or compassion the intention, will lead to bad things because it is based on a falsehood. Truth sets people free; lies, like "alcoholism is a disease," shackles them.
We can’t get more dogmatic than the bible, Finny. That leaves us looking even sillier.
If the bible speaks of sicknesses, I consider that very worthy of respect!
If the bible speaks of burdens, I consider that very worthy of respect!
If the bible speaks of a Savior, I consider that very worthy of respect!
Basically, I accept the help that God proffers, not some smarty pants’s oversimplified reformulation thereof. If I do give an interpretation I am very clear that it is one, and not an ipso facto dogma. I might be wrong.
Can we get back to basics. Full steam astern is the fastest way forward.
The thing I think you miss is that the context of burdens and of diseases is different in the bible than it is in secular society.
The world underwent a curse on account of Adam’s (and humanity’s collective) rebellion against God. The curse set the stage for a later reconciliation between God and all who were willing to accept it.
You notice I am hammering on this word “accept.” We could validly counter that the term is not literally in the bible, but I would counter-counter that acceptance is implicit in the concept of believing. You can’t really have believed what you haven’t accepted. And what God offers is a real pride-buster.
We try to make gospel too hard. That is why prostitutes entered the kingdom of heaven before Pharisees did.
And let’s consider the first question God asked Adam and Eve. “Who told you that you were naked?”
God’s point here? I offer this humbly as my opinion, but I think it was “Look at the sport that the serpent has made of you. He, not I, is the one selfishly gaining from this situation through shaming you into your self-made fixes.” God went on to hint of the Savior that we now all know about, if we will accept. We are the ones who make it hard by smuggling in worldly modes of moralizing, where everyone is supposed to stand on his or her own strength. That is a guaranteed failure game — it will limp along for a while but will ultimately fail. Yes, even pursuing the Ten Commandments (or any subset) will ultimately fail, and God wants us to be cognizant that it does. Then we can begin to accept His remedy, by which the work is entirely His.
Everything that used to be considered harmful, bad or sinful behavior is now a disease.
The government has turned people who can't control temselves into political constiuencies and businesses have developed ways of getting money from the government to "treat" them.
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