W.W.J.D? (A Mockery of Christ's Love)

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 12/27/01 | Stephanie Salter

[ArGee]

San Francisco... hang your head in shame.

I'm not sure they remember how.

Shalom.

[Matchett-PI]

In #61 I wrote: "Those are the pharisical mentalities who love to "accuse others" of not measuring up to what God *requires* to "be pleasing in his sight.

Those are the guilt-ridden elitists who project their guilt on others by trying to lay guilt-trips on them .... burdening them with burdens that they, themselves can't / won't, bear."

And when Jesus said the same thing to the Pharisees [Matt 23:4; Luke 11:46], they replied, "If it makes you feel guilty, you might ask yourself why."

[ArGee]

Those are the guilt-ridden elitists who project their guilt on others by trying to lay guilt-trips on them .... burdening them with burdens that they, themselves can't / won't, bear."

First, you label a whole lot of people who wear bracelets - and you can't possibly know them all or even a significant number of them. Now you have labelled me.

Well, I know some people who wear the W.W.J.D. bracelets and they don't fit the mold of your paragraph as quoted above. They aren't interested in laying guilt on anybody. They just want to live out their Christian walk in the best way they know how. But you have labelled them and apparently your mind is made up so I guess you know them better than I do.

Shalom.

[Matchett-PI]

"Excellent post! worthy of a bump all on it's own!"

Thank you! I see you're an intellectually honest, emotionally mature, noble and courageous mentality .... ABLE to face reality and truth, not FEAR it. :D

[wwjdn]

Oh so now the "liberal" scum speak for Jesus???

[Matchett-PI]

"... you label a whole lot of people who wear bracelets - and you can't possibly know them all or even a significant number of them."

I know "the mentality". Legalistic mentalities "keep score" and think they can know the difference between sheep and goats / wheat and tares based upon outward appearance (WWJD), therefore, they are unwise, and emotionally / spiritually immature.

In fact .... hypocrites always misrepresent God and give Him a bad name.

Pharisaical (legalistic) mentalities are responsible for actually turning people off to God and causing people to believe that they must get to a point where they are "good enough" to be acceptable to him.

Jesus had lots of compassion for humble, teachable, "sinners". It was the "religious" people he exposed for the arrogant, unteachable, hypocrites that they are.

[bray]

If she doesn't believe that Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life then why should she believe anything he says. It always amazes how the libs love quoting Jesus as a prophet yet ignore his most important message that Nobody comes to the Father but by him. Either he is Truth or a lunatic but not both which is what she thinks. Either his word is all truth or all lies and she has chosen all lies yet quotes him when she wants to twist his words. Hiding behind Jesus is worse than hiding behind children or skirts! How pathetic the left has become as they sit on the trash heap of histoir.

Pray for GW and the Truth

[SubMareener]

Hand of God! ;-)

[netman]

Isn't it funny how George Bush says his heart was opened up to Jesus, yet he had so many people executed in Texas?

If this isn't capitol punishment,what is?

Ge 2:17

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Ge 6:17

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. >

[Oschisms]

You'd think, if Jesus was so anti-death penalty, He mighta said something about it... Oh, I don't know...When he was hanging on the cross after being wrongly convicted?

[ArGee]

I know "the mentality".

I think you should question your assumptions just a little bit more. Humility is good for the soul.

FWIW: I don't wear such a bracelett. But I know many who do and I've even known a bookstore owner who sold them (before she sold the store). They did not have the mentality that you describe.

Now, what kind of mentality does it take to judge an entire group of people without even knowing them? And what does the Bible say about such a mentality?

Shalom.

[Matchett-PI]

"..what kind of mentality does it take to judge an entire group of people without even knowing them? And what does the Bible say about such a mentality?"

"Judge"???

Are you equating the discernment and evaluation of what constitutes emotionally/spiritually immature thinking, with "judging and condemning" people as persons?

Shallow thinking is rampant in today's feminized churches.

[rwt60]

My main problem with the whole WWJD concept is that I'm not sure one can answer that question with any certainty. It's a hypothetical or rhetorical question. If one reads the events of Jesus' life, He often did things quite out of the ordinary and things totally unexpected. I think the better questions to ponder are: what DID Jesus do, what WILL Jesus do, and what IS Jesus doing NOW? Those questions are answered quite thoroughly in the scripture and not subject to significant debate. One can always speculate about things not specifically revealed in scripture, but it always remains in the realm of conjecture.

[ArGee]

Are you equating the discernment and evaluation of what constitutes emotionally/spiritually immature thinking, with "judging and condemning" people as persons?

Actually, I was talking about knee-jerk reactions to things you haven't studied carefully.

Shalom.

[ArGee]

One can always speculate about things not specifically revealed in scripture, but it always remains in the realm of conjecture.

From a purely theoretical perspective, I can agree with you.

I spent most of last year apart from my wife and family. It was good to be able to talk to them on the phone often and there was e-mail, but I spent a lot of time apart from them wishing I was with them. Some of that time I spent imagining conversations with them or going shopping with them. Obviously it was all conjecture, but it helped to keep my love alive.

W.W.J.D. will never replace good solid study. But Knowing Jesus is about Loving Jesus, not just knowing about Jesus. A real relationship has many elements. One of those is thinking about the one you love in non-clinical terms.

Shalom.

[The Bard]

Isn't it funny how George Bush says his heart was opened up to Jesus, yet he had so many people executed in Texas?

You would think that Bush would not overlook the fact that Jesus was also put to death by the state.

Let see.... Genesis 9:6 covers this....

Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

I think that covers it. Any questions?