Replies

I don’t know HOW warranted your rant is.

Certainly there is a foul element in human nature to dog-pile on a victim or weak person or even merely an accused person.

And, it IS deplorable to judge, jury, sentence and execute someone (as though we were GOD ALMIGHTY) mentally, spiritually, verbally when very little, if any, solid evidence is in, much less considered fairly.

I don’t know of even the most rabid clique Roman Catholics, Prottys et al hereon who would cheer or condone the outrageously destructive assaultive actions of far too long a list of priests, ministers, teachers, troop leaders, and the like.

Horrifically sinful is dispicable to all of us who truly seek God and His ways.

And, too often, arrogance, self-righteousness, haughtiness, smugness, over-confidence, confidence in the flesh . . . all conspire to convince us unwarrantedly that WE would NEVER stoop to such exceedingly black and trashy sins. OUR sins are minor chalk scribblings on the side-walk, by comparison—we are prone to self-congratulate ourselves on.

I don’t think that’s God’s perspective.

Scripture teaches and certainly Holy Spirit is skillful to teach that with regard to virtually ANY SIN—given sufficiently ATTACHMENT DISORDERED childhood plus sufficiently contributive circumstances and pressures, virtually any of us could be guilty of virtually anything.

THAT is part of the lesson of the parable of the publican . . .

Luke 18:13
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

NONE of us live flawlessly as we ought.

ONLY the Blood of Jesus covers any of us sufficiently to face God for the briefest moment—much less for eternity.

Some of us deplore many of the excesses, heresies, outrages, traditions of Roman Catholocism et al, Pentecostalism etc, Calvinism etc. more or less to the max of our emotional perspectives.

There is a very great spiritual hazard, however, in looking down our long noses and long pointy fingers at the OUT-GROUP over THERE, and the worst examples in it.

God almost began this human scene with ONE OUT-GROUP—MANKIND.

ONLY THE BLOOD OF JESUS AFFORDS ANY OF US THE REMOTEST CHANCE TO BE IN HIS IN-GROUP.

And our propensities to judge, be bitter, resentful and unforgiving toward/of THOSE OUT-GROUP IDIOTS over THERE is very hazardous to our spiritual health, if not our eternal destination.

Some in our respective camps seem to gleefully, eagerly look for chances to black wash the folks in and perspectives of the other camp(s).

THAT’s NOT heeding the truths and wisdom of Luke 18:13. That’s not obeying the Lord in HIS PRAYER to, “Father, forgive us OUR SINS, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US.”

Certainly there are legitimate reasons for us to be outraged at what we perceive to be horrific heresies, blasphemies, perverse assaultive sins.

SOMETIMES, at least, there are MORE reasons for us to be cirucmspect, sobered, reflective . . . and to cry, LORD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME, A SINNER.

There are spiritual principles involved.

1. We reap what we sow, more or less inexorably—certainly apart from God’s Grace, Mercy, and forgiveness . . . and usually, to some degree even with such ministrations of His Love.

2. And, it doesn’t matter how lily white and necessary WE THINK OUR rants, perspectives, saintliness, preaching, etc. is. God looks on the heart.

3. And Judging has a particularly devastating boomerang effect in the spiritual realm and in the tangible realm. Unfitting, carnal, fleshy, critical, self-righteous judgment ALWAYS returns to bite us in our sitter or other embarrassing parts—such as our noses in the air, our long fingers or our out-thrust jaws.

4. God has a way of pulling the feathers out of the nest and the blinders off our self-delusion off to the point that we become actively in our flesh that which we have so haughtily and so self-righteously judged others for. AND NO ONE IS IMMUNE.

These principles, truths, spiritual laws ARE OPERANT whether we want to admit it, realize it and live accordingly, or not.

We can learn so earlier and easier or the opposite.

We WILL LEARN SO—now or at the point of our graduation from this life.

.
######################################################
.

I don’t think I have a solution to the seemingly interminable hashing and rehashing of the sins of omissions, comissions, emissions the Pope, priests, ministers, youth pastors, teachers et al.

I have a caution.

Unwarranted, unfitting, unnecessarily prolonged—haughty, self=righteous, pointy-fingered outrage

is EXTREMELY SPIRITUALLY HAZARDOUS to the authors and to those who read such and cheer unfittingly in their hearts and minds.

There is in the nature of human psychology and IN-GROUP/OUT-GROUP DYNAMICS to gleefully, eagerly

run screaming to DADDY . . .

SEE, DADDY, HE KICKED OVER MY SANDCASTLE, HE’S BEEN BURNING ANTS AGAIN! SLAP HIM DADDY, SLAP HIM!

Yeah, Daddy probably needs called on some things and earlier than later. And, proper discipline needs to be applied.

YEAH, ALL SYSTEMS and ALL institutions have horrific tendencies to wrap themselfs in robes of self-righteousness and protect the institution at all costs, as though the institution were GOD ALMIGHTY ITSELF. And !!!!TRADITION!!!! bound institutions that have been at it a long time are the worst about that.

Nevertheless we are wise to use our mirrors exhaustively—and to ask Holy Spirit for HIS SEARCH LIGHT ON OUR deceitfully wicked hearts before playing Don Quixote with the windmills.

SOME Roman Catholics et al will defend their INSTITUTION as though they were defending GOD HIMESLF because they seem incapable of construing a great deal of difference between them. What else is new.

SOME Calvinists will defend that perspective fiercely at the drop of a hat because they construe that to be GOD BREATHED TRUTH indivisible from The Gospel. What else is new.

SOME Pentecostals will defend speaking in tongues fiercely in a flash because they construe that to be a GOD-GIVEN DIALOGUE-WITH-GOD-GIFT, inheritance for the church age. What else is new.

Some of us hereon love energetic, emotional, intense exchanges. It’s our personalities, our background, our training, our fascination, our exercise, our fun—perhaps for some—an obsession. What else is new.

And, I realize there’s ever new crops of lurkers that HAVE A RIGHT TO/ MUST BE ‘indoctrinated with the ‘TRULY TRUEST TRUTH OF OUR UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES.’ What else is new.

Nevertheless, the shrill attacks and shrill counter attacks surrounding the perverse sexual hideousness is more than a LOT wearisome.

Is there any hope that we could soon get to the point where we could lay it aside as a horse soundly beat to smithereens—to powder and blown to the four winds?

I deplore spiritual and behavioral hideousness within and without as much as the next Christian.

And, I’ll probably be redundant again again about this or that pet topic more than a few times before I graduate from this life.

However, there really ARE CHRISTIANS WHO LOVE JESUS on all sides of these issues. We COULD spend a BIT MORE TIME acting and sounding like it.

So very true. Obviously, dear brother in Christ, that sort of thing is simply evidence that the parties involved may very well have lost their First Love.... Ironically: for "tradition-bound institutions" of the Christian type were originally organized to serve, protect, and promulgate the First Love — God the Father, His only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit, signifying the divine love both within the Trinity, and between the Trinity and mankind.

Yet as you note, there is a "foul element in human nature" — which operates almost like the law of gravity — that just "naturally" tends to manifest this sort of falling away from the First Love....

You wrote:

Nevertheless we are wise to use our mirrors exhaustively—and to ask Holy Spirit for HIS SEARCH LIGHT ON OUR deceitfully wicked hearts before playing Don Quixote with the windmills.

I so agree. As far as the tendency for corruption is concerned — which we ALL inherit from fallen Adam — we are ALL of us in the same boat. Mortal Christians, of course, are not exempt from the consequences of Adam's original sin.... We ourselves can do nothing about this. Only the Blood of Jesus Christ can release us from this miserable condition of human nature.

You wrote:

...there really ARE CHRISTIANS WHO LOVE JESUS on all sides of these issues. We COULD spend a BIT MORE TIME acting and sounding like it.

Here I take you to mean that regardless of denominational affiliation/creedal differences, a Christian is a CHRISTIAN; and we all should try to treat each other with Christian charity, not sticks and brickbats. [That would be nice. :^)]

It seems to me we should always try to remember the parable of "motes" and "beams".... And also the clear warning: Judge not, lest ye shall be judged.

In the end, only God alone truly knows His own. That judgment has nothing to do with mere human opinion, according to whatever criteria you or I or anybody else might wish to apply....

Thank you, thank you, for Luke 18:13:

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

And so I pray: May God be merciful to me, a sinner.

And may He bless you, dear brother, for your wise and truly illuminating essay/post!