![]() ![]() It reminds me of that whole, “Walk a mile in my shoes” saying. These folks belong to a group that is so focused on “calling a sin a sin” they they forget an important fact: if you line up 100 people who’ve made the same transgression, you might not find any two who got to that point for the same reason. Anyone who doesn’t immediately agree with everything they say must be the enemy. Unfortunately, some Christians seem to believe that they have all the answers. Just the other day, I mentioned people - some of them Christian - who are so focused on the Second Amendment that they seem to worship guns more than they worship Christ’s message of loving their neighbors as themselves: rather than offering “prayers” for the victims of a knife attack in Texas, they used the occasion to make snarky political comments about gun control. They call themselves Christians, but they should and display messages of hate, not love. I hesitate to even mention that particular church in Kansas that likes to protest funerals. He then pointed out the obvious: that “fact” isn’t something any of us could know, anyway. The pastor’s response was perfect, essentially asking them how they’d feel if it was their child and that on top of the death itself, and the knowledge that the death was at his own hand, a pastor would be so cruel as to talk about their child being in Hell on top of it. He tried to preach an uplifting message, hoping something good would come from the tragedy and trying his best to ease the parents’ burden, only to be confronted by an angry couple after the service who demanded to know why he hadn’t made mention of the fact that the young man was now surely in Hell because he’d taken his own life. I read a book written by a pastor - I wish I could remember what book it was - mentioned preaching a funeral of a young man who’d committed suicide. And I’m not all that certain what would make other Christian leaders be so shocked, either. So I’m sure Warren himself wasn’t all that shocked by rude things said (though I am sure it didn’t make things any easier for his family). “I just think the Internet has made us ruder.” I’m not sure why anyone would be so surprised a quote attributed to Warren himself covers online behavior quite well: The elder Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, wrote of his son’s struggles in an email to his California church family, calling it a “torture” that never subsided.Ĭhristian leaders are said to be shocked by the negative comments coming from people claiming to be Christians. Over the weekend, the son of Pastor Rick Warren committed suicide after a long battle with depression.
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