Lift him up, bro.
I did a post earlier today stating that we as Christians need to lift those [who fall] up in prayer instead of bashing them, and I felt like I should expand on this. For those of you who don't know, I was referring to the front man of a favorite band of mine that was recently arrested in a "murder for hire" plot. This man is a self proclaimed Christian, and has always been outspoken about his faith. Right off the bat, I am seeing much hate and animosity toward him. The sad part...
It is coming from Christians.
Among the many things I've seen, there is one thought that stands out to me more than others. It stands out, perhaps, because I was initially guilty of this thought when I first found out myself.
He is making us look bad.
The "us" I was thinking in my head, of course, was Christians. Then God put something on my heart, as He quite frequently does, as I am constantly being transformed (praise God for that). He didn't make us look BAD, he made us look HUMAN. He showed that as Christians, we fall every day and we are just as able to screw up as anybody else. He also showed the importance of being transparent to our brothers and sisters in Christ, allowing them to lift us up and help us when we are in a dark place. Most importantly, he showed us what can happen when you turn to your own sinful thought process instead of turning to the Lord when you are feeling lost.
Jesus taught in Matthew that just because we have not physically taken somebody's life, doesn't mean we have not murdered them in our heart. It all starts with anger. I believe I can speak for most of us when I say that we have ALL been guilty of murder in our heart, just as this man has. Who are we to condemn him for something that we have all been guilty of ourselves? Do I condone his actions? No. But I recognize that we have all regarded hate in our hearts, and we have all dealt with it in our own way, and NONE of "our ways" of dealing with it are okay to the Lord. I end on this note. Don't become what the enemy wants by ragging on people when they are low. All this does is keep them there, and take you down there with them. Instead, lift them up to the Lord and pray for them, because in the end we are ALL sinners, we ALL need prayer, and we are ALL only saved by His grace.
For His Glory,
- Tattoo'd Christian