Friday, August 3, 2012

Fast Food Faith Fighters

[Edited 3/21/2017 because it sorely needed it.]

Grab a cause, any cause! Whatever you do, don't just sit there and enjoy your food.

Here's my dilemma. Apparently, I'm pro-gay marriage/anti-Christian if I eat Ben & Jerry's Half-Baked ice cream. But, I'm anti-gay marriage/pro-Christian if I eat at Chick-fil-A. Well, I hate to disappoint your club membership drives, but I'm just trying to enjoy a treat.

What am I supposed to do? Blog, of course!

oh... seems others beat me to it.  Oh well.

Yeah, it was a popular topic for a while. I'd left a comment on one blog. A friend on Facebook 'Liked' the blog, so I just had to read it. But after I read it, I didn't like the triviality of judging others and dividing left and right. At first, when I heard about all these restaurant sit-ins, it sounded fun! Only it wasn't meant to be fun. These people were serious!

To me, there's something way more important than these issues, your soul. Our souls. Maybe if you just read my comment you'll get what I mean... 

My Blog Comment: As Christians, we have a singular responsibility, and it does not have to with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Chick-fil-A, sexual preference, or even someone’s personal sin-of-choice. That singular responsibility is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who need to hear it, with all gentleness and reason. 

Who needs to hear the Gospel? Anyone who doesn’t know it, whether straight, gay, lesbian, single, thief, slanderer, liar, sexually immoral, baptist, reformed, Unitarian, Catholic, those living their best life now, etc. If they don't know it, they need it, and just because they go to church or call themselves ‘spiritual, but not religious’ doesn’t automatically mean that they know it. 

The Gospel is not even about personal sin; we sin because we have a sin nature. We have a sin nature because God condemned us in Adam.  When the Bible lists the symptoms of those who won’t enter Heaven, it includes everyone except those who have been saved by believing in Christ. Excellent article! Excellent reference to John 3:17!  Read John 3:16 again, but also include John 3:18 and discover why those who were condemned in Adam remain so. 

(PS – In addition to this responsibility, our primary goal, the race set before us, is to mature as Christians, so that Christ can manifest Himself in us. John 14.)

I don't know when, but my blog comment was either not accepted or it was removed. Shame. The blog was http://jrlee.tv/2012/08/01/ben-jerrys-chick-fil-a-political-correctness/. I had never heard of Freedom Church and really have know no idea what they teach or believe beyond this article.

My point is this: I don't care about what you eat. I care about what's in your heart.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read your post and the original BLOG. The one thing that I don't see addressed is the definition of marriage.
Why do we get married in our culture? Wouldn't it be easier to just make a commitment and no ceremony? Why do we need witnesses? What was the original purpose of witnesses? Whatever happened to churches committing to support couples in marriage? Why is the definition of marriage subject to change?

Marriage has a higher purpose and is very different than a monogamous partnership. The primary purpose of marriage is to serve GOD. I was unable to find any biblical reference to gay marriage. I believe that gay partners can serve GOD, but there doesn’t seem to be any record of gay marriages being blessed by GOD. A marriage can be healthier than either the male or female and vice versa. I believe marriages are blessed by GOD and can take two people to a much deeper spiritual relationship with GOD.

If a couple is not serving GOD as their primary objective----then they have a monogamous partnership NOT a marriage. It is a sin to get married just to have a relationship be socially acceptable---even if the marriage is conducted in a church. I feel the main reasons why marriages fail is that they are a selfish union with no overriding commitment to GOD nor do they have a supportive community of believers to hold up a couple in the face of adversity.

I like the posts because there seems to be a disturbing trend of calling someone intolerant when they express their opinion that gay "marriage" is not supported in the bible. It seems to be socially acceptable to redefine the biblical meaning of marriage. I find this disturbing.

In this society even conversations are dangerous because there is such an undercurrent of "we are GOD" so we have the right to redefine GOD's will. This societal belief system is grounded in ego and so it nearly impossible to have a sensible conversation about the issue.

Like you say Dwight--the most important thing is to help people develop a personal relationship with Jesus. When you come from that perspective all arguments pro and con about gay marriage seem pointless.

Dwight said...

You did not see me address the biblical definition of marriage because that was not my point. In fact, pushing for that is pushing man's agenda. There is no marriage in heaven. What's important is what's eternal. That's my point. The eternal state of someone's soul is critical.

You said, "The primary purpose of marriage is to serve GOD." Then why does Paul express his desire that single people should remain as he is, single (1 Cor 7:7-8)? In fact, he makes it clear that getting married is okay if you're not able to control yourself (1 Cor 7:9). But that's the reason he gives, not because it's purpose is to glorify God.

Paul is actually saying if one remains unmarried, they have a better of serving God because they will not be distracted by the cares of this world and pleasing their spouses (1 Cor 7:28). In summary, just don't seek to change your marital status. Read 1 Cor 7:32-40.