https://youtu.be/UB76f2yiQJA
For a couple of weeks now there has been something bouncing around inside my head trying to get out. I’m not sure its ready yet, but I’m going to try to get it out there this morning in a hopefully understandable way.
A couple of weeks ago, a man opened fire on a group of Republican congressmen who were practicing for a baseball game. The shooter, according to his FaceBook profile, had some issues about the recent election and the way things were going politically, and was targeting Republicans specifically. He even asked someone beforehand to make sure.
A few hours after it happened, the news released his name and mentioned his FaceBook posts, so people began scrambling to see what he’d written. Someone sent me a link to it, so I looked too.
What I saw was incredible and indescribable. I didn’t even know how to react to the messages I was seeing people post on this guys wall.
This is just a sample of some of the ones I can read, some censored a little:
That last one, the user’s previous public post to that one had a picture of London Bridge on it and said “pray for London”.
How do you get from “Pray for London” to “rot in hell you POS”?
There is a combination of things I think that have become prevalent in out culture today that lead to this. A few days before this incident I posted a quote from Mike Yaconelli on my wall. It said, in part, “Christianity is no longer life-changing, it is life-enhancing. Jesus doesn’t change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore. He changes them into “nice people”. If Christianity is simply about being nice, I’m not interested”.
This prompted a FaceBook friend of mine to blog about it and he compared niceness to kindness. He said that “Niceness was kindness with all its teeth pulled out, it cannot truly smile, it cannot grind with resolve.”
I can be as guilty of this as anyone. I work retail, and if you do too, you may be able to relate to this. There are days that I’m not having a good day. Where I’m frustrated, angry, overwhelmed… you name it. And then I see a customer pull up to our shop. My first reaction when I am feeling this way typically isn’t “OH GOOD!”
But, I’m pretty good at putting my “nice” face on. “Hey! Good morning! Can I help you?” and the second they leave, BAM. I’m back to grumpy.
You can fake being nice. You can’t fake being kind. And some people can’t even fake nice. I admit I have a hard time with it with some people. You can’t be nice all the time, but you can be kind.
The second thing, I think relates to our New Testament reading today. Paul talks about sin and how we have been freed from it though Christ’s death. I did a poll on my FaceBook this week and asked just one question with a follow up. I asked “are you saved” – (I’ll admit, I don’t like the question. I don’t like the word “saved” because it brings up negative connotation for me from pushy evangelicals. I’ll also admit that I used to be one. I somehow went from despising them to becoming one and have now settled (I think) somewhere in the middle.) Anyway, the question was “are you saved” and the follow up was, “If so, saved from what?”
I got a variety of answers from 55 people, some gave more than one, but I’ve separated them out so every different answer was counted.
In percentages, the top 3 answers were
What we see in Paul’s writings today and throughout the New Testament agrees with #1 and #2. We’re saved from Sin and Death through Christ. There’s no mention of hell anywhere in his writings. In none of the evangelistic sermons in Acts, in none of Paul’s writings – nowhere. We see a lot about being freed from sin, but nothing about hell.
Yet, we see in so many places today this huge emphasis on being saved, in particular saved from Hell. And, in my opinion, its created this different kind of Christian than what Jesus wanted and the disciples tried to create. People more relieved that they’ve gotten a get out of hell free card than they care about the poor, the ill, the weak – all those things we talked about a couple of weeks ago.
It can create selfish Christians – more concerned about themselves than others. People who are likely to tell a sick person who did a sick thing to “enjoy hell” for what they did, instead of praying for that person or looking for ways to help others like him. They can be nice and pray for London, but the kindness is missing.
Let me be clear – I in no way condone what that guy did. He wasa sick person who did a sick thing. He was also loved by God just like you and I are and we were called to love him just as ourselves. Its tough. Man, its real tough sometimes. I wish I could tell you how to do it, its something I have to work through myself. I do think, however that it can start with less “niceness” and more kindness.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
For a couple of weeks now there has been something bouncing around inside my head trying to get out. I’m not sure its ready yet, but I’m going to try to get it out there this morning in a hopefully understandable way.
A couple of weeks ago, a man opened fire on a group of Republican congressmen who were practicing for a baseball game. The shooter, according to his FaceBook profile, had some issues about the recent election and the way things were going politically, and was targeting Republicans specifically. He even asked someone beforehand to make sure.A few hours after it happened, the news released his name and mentioned his FaceBook posts, so people began scrambling to see what he’d written. Someone sent me a link to it, so I looked too.
What I saw was incredible and indescribable. I didn’t even know how to react to the messages I was seeing people post on this guys wall.
This is just a sample of some of the ones I can read, some censored a little:
- “Enjoy being wormfood, A**hole!”
- “Burn in Hell, Libtard”
- “Every Democrat is a hater! Haters never Prosper, LOLOL”
- “So glad this POS is now dead”
- “Can’t wait for the video footage comes out of him getting smoked”
- “Rot in hell you POS”
That last one, the user’s previous public post to that one had a picture of London Bridge on it and said “pray for London”.
How do you get from “Pray for London” to “rot in hell you POS”?
There is a combination of things I think that have become prevalent in out culture today that lead to this. A few days before this incident I posted a quote from Mike Yaconelli on my wall. It said, in part, “Christianity is no longer life-changing, it is life-enhancing. Jesus doesn’t change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore. He changes them into “nice people”. If Christianity is simply about being nice, I’m not interested”.
This prompted a FaceBook friend of mine to blog about it and he compared niceness to kindness. He said that “Niceness was kindness with all its teeth pulled out, it cannot truly smile, it cannot grind with resolve.”
I can be as guilty of this as anyone. I work retail, and if you do too, you may be able to relate to this. There are days that I’m not having a good day. Where I’m frustrated, angry, overwhelmed… you name it. And then I see a customer pull up to our shop. My first reaction when I am feeling this way typically isn’t “OH GOOD!”
But, I’m pretty good at putting my “nice” face on. “Hey! Good morning! Can I help you?” and the second they leave, BAM. I’m back to grumpy.
You can fake being nice. You can’t fake being kind. And some people can’t even fake nice. I admit I have a hard time with it with some people. You can’t be nice all the time, but you can be kind.
The second thing, I think relates to our New Testament reading today. Paul talks about sin and how we have been freed from it though Christ’s death. I did a poll on my FaceBook this week and asked just one question with a follow up. I asked “are you saved” – (I’ll admit, I don’t like the question. I don’t like the word “saved” because it brings up negative connotation for me from pushy evangelicals. I’ll also admit that I used to be one. I somehow went from despising them to becoming one and have now settled (I think) somewhere in the middle.) Anyway, the question was “are you saved” and the follow up was, “If so, saved from what?”
I got a variety of answers from 55 people, some gave more than one, but I’ve separated them out so every different answer was counted.
In percentages, the top 3 answers were
- Death, 18%
- Sin, 21%
- Hell 34%
What we see in Paul’s writings today and throughout the New Testament agrees with #1 and #2. We’re saved from Sin and Death through Christ. There’s no mention of hell anywhere in his writings. In none of the evangelistic sermons in Acts, in none of Paul’s writings – nowhere. We see a lot about being freed from sin, but nothing about hell.
Yet, we see in so many places today this huge emphasis on being saved, in particular saved from Hell. And, in my opinion, its created this different kind of Christian than what Jesus wanted and the disciples tried to create. People more relieved that they’ve gotten a get out of hell free card than they care about the poor, the ill, the weak – all those things we talked about a couple of weeks ago.It can create selfish Christians – more concerned about themselves than others. People who are likely to tell a sick person who did a sick thing to “enjoy hell” for what they did, instead of praying for that person or looking for ways to help others like him. They can be nice and pray for London, but the kindness is missing.Let me be clear – I in no way condone what that guy did. He wasa sick person who did a sick thing. He was also loved by God just like you and I are and we were called to love him just as ourselves. Its tough. Man, its real tough sometimes. I wish I could tell you how to do it, its something I have to work through myself. I do think, however that it can start with less “niceness” and more kindness.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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