Christmas cheer?
i struggle with my temper when I come across 'Christians' who with one hand advertise that they're Christians while with the other hand spout off negative, judgmental, mean, uncompassionate crap. the main reason i didn't accept JESUS into my heart until 2003 was because of 'Christians ' like these. i couldn't see JESUS. the people who followed HIM didn't reflect HIM. it wasn't until I met steve and saw JESUS in his eyes and felt HIM alive and kickin the first time I stepped into riverview, that i knew HE was real. not that I'm immune to being a hypocrite. With my overflowing bag of 'things I need to work on' hypocrisy is stretching my bags seams! there are many times I screw up. but it's the uncompassionate mean spirited, self-righteous judgements that I have such a difficult time dealing with. i'm praying about it. asking for HIS grace to fall upon me, asking for HIM to form me into a patient and quiet person so i won't spat off to someone without being guided with kindness and love. but i'm struggling. 2 people in particular in our family are self-righteous 'Christians'. and their discussions, i'm afraid, push so many people away. just like the 'Christians' who line the walkway up to a rock concert spatting off that we're all going to hell for listening to this music. who and how is this helping?
how do I arm myself to combat hypocritical 'Christians'? how do I walk in love and speak with gentleness when all I want to do is yell and scream about all their injustice and self-righteousness? Here are a few examples that happened within a 3 day holiday celebration span. enjoy a brief glimpse into the life of kim and steve…
Bad conversation number 5 (names have been changed)
me ~ 'so mom, have you heard about the whole Christmas day church service hub bub?'
mom ~ 'yeah, we're having church on Christmas day'
me ~ 'you going?'
mom ' yeah. Actually our pastor said that there's no excuse not to come to church on Christmas Day and if we don't go, we're not worshipping CHRIST.
me ~ 'mom!, I can't believe he said that! Please know, that you don't have to be in a structure to worship CHRIST. Your relationship with CHRIST should be in your heart not in a church structure.'
mom ~ 'well, I was angry when he first said it, but I think I agree that we should be at church on Christmas day.'
They never went in to church…
Bad conversation number 4
'l' ~ it's strange but I saw some similarities between chronicles and harry potter. I mean, not much but a bit.
's' ~ 'yeah but there's one big difference. one is a Christian movie and one is trying to promote witchcraft.
me ~ 'i really don't want to talk about this'
'l' 'the author admitted in her autobiography that she wants to promote witchcraft to children. read the books, read her auto biography'
note: 'l' has never read either the books nor the autobiography…
me ~ 'l', I respect your viewpoint but I really don't want to talk about this'
'l' ignores me for the rest of the night.
Bad conversation number 3
'm' ~ the gay lifestyle is a very selfish lifestyle, all they think about is themselves.'
me ~ cringe trying my hardest to bite my tongue…
'm' ~ I work for about 4 gay people. They are all the same, selfish.
me ~ still cringing…biting tongue harder…
Bad conversation number 2
'l' ~ 'so where does 'lucy' live?'
Me ~ 'she lives with matt'
'l' 'she lives with matt?
Me ~ yeah, her boyfriends friend. I'm not sure if they have another roommate but I know they share a house.
'l' ~ an unmarried man and woman shouldn't be living together, that's unbiblical.
'mom' rolls her eyes
me thinking but not dare saying…well, your brother and I may own 2 houses but we spend most of our time together…ok so I'm a bit of a pot stirrer…
And the # 1 bad conversation during the Christmas holiday
Me ~ I think what bono is doing is amazing'
'l' ~ 'yeah, but he's not a Christian, he swears in public'
's' ~ ''l'! you swear'
'l' ~ 'yeah, but not in public, there's a difference.'
how do I arm myself to combat hypocritical 'Christians'? how do I walk in love and speak with gentleness when all I want to do is yell and scream about all their injustice and self-righteousness? Here are a few examples that happened within a 3 day holiday celebration span. enjoy a brief glimpse into the life of kim and steve…
Bad conversation number 5 (names have been changed)
me ~ 'so mom, have you heard about the whole Christmas day church service hub bub?'
mom ~ 'yeah, we're having church on Christmas day'
me ~ 'you going?'
mom ' yeah. Actually our pastor said that there's no excuse not to come to church on Christmas Day and if we don't go, we're not worshipping CHRIST.
me ~ 'mom!, I can't believe he said that! Please know, that you don't have to be in a structure to worship CHRIST. Your relationship with CHRIST should be in your heart not in a church structure.'
mom ~ 'well, I was angry when he first said it, but I think I agree that we should be at church on Christmas day.'
They never went in to church…
Bad conversation number 4
'l' ~ it's strange but I saw some similarities between chronicles and harry potter. I mean, not much but a bit.
's' ~ 'yeah but there's one big difference. one is a Christian movie and one is trying to promote witchcraft.
me ~ 'i really don't want to talk about this'
'l' 'the author admitted in her autobiography that she wants to promote witchcraft to children. read the books, read her auto biography'
note: 'l' has never read either the books nor the autobiography…
me ~ 'l', I respect your viewpoint but I really don't want to talk about this'
'l' ignores me for the rest of the night.
Bad conversation number 3
'm' ~ the gay lifestyle is a very selfish lifestyle, all they think about is themselves.'
me ~ cringe trying my hardest to bite my tongue…
'm' ~ I work for about 4 gay people. They are all the same, selfish.
me ~ still cringing…biting tongue harder…
Bad conversation number 2
'l' ~ 'so where does 'lucy' live?'
Me ~ 'she lives with matt'
'l' 'she lives with matt?
Me ~ yeah, her boyfriends friend. I'm not sure if they have another roommate but I know they share a house.
'l' ~ an unmarried man and woman shouldn't be living together, that's unbiblical.
'mom' rolls her eyes
me thinking but not dare saying…well, your brother and I may own 2 houses but we spend most of our time together…ok so I'm a bit of a pot stirrer…
And the # 1 bad conversation during the Christmas holiday
Me ~ I think what bono is doing is amazing'
'l' ~ 'yeah, but he's not a Christian, he swears in public'
's' ~ ''l'! you swear'
'l' ~ 'yeah, but not in public, there's a difference.'
Comments