Qualms

When I say that I have met more Christ followers on varying walks in the past 6 months I truly mean it. Never before in my faith have I met people from so many different backgrounds, on different journeys, and following different guidelines. In many ways its invigorating, but also very eye-opening. One of the things that I've struggled with recently from my own as well as those around me's spiritual walks is the concept of being revolutionary versus being disrespectful.

Jesus was most certainly a man of revolutionary belief. His ideas were unconventional, His methods untested, and His love unheard of. He was seen not only healing people miraculously, but preaching on the Word of God with no earthly authority, speaking against the religious leaders, and overturning trading tables in the tabernacle in a fit of rage, yet all of this was revolutionary, NOT disrespectful. And this is where I truly believe many of us may be losing sight of the true message and goal. Jesus calls us to be Revolutionaries in an unbelieving world, but in a respectful way. There are many things that we seem to have missed the mark on in general, but a couple of them have really stood out recently.
James spoke a great deal of the damage our tongues can do: "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." From our tongues come earthly and spiritual praises, songs, and hymns, but contrastingly also slander, racial slurs, and terms of hatred. We know that sin overtook the world and God gave it over to Satan, and I truly believe that Satan enjoys greatly lighting our little tongues with the fire of hell.
I have heard all of the origins of the modern day "cuss words" but, frankly, I think that Jesus would care very little of the history and much more of how an unbelieving and sinful world portrays their meaning. Just because something originated from nothing does not mean that it doesn't carry weight now. The fact of the matter is that these terms not only reflect a weak vocabulary, but more importantly, a disrespectful disregard for what is considered proper language for a believer, no matter what the words' origin.
Another major concept that I believe the Christian culture is still learning how to handle is that of unconditional love. I'm not sure about whoever may be reading this, but many times it is not my secular friends who I feel vulnerable around, but more so that of my church and believer body. We have missed the idea of loving our brothers and it has overflowed into the affection we show for those who are lost. Judgment is still prevalent for someone different in our churches, many still hope to maintain a certain "image", and people are made to think that Christianity is some sort of top model search and only the best all around candidates are fit to make it. Our judgment has surpassed the saving love of Jesus that was granted to all who were thirsty. In our daily episodes of spiritual warfare against Satan, we are far too often guilty of shooting the hostage instead of the enemy.
It's also very disturbing how watered down our ideas of sinning and forgiveness have become. In the modern church, sinning and asking for forgiveness have become too common and too simple. "Oh well, I'm a sinner" is the generalized outlook of far too many people in the church today. Not only are we not ever referred to as "sinners" in the New Testament, but instead "saints", but sin carries much more of a load than we have commonly come to believe. In our Christian walks, the foundation and saving grace of our faith is our relationship with Jesus- He is our brother, friend, savior, and yes, groom. What this idea of bride and groom means is that we are bonded through the most intimate relationship known to man. This means that sinning or doing anything that does not bring honor to our perfect groom is, in fact, considered unfaithfulness or infidelity in our relationship, and reason for DIVORCE- so maybe our sins aren't as minor as we think....
Whether or not you feel convicted by these ideas as I was is not for me to decide-that is between you and God. What I do know is that if convicted, we have no other choice but to change our ways. We are no longer sinners- as Christians we are saints and the bride of Christ- let's keep it a healthy marriage.
"What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We DIED to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"
-Romans 6:1-2