"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians..."
-Brennan Manning
Recently, Jesse Morrell graced us with his presence on campus here. First off, I have no problem with evangelists. God put us here to spread his word. What I do have a problem with is the way he goes about it. Secondly, I am not condemning this man. I am simply countering the things he has said with biblical proof for the sake of showing people that his message is false.
Here are some of the things that I personally heard him say
He doesn't sin
Sorority women are whores
You will go to hell if you listen to gangsta rap
If was wrong, God would strike him dead
Women should be silently submissive and learn from men
Homosexuals cannot be saved
If you drink, you will go to hell
If you smoke, you will go to hell
Lets start with number one. He doesn't sin. Really?
-We are all sinners in need of mercy and forgiveness from God (Titus 3:5-7)
-For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
I'm not judging, I'm simply stating the word. I'm not saying he is going to heaven or hell, I'm just saying that it is impossible to live without sin. The only human capable of that was Jesus. Ever since the fall, sin entered the world. Any man that claims to never sin is clearly oblivious to their lives or the bible for that matter. Regardless of the fact that I do not personally know him or follow his every move, everyone is a sinner.
Oh yea...and this verse...
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-10
And moving on to the whole God striking him down thing...
"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
-Luke 4:12
Need I even say more?
If you drink you will go to hell
Ok. There is a very fine line here. Drinking can lead you to a path of sin. It can control your life, become an addiction, and lead to some other bad decisions. Drinking is not a sin. Drunkeness is a sin because you lose self control. Drinking is also a sin if it causes one of your brothers to stumble. Drinking is also a sin if it is against the law (DUI or underage). Drinking is also a sin if you spend your money on that instead of tithing or being a good steward of God's money. So, drinking can lead to a lot of sins. However, there are many parts of the bible that talk about alcohol in a good way. Proverbs 31 says instead of the rulers geting drunk and forgetting the law, to give beer to those who are in perishing and wine to those in anguish so that they will forget their poverty and misery. That is not taken out of context. I read it like, 24 times to make sure that's what it said.
Let's not forget, they drank wine at the last supper. Jesus drank wine. Jesus never sinned.
Let's wrap this up, I'm a little sleepy now
So it wouldn't be a real blog post if I didn't talk about love. Everything i said above can even be disregarded because this is my main point. Love is the key thing this guy is missing. Getting into heaven is not about who sins the least. It's about having a relationship with God. If you live a perfect life, but don't have a real relationship, you are lost. You can't make a list and say don't do these things or you will go to hell. Or vice versa and say do these things and you will go to heaven. It is much more complex than that, but at the same time...simple. God wants a relationship. If he just wanted us to go to hell for sinning, he would not have sent Jesus down to die for us. But now, through Jesus, we can have a true and real relationship with him. And that is all he is asking for. If you have a real relationship, you are forgiven for your sins. There is no formula, mathematics, or bullet points that get you into heaven. Love gets you into heaven.
Also, Morrel had a lack of love. Jesus ate with sinners. He hung out with them. If Jesus were here today, I would bet my life that he wouldn't be going from church to church preaching. He wouldn't hang out with priests, the pope, pastors, and rich people. He would not stand on a street corner or go to a college campus and claim to be a better person and tell everyone they were going to hell. He would be out on the streets showing compassion for the homeless, feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting prisons, taking athiests out to dinner, and hanging out with alcoholics. But not to condemn them. Not to strike fear in them to make them change their ways. He would show them that his love for the pope was no greater than his love for a murderer. He would show them that in his eyes, everyon is equal. Jesus showed people grace. He showed them love. Compassion. He showed the lowest people on the totem pole of society that they were loved just as much as the richest man in the world. He showed them that he cared. Morrell told the homosexuals to get out of his sight because they were already lost. That is definitely not love. Paul murdered Christians. Matthew was a tax collecter. Jesus did not walk up to them and say you are going to hell. He showed them love. A love that could only come from God.
Love is more powerful than any combination of words in the world.
My whole point is that people like Morrell, who might think they are doing good, are doing quite the opposite. He is turning people away from Christianity with a lack of love. From what I saw, if I wasn't a believer in God, I wouldn't even consider it anymore after listening to him. Why would I want to be like him? If that's what this religion is all about? Judging and condemning others? I wouldn't want anything to do with that. Even as a believer, I don't even want to associate myself with him and call myself a Christian. It's embarassing. That's why I hate religion. I hate grouping myself into the same catagory as him by saying I'm a Christian. I am not embarassed about my faith. I am a firm believer in God and I am willing to share it with anyone in the world. But I am embarassed to be considered by some to be the same religion as him. Which is why I don't say I am a Christian. I simply say I am a servant of God. Because isn't that the point?
As a believer in God, I am quickly falling faster into a minority because people that call themselves Christians forget how to love others.
Always remember. Showing someone love will do more than anything you can say.
2 comments:
Sometimes, Matt, love doesn't leave you feeling warm and comfortable. Sometimes it can 'sound' very harsh.
Matt, make sure you're reading scriputre in light of other scripture and in context. AND you're also quoting Jesse in context. I know this blog is your personal opinion, but you did leave out alot of things Jesse said to qualify his statments.
God bless.
Wow...someone actually reads this? Thank you for commenting. As for taking scripture out of context, I don't just find random verses and put them in. I read multiple chapters around it and gather my own idea of what is being said (regardless of the fact that it is hard at times because the bible has been completely skewed by translation over time). My sole purpose of this was not to make Jesse look like a terrible person. It was to prove that a lot of times, people are driven away from Christianity because of the way he approaches things. I clearly heard him say he no longer sins. That was it. There was nothing before, nothing after. There was no other context to gather anything else. I believe that converting people to Christianity is not about saying do this or go to hell.
I'll agree with you, I might have taken some things he said out of context. And I don't personally know him or what he stands for. But this was what I heard, and my first impression. That is all he leaves people with. And you might have noticed that I didn't talk about everything I heard because I didn't hear it all in context. The simple truth is that this is what everyone sees. They don't see his main point, or his heart. They see a man claiming to be better than them. If he is going to say these things he needs to back them up immediately or it will be taken out of context.
Again, thank you for commenting.
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