We see conflict all around us. We align ourselves on different sides of the fight in battles of politics, religion, justice, and too often, we let that conflict morph from a dignified defense of something good into a dehumanizing attack on the people we don’t agree with. It’s tearing us apart.
But Jesus offered us an alternative as an example — and his solution wasn’t to grow apathetic and avoid the conflict altogether. He showed us something else entirely, a third way. His response to the ever-increasing volume of hate and conflict was love. Not just any love — confounding, sacrificial, selfless love. You see, Jesus still stood up for what he believed in. He defended the defenseless, spoke up on behalf of the voiceless, even flipped a few tables, but in everything he did, he first moved with love toward the people he disagreed with. What if we tried to love our enemies the way Jesus loved his? How would it change the tenor of our conflicts and our conversations?
Right on cue, as many predicted here, our illustrious self-appointed prophet of Sabbatarian heresies and questionable dreams had a meltdown over the Super Bowl commercials on Jesus.
Two ads were bought to be aired during the Super Bowl talking about how Jesus "gets us" since he was one of us.
Nothing infuriates a self-righteous Church of God minister more than Jesus being mentioned, except maybe if you do not tithe regularly to them. Only "true" COG ministers know the "real" Jesus while those dumb stupid converted so-called "Christians" of the world know a "different" Jesus.
The great Bwama to Africa and a couple hundred Caucasians had this to say as he starts devaluing Jesus as an unknown figure to Christians around the world, just because old Herbert said so.
The Great Bwana also drags Paul into the mix, assuming that he was speaking about false Christians at the end of time, when in fact he was most likely talking about false COG preachers in the midst of the church preaching their false "christ". Paul knew that the professional Juadizers would ramp up their legalism and deliberately change the teaching of Christ to fit their Judaizing tendencies.
Many who claim Christianity do not know the real Jesus. The Apostle Paul warned that this type of thing could happen:
2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted — you may well put up with it! (2 Corinthians 11:2-4)
More people were exposed to the simplicity of Christ than anything Bob Thiel teaches.
ReplyDeleteMore people heard a simple gospel that was relatable to them than almost 90 years of Armstrongism tried to teach.
Once I left Armstrongism I discovered the real Jesus that the church kept from us over the years. Armstrongism only needed Jesus to perform some magical trick on Passover that would forgive them for the previous year's mistakes. We had to wait another year if we started sinning the day after Passover for full forgiveness. We were never encouraged to build a personal relationship with Jesus. He was only good for sin and forgiveness and nothing more. Oh, and to aspire to a god like he is, the kind of god the church leaves him stuck in.
ReplyDeleteBob's not even a real Christian, so why is he complaining?
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch the Superbowl, being more of a motorsports kind of guy. But, I have to admit, those commercials are really cool.
ReplyDeleteYou can't package, quantify, and teach a rigid concept of Jesus, like the WCG did. Jesus is such an expansive, deep being that the minute you try to rigidly conceptualize Him, reality is that you are boxing Him in, and really ruining Him. Of course if you try to share that with most Armstrongites, they're going to use words like "deceived" on you.
There is a reason why most Armstrongites would object to the Jesus commercials from the Super Bowl. Armstrongism has always taught, both directly, and by inference, that God loves conditionally. You might say that that is the fundamental error or problem with the religion we know as Armstrongism. It is what taints it, and makes it toxic, because if you believe that God's love is conditional, then you will imitate that example in your treatment of fellow humans.
ReplyDeleteI had no concept of unconditional love until I learned about it years after having left the WCG, while sitting in the conference room of a behavioral hospital with other parents who had problem children. One lady, whom I first started thinking of as "Little Miss Psychobabble" kept asking each parent, as they told their story, if they loved their son or daughter unconditionally. As the discussion progressed, I realized that she was really on to something. If you don't love your children unconditionally, it constitutes an emotional disconnect or separation which your child feels. His or her emotional needs and basic sense of security are not being met. Many kids in that predicament are going to act out. That was what was wrong with me as a result of my WCG upbringing, and it took problems with my son to make me realize what he was feeling as I unknowingly passed it in to the next generation.
We should probably remind ourselves that God loves Bob Thiel. Yeah. I know. That's a difficult one. But, on the positive side, we still need to hold him accountable. It's our job as trouble shooters!
"Armstrongism has always taught, both directly, and by inference, that God loves conditionally. "
ReplyDeleteEverything in Armstrongism was conditional. God's love was conditional to keeping the law. Salvation was conditional to keeping the law. Grace was conditional after keeping the law and doing lots of work. Becoming a god was conditional only after completing 3 1/2 years of training in Petra. Becoming a church member was conditional on whether or not the first meeting you had with the minister left a good impression or a bad one. Maintaining church membership was conditional whether you tithed or not. Getting baptized was conditional on whether you read Mystery of the Ages (the dumbest book ever written). The list could go on and on.
"Armstrongism has always taught, both directly, and by inference, that God loves conditionally. "
ReplyDeleteI don't know who you've been listening to but that is absolutely false.
How did Bob know about the ads? Did he actually watch the game??
ReplyDeleteI thought the BREAKING BAD commercial about POPCORNERS was the best one!
ReplyDeleteHe's also calling Tonto an accuser of the brethren, lol
ReplyDeleteAh, 4:29, you're probably one of the whippersnappers, and don't know any better.. I grew up in original WCG, and realized that Armstrongism was bogus when God declined to validate HWA back in 1975. Been recovering ever since. and learning about unconditional love has been very uplifting.
ReplyDelete