They Will Know We are Christians By Our… Guns?

Last updated on: January 17, 2013 at 9:26 am by Tim Suttle

They Will Know We are Christians By Our… Guns? 2013-01-17T09:26:05-07:00 Tim Suttle

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I just waded through 10 minutes of Christian hate on Facebook and had to shut it down for the day. We are so jacked up.

Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Mt. 7) In other words, Jesus says we do not judge other people because we are always guilty of the very same action for which we are judging another.

The parallel passage in Luke 6 says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” In other words, judging others, condemning others, refusing to forgive their brokenness does nothing to bring about that person’s redemption, it merely exposes our own hypocrisy and seals our own demise. Judging others is toxic to the soul. Only giving – a generous spirit, a forgiving spirit, space for two different people to think differently on a matter w/out wanting to kill each other – will bring life.

Christians are railing on others over the issue of guns today. Righty Christians railing about how some off duty cop killed a would-be mass murderer, so we should all love concealed carry. Seriously? Lefty Christians arguing that this is “for the children.” Really? How is this our issue? Both sides are getting played.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? …You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye….” (Mt. 7)

There is a place for thoughtful, humble, generous discussion. You can tell when it’s really happening because the goal is not to belittle one another or win the day, but to keep faith with each other, to live together in peace. Dialogue is good. Demagoguery is wrong.

I love your passion, but when you like, share, tag, or generate some snarky meme, some juvenile insult, some distorted factoid, some hateful assault, all I can hear are resounding gongs, and clanging cymbals. When we judge others we judge ourselves. When we hold ourselves up as right, we only expose how wrong we really are. I’m watching Christians gleefully, energetically, cruelly tear into those with whom they disagree this morning on the issue of gun control. I can’t listen anymore. Both are right. Both are wrong. And all the world can hear is judgmentalism, condemnation, and hatred.

It’s shameful.

We need to knock it off.

Go find somebody who is hurting and find a way to serve them. Then you will be very near to the kingdom of God.

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