Yep, I’m in the dog house with one of my readers.
Hey, there could be more, I really don’t know.
Now before I spill the beans, I just want to say, I really value your opinion — take the survey — I really do. Your feedback helps me improve, it helps me see things from another light. We may not always agree, but even when we don’t, I’m still learning and trying to improve.
I hope you are too…
So when I get feedback, whenever and wherever it is, I try to listen. That’s why I’m writing this today, perhaps we’ll all improve a little today.
All right, with that, let me tell you what happened…
Look, I’m fed up with politics, and this year is going to be a dumpster fire. I recently shared my thoughts on that with you, and that’s what got me into hot water.
My big offense?
I called a politician a “corpse.”
Now, let me tell you something…
As a Christian, I understand that we are held to a higher standard. As a Christian who shares the Bible with you, some probably hold me to an even higher standard.
Hey, I get that, I really do.
In fact, look what Scripture tells all of us.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
“Corrupt” means,
“Rotten, that is, worthless (literally or morally): – bad, corrupt.”
So as Christians, we’re not supposed to use rotten and worthless language.
We’re not supposed to be fowl mouthed, but instead use language that will uplift and edify. Hey, that’s pretty hard to do when you’re talking about politics! It’s hard to stay clean when you dive into a trash can.
So again, my great sin, I called a politician a “predicate nominative” — a corpse — as my daughter explained. Ohh yes, I warded away grammar class years ago, can’t you tell?
So yes, I could have left out the “corpse” bit.
However, was my communication really “corrupt?”
Perhaps, certainly to this one reader it was.
I’ll try and do better, but friends. I like to have fun, I like to put a smile on your face in this dark world. I have a personality, and it’s going to rear its creepy head from time to time. So it’s an internal struggle I deal with…
- Can I phrase a subject another way?
- How far do I take a subject to get my point across?
- I’m always thinking about things like that when I write.
At the same time, I’m not going to become a “Holy Joe” either.
I’m not going to become so “holy,” that I lose my personality and become someone I’m not. I don’t want you to become a Holy Joe either, because then we become fake Christians. Fake Christians are people who act a certain way around other Christians.
Non-believers don’t respect fake Christians, as they can see through the charade.
Ohh looky, I just offended three more people.
I’ll never win.
Ahh, but before you condemn me, I want to show you some examples in the Bible where “corrupt” language was used. An Angel once said, “the great whore,” (Revelation 17:1).
Ahh, but that’s nothing!
The Father Himself uses some pretty interesting and offensive adjectives to describe people. Yes, “corrupt” communication from our Heavenly Father.
God called people (Eze 16:30, 30, Isa 56:10, 11),
- Harlots
- Whorish woman
- Blind
- Ignorant
- Dumb
- Dogs
- Greedy
God even called Abimelech “a dead man,” — yes a corpse — even though he wasn’t dead.
That’s exactly what I did!
Ahh, but some are thinking,
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“Well, that was the Old Testament.”
Come on friends, come on…
I can still hear some additional thoughts from the Christian faithful…
“My Jesus would never say anything like that.”
Really now?
Have we forgotten that Jesus called the Jews, (Mat 6:2, 23:13-29),
- Serpents
- Vipers
- Hypocrites
Don’t forget, those Jews were… Religious leaders.
Where’s the respect?
Then, have we forgotten that Jesus flipped His lid, and beat the money changers with a “scourge of small cords,” right in the temple, (John 2:13-16)?
Holy, holy huh?
Now I know what you’re thinking…
“You’re dragging the Father and Son through the mud!”
No, I’m not.
I’m simply telling you what the Bible says.
I’m telling you what the Father and Son have said and done, so you have a real understanding and expectation of what it means to be a follower of God and a “Christian.”
Hey, the Father and Son set the example, and we follow it.
Now, just imagine if I called a wicked politician a “whore” or a “dumb dog.”
YOU would flip your lid!
However, I’d just be following the example God left before me, wouldn’t I?
You see, all of those words we read were just descriptors. They described the spiritual state of the individual. When I called the politician a “corpse,” I described their moral and spiritual state. I’m no judge, but their own actions counter what God said in the Bible.
God and the Bible are the judge, and according to Scripture, that politician is a spiritual “corpse.”
Jesus also used the same analogy in Matthew 23:27.
Take a look…
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
The scribes and Pharisees were spiritually rotten, spiritually dead, a spiritual “corpse.”
Do we honestly think only people back then were spiritually rotten?
Of course not.
There’s lots of rotten souls today, and there will be even more tomorrow.
So then…
Can you really be upset with me for using the same description the Father and Son used far before me?
You know, Ecclesiastes 3:8 states there’s,
“A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
There’s a time for everything.
While the Bible instructs us not to hate, clearly there is a time to hate. Even God hates, (Proverbs 6:16-19).
Now, I’m not telling you to go use rotten language and hate people. All I’m saying, is let’s have a real expectation of our faith. Let’s remember what our Holy Book says. Hey, being a Christian doesn’t mean being a stuffed shirt, it doesn’t mean being fake.
It means living a life that is pleasing to God, and bringing a few pals up along the way.