Goodness. Two pages. Alright, before I go reading all that, I want to finish the opening post, and explain why I do think that we need to talk about this stuff. My initial thought was that I should have no love for myself, or my own reputation, and thus should just let it go, forgive my brother and move on. What changed my mind is the realization of how common a phenomenon this really is, and the larger issues it can cause. It\'s not about Charlie and I. It\'s about being good servants, about following the Way of the Master. This topic ties into both how we are to treat our brethren, and how we are to treat our neighbor. It is a deeply ingrained part of Christian culture, it seems, to draw lines in the sand and see who ends up on what side of them. Messiah, on the other hand, had love both for those who love and honored G-d, and for those that didn\'t. This was in keeping with the instruction from Torah to \"Love your neighbor as yourself.\" This begs the question, WHO is our neighbor? But we can see who He considered His neighbor. He was regularly seen eating with publicans, tax collectors, Roman officials.. He came to the defense of a woman accused of adultery, an activity which many of us would be quite judgemental of. Why did he do this, and yet we prefer to \"stick to our own kind\" ? We have many reasons. Some fear for the younger brethren (younger in the Spirit), that they will be led astray by keeping bad company. Some fear for their own reputations, that they will be judged (as Messiah was) for the company they keep. Yet Jesus reminded us that it is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. Yet, what are we doing for the kingdom if we approach those we perceive to be \"sick\" and simply accuse them of being unwell, instead of showing them in love how they may be better? This, brethren, is the biggest problem I have with the material quoted in post 1. Not the statements made, but the tone and the lack of concern for those people perceived to be different, outside the body. If I truly were outside the body of Christ, does anyone imagine that by being told I hate G-d, that I would repent, based on such a judgemental attitude? I do always try to see things from another person\'s perspective. Charlie sees me as being lost. The material quoted in post 1, then, can be said to be his approach to reaching the lost. What say you, mypraizers? What is the proper way to deal with the lost?

Post edited by: MattBob_SquarePants, at: 2007/07/31 05:38