There are some hard truths that Western Christians need to accept or face total rejection of God in their lives as He does not tolerate lukewarm believers. Here’s a few of them:
- Women are not equipped to be pastors or priests. By equipped, I mean mentally and spiritually equipped. To be a church leader, you need a certain level of abstract thinking as well as empathy for your congregation. While woman can have these things, they generally don’t. Women tend to be more solipsistic than men and they don’t have the time or patience for philosophy. Besides that, their brains are wired to think and interact with the world differently than men. But the most important reason is that St. Paul openly stated that he does not permit women to teach men.
- Wives are to submit to their husbands in all things and defer to their leadership, even if they are not providing any. This is a guideline laid out by both Peter and Paul in their letters.
- Divorce is only valid if a spouse has committed adultery. All other cases are a sin.
- Pornography is not adultery. It is a failure to fuck your wife (hat tip to Davis Aurini).
- Homosexuality is openly condemned in the Bible and any Christian who denies this is not a true believer. Yes, there are plenty of other sinful lifestyles one can engage in. But in our post-modern society, homosexuality is the only one that is so completely accepted to the point that most people are upset to see a 12-year-old boy twerking at a gay pride parade. In the Bible, it is considered an abomination and an unnatural lust. It is never referred to as anything less than a sinful lifestyle.
- Equality is not a virtue in the Bible. In fact, the only time such a concept is mentioned, it is in referring to Jesus’s status next to His Father. Human beings are never equal to each other. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean we aren’t under the same judgment from God for our sin, just that we are not the same. And praise God because it would be a boring world if we were equal.
- Love is an action not a feeling. When God loves us, he does so in a manner similar to a loving father and mother both nurturing and disciplining their children. While not exactly like God’s love for us, it is a close proximity. With that in mind, just because you “love” someone doesn’t mean you have to accept what they do or who they are when they are steeped in sin. A truly loving person would tell such a person that they need to get better, to strive to be a better person through the salvation of Jesus and the grace His sacrifice confers to us.
- Forgiveness is not a feeling. Too often I hear of Christians stating that you have to forgive people no matter what or resentment will grow in your heart. This is hardly true as we are instructed to forgive others but only when they are sorry. God Himself sets this example by not forgiving those who do not accept Jesus. So forgive those who wrong you and subsequently apologize but you need not forgive those who do not apologize to you.
- Your emotions are not an indicator of your faith nor your morality. Too often I see people who go to churches or worship services to simply get their joy fix from the worship. Then they go home and continue to do the terrible things which go against God’s will for us. Your faith is more than just a feeling and feeling good at a worship service doesn’t necessarily mean your heart is right with God. Faith is the knowledge of things hoped for in God.
- You can judge others, especially fellow believers. We hear the often quoted verse “Judge not lest ye be judged yourself” from Jesus’s sermon on the mount. The trouble is, it is often out of context and was intended to highlight the perils of hypocrisy when casting judgment on others. In truth, we are to judge others when they sin, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ because that makes for a healthy body.
- More is required than prayer and worship. When we are on God’s side, he wants us to fight for him within our own ranks and to openly confront false teachings and sinners. St. Nicolas (later known as Santa Claus) was known to have punched a man during the Council of Nicaea for spreading false teaching. While this is an extreme example, it is not too far fetched to get physical with those who lead others astray. Phineas speared a man who was sleeping with a temple prostitute in Numbers and he was granted a blessing from God that he and his descendants would be high priests. Understand that words and prayers are usually not enough, especially when dealing with cancerous elements within our own ranks.
- You don’t have to be nice. I’ve been told that I am too mean at times when I confront people. Whether I am right or wrong is often immaterial. I was mean and therefore I am a bad person. Such nonsense. Whether I am nice or mean, what you should consider is whether or not I am right. Feelings don’t equate to morality.
- Circumcision is not a requirement of Gentile believers. This was made very clear in Acts when the Apostles settled the matter. So unless you are a Jew for Jesus, don’t circumcise your sons.
- Murder means more than just intentional killing of another person. There was no Hebrew word for manslaughter and as such, when “Thou Shall Not Murder” was made into a commandment, it meant you were liable for a person’s death whether you meant it or not. So look out for the safety of others in everything that you do lest you bring blood-guilt upon yourself.
These are things that our post-modern society fails to understand, even among our more hardcore believers. It amazing when I point out that women shouldn’t be priest how so many people demand to know where that is in the Bible or just cover their ears and shout to drown out the badthink.
I know these are jagged pills to swallow for many Christians, but they need to be swallowed, especially as our enemies are closing in on us. We need to stand up for what is right and holy and stop trying to make peace with those whose stated position is to eradicate us.