Comments on: Letter to a Gay Man in the Churches of Christ, Part 4 http://oneinjesus.info/2008/04/letter-to-a-gay-man-in-the-churches-of-christ-part-4/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:41:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Nick Gill http://oneinjesus.info/2008/04/letter-to-a-gay-man-in-the-churches-of-christ-part-4/#comment-2264 Nick Gill Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:10:49 +0000 http://jayguin.wordpress.com/?p=982#comment-2264 Part of the Christian struggle with humility is our modern understanding of the concept, vs. an ancient understanding. 1) We believe in "aw-shucks" humility today. Even our humility is self-centered. Many Christians have a hard time accepting compliments because of this. 2) Biblical humility is not about self! Anytime you put self in the sentence, it shouldn't be there. 3) Biblical humility is not about how you think of yourself, but about how you ACT towards those around you, especially those of lower social status. Php 2 does not describe Jesus saying, "Aw shucks, I'm not so great as God." It describes him acting graciously and compassionately towards the lowliest of the low. 4) Notice in Mk 10 and the parallels, that Jesus DOES NOT reprimand the disciples for wanting to be great. He reprimands them for going about it the wrong way, and then teaches them the right way. Our struggle to be like Christ with sinners around us stems in large part from our ability to convince ourselves that we are humble because we THINK HUMBLE THOUGHTS. This allows us to be convinced that we are humble, while completely avoiding any contact whatsoever with ostracized people. Part of the Christian struggle with humility is our modern understanding of the concept, vs. an ancient understanding.

1) We believe in "aw-shucks" humility today. Even our humility is self-centered. Many Christians have a hard time accepting compliments because of this.

2) Biblical humility is not about self! Anytime you put self in the sentence, it shouldn't be there.

3) Biblical humility is not about how you think of yourself, but about how you ACT towards those around you, especially those of lower social status. Php 2 does not describe Jesus saying, "Aw shucks, I'm not so great as God." It describes him acting graciously and compassionately towards the lowliest of the low.

4) Notice in Mk 10 and the parallels, that Jesus DOES NOT reprimand the disciples for wanting to be great. He reprimands them for going about it the wrong way, and then teaches them the right way.

Our struggle to be like Christ with sinners around us stems in large part from our ability to convince ourselves that we are humble because we THINK HUMBLE THOUGHTS. This allows us to be convinced that we are humble, while completely avoiding any contact whatsoever with ostracized people.

]]> By: Anonymous http://oneinjesus.info/2008/04/letter-to-a-gay-man-in-the-churches-of-christ-part-4/#comment-2263 Anonymous Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:45:23 +0000 http://jayguin.wordpress.com/?p=982#comment-2263 The part about Jesus showing love to the sinner is especially meaningful in that he was about forgiveness and healing, not condemnation and ridicule. Your comments about Paul and what he said to the Romans is helpful, as far as why he said what he said. it's been easy for me to dismiss Leviticus, right or wrong, because we don't do most of what is in that book anyway. However, it is much more difficult to try and believe that a gay relationship is ok in light of the NT, which I've always believed in. It's hard to know what to believe sometimes when there are people in your life telling you something is OK and you want to find a way to justify that it is OK. Your post today shed some light on the verse, the cultural background and what it means. The part about Jesus showing love to the sinner is especially meaningful in that he was about forgiveness and healing, not condemnation and ridicule. Your comments about Paul and what he said to the Romans is helpful, as far as why he said what he said. it's been easy for me to dismiss Leviticus, right or wrong, because we don't do most of what is in that book anyway. However, it is much more difficult to try and believe that a gay relationship is ok in light of the NT, which I've always believed in. It's hard to know what to believe sometimes when there are people in your life telling you something is OK and you want to find a way to justify that it is OK. Your post today shed some light on the verse, the cultural background and what it means.

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