11 Jun, 2007
Be careful not to judge each other
Does that Mom really watch MTV?
In the basement of a small church, 20 parents are having a lively (and loud) conversation. It almost sounds like an argument. The high school seniors from the church want to take a trip to the islands for their graduation celebration. They want the “freedom” and “excitement” of mingling with the likes of Flava-Flav, Fergie and Akon.One mom asks why “Princess Fergie” would want to be in the
Silence spreads across the room and people start whispering. Does this middle-aged mother actually watch MTV? Is this family really ‘Christian’ if they listen to secular music? The conversation quickly moves from the merits of the trip to whether Christians should be listening to the world’s music and watching MTV. Voices are raised, feelings are hurt.photos courtesy images.google.com & today's DAILYBIDE written by Nina from Long Island Youth For Christ
One mom asks why “Princess Fergie” would want to be in the
Silence spreads across the room and people start whispering. Does this middle-aged mother actually watch MTV? Is this family really ‘Christian’ if they listen to secular music? The conversation quickly moves from the merits of the trip to whether Christians should be listening to the world’s music and watching MTV. Voices are raised, feelings are hurt.photos courtesy images.google.com & today's DAILYBIDE written by Nina from Long Island Youth For Christ
Silence spreads across the room and people start whispering. Does this middle-aged mother actually watch MTV? Is this family really ‘Christian’ if they listen to secular music? The conversation quickly moves from the merits of the trip to whether Christians should be listening to the world’s music and watching MTV. Voices are raised, feelings are hurt.photos courtesy images.google.com & today's DAILYBIDE written by Nina from Long Island Youth For Christ
Romans 14:9-12
9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Romans 14:19
19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. (ESV)
What does today's God's Story scripture teach us?
Paul was writing to the Romans who were struggling. The church there was filled with people who had become followers of Christ but were from different backgrounds. Some had been Jews who had grown up believing that belonging to God had to be proven to the world (and perhaps to God) by their good behavior – by following rules. The non-Jews didn’t have that background and tended to be filled with gratitude for their new life. Each thought the other should be ‘more like me’. They looked down on each other. This was hurting the church.
Paul wrote to correct them and to teach them that the “new” way of living was to love God and to love each other. Paul says every effort is to be made to live at peace with each other and to build each other up.
Christ came to earth, lived as a man among men, died and came back to life in order to give us life. He wants to be our Lord. Many of us spend our time judging other Christians and their behavior and in doing so spread the aroma of death all around us.
When we judge others we act like we are their lord. The only one who will rightly judge us will be God. We should live to honor and please him.
When we are make these choices it is easier to love people who disagree with us and think we are doing the wrong thing. When we love God it is easier to love people who we think are wrong too!
How can we connect today’s God’s Story scripture to our lives?
We’re surrounded by Christians who think differently than us. Christians differ on issues such as: what kind of church to attend; how to dress when at church; whether singing hymns or praise songs is more worshipful; whether baptism is by sprinkling or dunking; whether you can listen to rap, punk or rock music; whether you can have facial piercing; whether it’s right or wrong to eat meat … and on and on the differences go.
The issue isn’t “Do we all agree?” but “How do we treat people we disagree with?” God commands us to love each other and to accept each other as He has loved and accepted us.
- Ask God to help you love the person who thinks you are wrong.
- Choose to do something ‘their way’ and see what it feels like!
- Ask God to give you ideas about how to bless the one you disagree with or who thinks you’re the one who is wrong.
- Pray that every decision you make will honor God first and then leave the rest to Him.
How can we connect today’s story, God’s story scripture and our story to others?
- Think of a person you know and with whom you disagree.
- Make a decision to find ways to accept the person with whom you disagree (if you are a teen – think of something you are struggling with your parent over; and if you’re a parent – think of something your teen wants to do that you don’t think you can’t handle)
- Pray for that person and ask God to help you respect them (not look down on them)
- Tell the person that you want to better understand where they are coming from so that you can accept them more freely. Ask them to talk to you.
- May 2008 [9]
- April 2008 [22]
- March 2008 [21]
- February 2008 [19]
- January 2008 [21]
- December 2007 [20]
- November 2007 [18]
- October 2007 [20]
- September 2007 [19]
- August 2007 [20]
- July 2007 [18]
- June 2007 [19]
- May 2007 [18]
- April 2007 [13]
- March 2007 [17]
- February 2007 [14]
- January 2007 [9]
- December 2006 [6]
- November 2006 [15]
- October 2006 [18]
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- August 2006 [17]
- July 2006 [14]
- June 2006 [4]
