Tuesday, November 7: Thank you for the wonderful e-mail and comments, everyone. I must clear up a few things about why I wrote this post. First, I have no intention of changing my writing style in any way. I say what I believe needs saying in a manner that I uniquely express it. There will be no soft-pedaling or euphemism. The “edge” is here to say.
Second, I’m not going through any kind of spiritual crisis or epiphany. I simply wanted to appeal to Christian readers to pray for unbelievers who read this blog, especially hostile ones, and for me. There are also people out there who call themselves Christians who can be just as hostile.
It’s not easy being a black politically conservative evangelical Christian woman running a public blog that seems to attract a variety of nuts and others with no lives. Some of them dump all their anger about personal failings, shortcomings, and frustrations on me, expressed most often in inarticulate and illogical rants laced with ad hominem.
But — and all glory goes to God on this one — I don’t plan to stop blogging or stop covering politics from a Christian perspective. However, I think I need to write posts like this more often.
My third “blogiversary” is on Wednesday. I hope you celebrate with me!
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God has put a burden on my heart this morning to pray for people who’ve sent e-mail along the lines of “it’s because of people like you that I left the church,” and variations on the theme.
I can’t imagine losing my faith in Christ because of what another Christian says or does. My faith is strong enough to withstand the sometimes strong influence of people who profess the faith but don’t behave the way I think they ought to. If they’re being disobedient or “unloving,” that’s between them and God, and he will deal with it. Leaving the faith because of something fallen human beings do or say indicates a weakness of the mind unknown to me. I feel sorry for people who’re so weak.
Then again, readers sending those e-mails (and still inexplicably reading the blog of someone they claim to dislike) probably weren’t part of the body of Christ to begin with. They may have called themselves Christians — as opposed to Muslims — but lacked genuine saving faith.
If some Christian reader isn’t “challenging” me about concepts like faith alone or that Christ died once and for all for those he came to save (no other “works” required), a random non-Christian mocks my faith in Christ altogether. I was a bit naive when I first started this blog. I used to get more into doctrinal issues, but I realized the extent to which those posts attracted the wrong kind of feedback. People who’d never read the Bible wasted my time “challenging” me, while others called me “anti-Catholic” or a “religious fanatic” simply because I believed the Bible — and not a man or a church — was the final authority.
I call myself a Reformed Christian, one who recognizes the biblical principles that emerged from the Protestant Reformation:
- Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) — The Bible, open to all who desire to read it, is the inspired and authoritative word of God. Scripture does not contain everything we need to know, but it is sufficient, “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16 and 17)
The doctrine doesn’t forbid us to read other Bible-based text. In fact, Christians should read and study the works of faithful men and women who’ve struggled through this Christian life. But ultimately, God’s word rules. [I recommend Scripture Alone: Exploring the Bible's Accuracy, Authority and Authenticity.]
- Sola Fide (Faith alone) — We are justified (made “right”) before God because of our faith in Christ, and not in any works we do.
- Solus Christus (Christ alone) — There is no other mediator between man and God but Christ. Before Christ came, the Hebrews of ancient Israel needed a high priest to enter the “holy of holies,” the inner santuary of the Tabernacle and Temple, to intercede on their behalf. The cross changed all of that. Fallible, sinful human beings seeking forgiveness can appeal directly to God through our faith in Christ.
Additionally, salvation comes through Christ alone. His death on the cross was necessary and sufficient to pardon those he came to save.
- Sola Gratia (Grace alone) — Salvation is a gift. God presents this gift to those Christ has forgiven. It is through his grace alone, and not something we can do or say, that saves us.
- Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone) — Glory belongs to God alone, not to any man, tradition, church, institution, organization, or group.
To read more about the five solas and Reformed Christianity in general, see Five Solas of the Reformation, with lots of links to related articles and audio, a short article and MP3 on the subject, and the blog of James White, Reformed Christian apologist, debater, and author.
[Update: Also see Calvinist Gadfly --- And check out his blogroll. A site called The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry is useful, too. So is this article by John Piper and Modern Reformation itself. There are so many wonderful sites out there. Check out the "Christian Resources" section of my blog, located in the right sidebar near the bottom.]
My blog is not like many other Christian blogs. I write about politics most of the time. I weave my faith into posts from time to time, sometimes subtly, other times blatantly. As someone with a fallen human nature just like everyone else, I can be rude and insensitive and prideful and unjustifiably angry. Although I believe God has changed my heart, I still reside in a fallen body, susceptible to temptation.
I ask Christians who read this blog to pray for me. We know that it’s not men we need to worry about. Like the Apostle Paul, I ask that you “pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” (Ephesians 6: 19 and 20)
(Christians, I recommend you re-read the entire book of Ephesians today. It’s a wonderful reminder of our burdens and blessings as Christian witnesses.)
While at church today, I intend to pray for all of you, too. I will also pray for unbelievers and Christians who’ve allowed men to “drive” them from the faith, and unbelievers who hate me and my God.
I consider my burden a blessing. Thanks for reading my blog, whatever the reason.
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Beautiful, LaShawn! I don’t always agree – but you are a sister in Christ and I would never say that you or anyone else is not – that’s not my job, thankfully. I pray that more of your readers can grasp that – we’re not called to proclaim anyone “Christian” or “non-Christian”, we’re just called to let our light shine and stand fast in what we believe. Soli Deo Gloria!
I wish far more Christians would take your attitude towards others. We’d have less of the “holier than thou” attitudes we see in the Church today.
And I’d have to admit that I was part of the “my doctrine is better than yours” crowd. What changed me is marrying a beautiful Filipina woman whose faith is much more simple and had more compassion than mine. It transformed my “relitgion” into something quite a bit more Christlike than before.
God Bless, and keep up the good fight.
i have not even read the entire post. i had to stop when you stated that you cannot imagine your faith being shaken by what another christian does. AMEN. that is EXACTLY what i have thought to myself as the media tries to brainwash so called values voters to NOT go to the polls on tuesday. why would i not vote because of what pastor haggard did? i have not changed my mind about the validity of God’s word because of one man’s failings. if that were the case, i would never have believed in the first place as david – a man after God’s own heart, samson – the strongest man in the world, and solomon – the wisest man in the world – ALL succumbed to the temptation of sexual immorality. and that does not imply that we cannot uphold moral standards. that underscores that we CANNOT do it in our own strength apart from walking daily with and submitting to the Holy Spirit. and any christian that is swayed into lukewarmness by the actions of another does not have a faith anchored in KNOWING God but only in knowing ABOUT Him. and that is a shaky foundation at best.
Some seed falls on fallow ground; it takes root but then dies from lack of nourishment.
People who say they are no longer religious because of some hurt done by another person are people who are looking for an excuse not to have to meet the demands of their religion. Either that or they have met a challenge to their faith and have failed it. That’s sad, but it happens.
I’m Catholic. I have a problem with some of your solas…but that’s me. Jesus said “my Father’s house has many rooms” which I take to mean that the road I travel is going to be different than the one you travel. I have faith that He is all knowing and perfectly Just, so I intend to let Him do the judging at the end. That’s His job, not mine. We each just have to do the best we know how.
Thank You So Much Lashawn. I may not always agree with you politically, but at the end of the day, we’ll be judged as Christians not as democrats and republicans.
You know, I had the same burden all this weekend looking at the Ted Haggard scandal. While of course, the american media and people and I can even include myself tend to enjoy these types of scandals, it’s wrong.
All week I was looking up at the internet to find more info on the scandal. We live in a society where we love drama and scandals.
Then, I went from a scandal hungry reader to being judgemental. I started thinking that Haggard was a hypocrit and started just looking at him in a negative light.
Then in the weekend I started feeling sorry for Haggard and putting myself in his shoes, being the leader of the church while at the same time dealing with your own personal weaknesses and temptations. Last night in bed I was picturing what must be going on in Haggard’s household right now, his wife, his kids, himself.
Then, I had the attitude of millions of Christians about trusting religious leaders. I felt bad for his congregation who I felt were confused. Hear someone preach then see him do what he did.
But I realized that Haggard is only a man. The difference between him and us is that “he got caught”, we all sin in our daily lives, sometimes we find ways to cover it up, sometimes no one holds up accountable. We are only accountable to God, so no one gets to see us in our “sin”. We’re able to get away with that.
Haggard being a religious leader, suddenly is put on a pedestal by us men and when he fails, we “demonize” him for that. But we forget that he’s human just like the rest of us.
It’s what’s going on lately in our society, celebrities, athletes, leaders are indirectly put on a pedestal, we expect them to be role models for our kids when it’s up to the parents, teachers and people close to our children to be their role models.
We fantasize about them, we give them freebies, we treat them like royalties we make them appear better than us ect…. When they fail we blame them, we forget that they’re humans. Because of our “worshipping” of them, they forget that they are humans too and think they can get away with everything until they get caught.
When I woke up this morning, it felt that God was speaking to both of us Lashawn. I also had the same burden as I’m getting ready for church to pray for all of us christians, the temptations, the sins, the hypocrisy, our long journey to heaven and all the roadblocks we encounter on earth.
The haggard scandal reminds everyone that we’re all sinners.
What I’m walking away is that it’ll make us Christians more compassionate, less judgemental and the “we’re better†attitude.
I’m also realized that God gives you so many opportunities to stop your sin, then there’s a day when “enough becomes enough†for you to change. With the whole scandal out, Haggard now has a chance to change, we will be praying for him, supporting him and hopefully he will be forgiven by God. Because that’s what’s wonderful to God, no matter what you did. He does work in mysterious ways, with the scandal out, there’s no more hiding, lying, covering up, now he can have an incentive to change and people supporting him.
There’s an African proverb that states that there’s 99 days for the thief and 1 day for the owner to get everything back.
I rarely comment but I wanted to let you know I agree with you and I also pray for you regularly. You stand daily on the shore, amidst the crashing waves, and that isn’t easy. When I think of you, I think of these verses: Philippians 2:15-16
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Keep up the good work.
Excellent post. I have recently been reconnected to the Internet so I have a lot of catching up to do.
No need to publish this, La Shawn: others who also wholeheartedly admire and support your testimony and principled outlook have already used the words I would have chosen to thank you, commend you to God’s special care, and pray that you will continue to provide light and Agape in the chaotic and divisive politico/religious world. JSS
LaShawn,
Interesting post… How can one — after trusting Jesus Christ for ETERNAL life — ever doubt?
Once in Christ by that one time decision to trust Christ alone as our Savior, there is no “losing” our faith.
Eternal life is eternal — thus saith the Lord.. John 10:28
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall NEVER perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.”
A believer may “think” he has lost his faith.. because he may be ignorant of the wonderful assurance of God’s Word.
Or maybe the person never trusted Christ.. so he never had eternal life — so he cannot lose that which he never had.
Yes, we are all sinners — some saved by faith in the shed Blood of Christ… some unsaved — those who choose not to believe in Jesus make a decision to reject “so great salvation.” Our choice.
If one has the Faith– it cannot be lost… Thus, we cannot be lost — cannot “lose” our faith..
What a SAVIOR we have in Jesus Christ!!!
ExP(Jack)
I’m Catholic and read your blog on a daily basis. You’re the sort of Christian we need more of. Once the world is cleaned up we can sort out the doctorinal differences between Catholic, Protestant, etc. Till then there’s too much true evil to contend with.
And the next time I pray the rosary you’ll be one of the ones I pray for. God bless you always.
Nice post Lashawn! I have been up close and personal with many leaders in the Christian faith. I know first hand that they are not perfect and human. When we take our eyes off of Christ and put it on man, then we fall to the wayside when one of those leaders succumbs to temptations. Haggard has left a carnage of wounded people in his choices. Mainly his family, church and members of his organization. God will forgive him as he seeks his healing. But this is no time for ANY christian to turn their back on the faith. Like I’ve said, I’ve seen things and experienced things in the church that would chase the weakest one away for good. I myself, have slipped and fallen in sin….but God has been there in his mercy and love to receive me back. I still have my struggles….but I will never leave the love of Christ.
I truly know what it means by “His mercy endures forever”. That is something the sinner will never understand. The body of Christ went through this in the late 80’s with Jim Baker and Jimmy Swaggart…and we stood and got stronger. We’ll endure this too. That’s the power of grace and the blood of Jesus. Rather than say…”that’s why I left the church”, this is a time for us to examine our own lives and those unconfessed things we won’t turn over to the Lord. God calls us to repent….not repeat.
You can light the path for your readers, LaShawn, but they have to walk the path for themselves.
Great post. Keep your armor polished
OK, I hope this one makes it thru, but if it doesn’t, maybe you will at least consider exactly what it is I am saying.
Growing up, from time to time I heard the saying, “If it weren’t for Christians, I’d be a Christian.”
The pastors of my church, from time to time, have mentioned to the congregation that they want those who are weak in faith to forgive pastors and Christians from churches they have been to in the past for hurting them. They have said not all churches are based on the Word of God.
The pastors have stressed the idea of living your life in Christ, at all times, and letting the light of Christ that is within you, shine out as a beacon for all you come across to see.
There will be times when that light alone will draw people to you to ask what is different about you. From there, you can encourage the person to seek Jesus as Christ or, at least, invite them to church to see what is going on.
There will be times when people just see what you do and observe.
We had a testimonial from a person in Iraq who prayed and kept his faith. He said that during some tough times, under fire, he was sure that the only thing that got his team thru things was his prayers, his belief in God, and the people of our church who kept him in their prayers. When he left Iraq, a person who gave him a ribbing about his belief, said to him, “Tell those people at your church thank you for their prayers.”
That brought the church to its feet.
I hope I’ve done justice.
You, and others, can’t see it but I can see it. When many people are lead to being saved by the actions of people who display they care and call themselves Christians, the hypocrisy, negativism, scorn and the lack of joy in life can be an example of not becoming a Christian.
Is that “light” shining on your this blog?
ExPreacherMan said… “How can one — after trusting Jesus Christ for ETERNAL life — ever doubt?”
Easy. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that we won’t have our moments of weakness, or be tempted, or doubt the power or even existence of God at times. I know I’m guilty of all of those things, and I’ve been trusting Jesus Christ for a long time. Remember, we’re very fallible creatures. Even Job cursed God after he had been put through his suffering.
The difference is that eventually, those of us who have faith in Christ will rebound from those moments of weakness, fight against that temptation, and have our doubts and fears calmed. Still, I think it’s unfair to say that those who were “turned away” from the faith were never in Christ to start with. Then again, I’m more of an Arminian than a Calvinist.
Excellent post, Ms. Barber. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You rock. Blessings be upon you today.
Please keep at it, La Shawn. Too many folks live life on the shifting sands of situational ethics and moral relativism, and we need more people like you who base their lives on solid, unshakable principles.
Thank you, La Shawn, for those wonderful and wise words. Personally, I’m going through very trying times being unemployed and having a tough time finding employment. I am trying to remain faithful even though some mock me for doing so. I firmly believe God will see my wife and I through this somehow even though things look bleak for us. I will definitely keep you in my prayers and hope you will keep us in yours. May God bless you and keep you always.
How can one — after trusting Jesus Christ for ETERNAL life — ever doubt?
Once in Christ by that one time decision to trust Christ alone as our Savior, there is no “losing†our faith.
As I understand it, it’s called weakness and/or temptation.
“. . .the Hebrews of ancient Israel needed a high priest to enter the “holy of holies,†the inner santuary of the Tabernacle and Temple, to intercede on their behalf.”
Just to clarify, for those who are interested and who may get the wrong idea that Jews need an intermediary (we don’t), this refers to Yom Kippur when the Temple was standing. The Kohen Gadol (High Priest) entered the inner sanctuary and took our prayers to G-d, but only on Yom Kippur. At other times, the regular Kohanim (Priests) would oversee the animal sacrifices of the people. Once the Temple was destroyed, the Kohanim ceased to be intermediaries, and from that point until today, every Jew has a direct line to G-d. We have no concept of an intermediary at all in post Temple times.
I’m sorry someone would insult you by saying that people like you drove them away from the church. I guess I don’t see your “offensiveness.” It’s true that we need to keep our eyes on the teachings of our faith, whichever that may be, and not on the practitioners of the faith. On the other hand, as Dear Abby said, “You may be the only Bible people ever read.” So there is some element of responsibility for how we appear to others. Still, that is sooooo subjective. Often, if someone doesn’t like the message, they shoot the messenger. Happens all the time in our faith; I imagine it happens in Christianity too.
Great post..
I’d like to add that we need to pray for Ted Haggard. Here’s a man who was doing God’s work, and is one of the most outspoken leaders and crusaders of the faith.
In just a few days he lost his church, his position of power, and could lose his family.
He went into sin. But, he is our brother and we cannot continue to barrage this man and throw his sin back into his face.
And, we as Christians need to fall on our faces and realize had it not been for the grace of God, we to could be in that same situation.
And on this post..
Lashawn, you definitely should consider your blessing a burden. You also realize that because you are so public and you so blatantly state that Christ is the one and only way, you are in the crosshairs of the Evil One. I will pray for you because of this and that you continue to be bold in this way.
I applaud your efforts on this blog and I would LOVE to see and respond to more posts like this one.
I should have said consider your “burden a blessing…”
woops……….
LaShawn,
I used to be more religious than I am now. For quite a few years I studied apologetics. I am a lapsed catholic.
The one issue whether I read catholic or protestant takes on, that I had problems with was justification by faith alone. I really didn’t understand completely what the experts said on this.
My mother who at 80 is an invalid. She raised me and my 2 sisters. Mom never went to church, knows nothing about the basis of Christianity, yet in her productive years was a sensitive, loving, and giving woman. Her “giving” was not limited to her family, but many others. Jesus would know her by her “fruits”.
Well, that’s all I have to say on justification.
John
The most liberating time of my life came when I accepted Christ as Savior. The burden of the guilt I bore completely vaporized in the Light and Grace of this new found Love. And I continue to enjoy that precious liberty to this day. Of course the enemy of our souls constantly tries to discourage us hoping beyond hope that we’ll turn back and not be effective for the Kingdom. He will always bring people around who have claimed “it’s because of people like you that I left the church” particularly when you run a highly rated, successful ministry such as ‘La Shawn Barber’s Corner’. To such naysayers all we can do is pray for them and trust God for the ‘whatevers’ and go on. I can’t begin to imagine tasting the divine gift of Eternal Life and turning my back on it and whoever says they have mocks God.
La Shawn: Just wanted to drop you a line telling you how much I appreciate your “blogging” ministry. i don’t always have your take on politics (though I agree with you more often than anyone else except my wife and father), but as a bible believing christian I delight in each of your posts. Keep the faith.
“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” John 8:7 I don’t like how the media is treating this like a this guy Haggard was anointed by the White House. I never even heard of this guy and his religious sect. He was caught up in sin and lied about it. Just as the woman in the well was caught with 5 husbands and a whatchamacallit it. Jesus told her to go and sin no more. I realize the the media doesn’t like anything religious but where was the outcry when Jesse Jackson fathered a bastard child and used Rainbow Push funds to pay the child support? Oh that is right Democratic purveyors of false doctrine get a free pass.
Hi La Shawn,
I will definitely keep you in my prayers. I like what you are doing with this blog. That doesn’t mean that I ALWAYS exactly agree with you. It just means that I think that your heart is in the right place and that your words and actions that we see here on this blog are evidence of that the Holy Spirit has your “compass” pointed in the right direction (so to speak).
Don’t take the flame mail and other instances of adverse, over-the-top reactions by a small portion of your readership too seriously. In most instances, I am inclined to agree with your assessment of those who waver in their faith because of what they see or hear from other believers. I see a lot of childish, self-absorbed behavior out there. As pointed out here earlier by another one of your readers, Jesus tells the parable of the sowing of the seeds. He cites a long laundry list of reasons why people can not hold on to their faith. So perhaps we should not be surprised by the reactions of some people. Many times I feel like we, as Christians, can do very little for these people beyond praying for them. So, I suggest that we concentrate on what we CAN do. One of these things that we CAN do is put forth a good witness. (Because I have been guilty of putting forth a lousy witness to others myself, I’ll try not to be too preachy here.)
I bring up the issue of our Christian witness because I think that there have been (in the past, at least) some tragic exceptions to the rule — where an individual had legitimate grievances against the “local, neighborhood brand of Christianity.” Unlike you, I think that I CAN imagine a situation where an individual felt like he could not worship together with other Christians based on what the other Christians said or did. I would like to remind you of a specific historical example. The specific example that I am thinking of is Mahatma Ghandi. Purportedly as a young man training to be a lawyer in South Africa, Ghandi attempted to attend a Christian revival meeting. He was turned away at the door because of the color of his skin. It is said that he later confided to a friend that he would “be a Christian, if it weren’t for the other Christians”. I have seen other disturbing quotes on the Internet attributed to Ghandi. I don’t have his exact words, so I’ll paraphrase what I saw. The quotes I saw were akin to things like:
“I do not reject your Jesus; rather I love your Jesus. My problem is with the many people that call themselves Christians who do not behave like Jesus.”
“If Christians actually behaved like Jesus, there would not be a single Hindu left anywhere in India.”
I have also seen accounts that claimed that in Ghandi’s entire household there was only one (a single) lonely picture handing on the wall. It was a picture of Jesus.
The truth is that I don’t even know if these factoids and quotes are genuine or apocryphal. The reason that I find all of this SO disturbing is because of what we DO know (for sure) about the character of the man we call Mahatma Ghandi. What he accomplished through non-violence protest against oppressive British rule helped shaped a nation. How many of us could say that we accomplished as much? He lived his life in a way that was more like Jesus than many of us that call ourselves Christians. In some ways, MLK Jr. and other civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 1960s used Ghandi (and the life that he lived) as a model for their own efforts. That’s why, even though Ghandi has been dead for more 50 years, his criticisms of us Christians still cut all the way to the bone.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not bringing this up to chastise or correct you. I am not suggesting that you have committed any offenses that justify the flame mail that you receive. Furthermore, I think that we have come a long way from the situation that existed in South Africa one hundred years ago. All I am saying is that we, as Christians, need to be cognizant of our words and deeds. Our words and deeds, especially those that other people observe, DO MATTER. They can sometimes “make the difference” for someone who is earnestly seeking God. While it is true that there are many people who will reject the message of the Gospel no matter what us Christians say or do, we must not become cavalier about our witness. I think that we must always be careful that we don’t somehow “throw caution to the wind.”
I believe that we all still have a very long way to go as Christians, but I am trusting that the Holy Spirit “will lead us into all truth” just as Jesus foretold. You call yourself Protestant. So do I. I find it disturbing that we are SO splintered into SO many denominations. I understand that there are doctrinal differences between the various “flavors” of us Protestants. I do not understand why these differences should prevent us from having fellowship with one another, supporting one another, or participating together in common causes. And yet there are many people that call themselves Christians that advocate a mind-set of elitism and exclusion. I object. Call me naive if you like, but twenty years after doing a seven year stint in the state of Virginia, I am still disturbed by the fact that most churches in the south continue the practice of segregation along racial lines — even today. What would Ghandi say?
God bless you and your efforts here.
For sure on the prayer request, sis. We got your back out here, keep on keeping on!
[its because of people like you that I left the church,]
I was brought up in a Christian home and for a time left the church. I probably blamed Christians like you too. But the truth is, it wasnt Christians like you who caused me to leave, it was the watered down gospel I had embraced as a youth: humanistic thought in Christian verbiage. I cant honestly tell you whether anyone in the church actually taught me these things or if I just dreamed them up, but my attitudes and beliefs about God were an insufficient foundation to produce life-long faith.
I did not believe God was sovereign. I believed in a god that would always use His power to make the world a better place for me. I wanted a god that would help me get the best job, have the most things and enjoy life. I was pursuing the same dreams that my non-Christian friends did. The only difference is I tried to always give God credit. But the truth, I wanted to be supreme, the measure of all things. As I aged, I had trouble embracing a God that didnt seem to answer prayers.
I assumed the Bible was a parable and studied it as a group of stories meant to teach important moral lessons. The lessons became central to my faith, but believing in a moral lesson isnt the same thing as believing in God.
The god I believed in was small enough for me to be comfortable with, but not large enough to worship. In time, it was easy for me to stop believing in God at all. Oh, at the time, I would have hated to hear what you have so clearly communicated here, but it was me not the truth of the Scriptures.
Keep up the good work, because what brought me back into faith was not someone who reinforced my small god, but someone who taught me to embrace without fear a sovereign God ~
Great post Lashawn. I have been convicted lately how I should be praying for and having more compassion for others. I will be praying for you. I enjoyed your testimony link from the previous post. God has given you a wonderful gift of writing. Even in the very political posts I can sense that you are doing it all for God’s glory Colossians 3:23.
I have had some very bad experiences with Christians and there are things that really bug me about the “culture,” but I wouldn’t go off the track because of them.
LaShawn,
I have been really blessed by both your frank and humble and God-glorifying post, and by all the comments in this track. Sometimes, especially right before elections, it feels like the innuendo and lies and smears and scandals always take center stage and it’s easy to be discouraged, especially living abroad where the MSM influence is parroted and magnified by national commentators with no information. But your post and all the wonderful and wise responses to it are such a great reminder that the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot put it out. I got tears in my eyes reading. Thank you, dear brothers and sisters.
To John #21
In New Testament terms, ‘faith’ in Jesus as the ‘messiah’, means belief in the particular nature of his ‘messiahship’.
The particular nature of his ‘messiahship’ is made most explicit in John’s gospel where Jesus and the priests are portrayed as representatives of two opposing sets of values.
To have faith in the ‘messiahship’ of Jesus is to be committed to the values and principles of Jesus, not to those of the priests.
Implicit in the requirement to have faith in these values is the requirement to live by these values.
Your mother demonstrated to you that character in action is everything. Whether one calls oneself a Christian, or not, all that really matters to God is emulation of the character in action embodied in Jesus of Nazareth.
Theologians have made the simple message of the New Testament into one of vast muddling complexity only intelligible to themselves.
I’ve heard it said, “If your primary purpose for going to church is to find friends, you should go to a bar instead. Our primary purpose is to worship and glorify God.”
La Shawn–What an inspiration you are.
Julie–You said something very profound when you said, “The god I believed in was small enough to be comfortable with, but not large enough to worship.” It works the other way as well. Many people claim they don’t believe in God because their concept of God is too small.
I don’t really know who Ted Haggard is, but I’m sure he needs our prayers. We all need prayer, don’t we? We are all sinners.
John–I’m sure your mother was a very nice woman who did many good things. So am I, but that won’t get me into heaven. None of us can do it on our own; it is only with God that all things are possible.
Faith is not an emotion. It is a commitment to trusting God, even when we feel otherwise.
It’s true that we should be careful about our behavior because we are seen as examples (although I think that more and more that is not the case, and that the media look for anyone labeled a “Christian” to do something wrong so they can pounce). But, to quote Ursula K. LeGuin (who is not a Christian, and not pro-Christian): “The flaws are in the messenger, not the message.”
Thank you, La Shawn, for this post. May God continue to Bless you and your works.
Yes, God is Sovereign.. but He gives a choice to sin or not — and also to make a decision to trust Christ or not.
God’s sovereignty did not cause Ted Haggard to sin.. it was Ted’s choice..
We believers should be happy that God gives us eternal Salvation as a gift (no strings) when we make that one time faith decision to trust Jesus as Savior.
My latest blog is on Ted Haggard, Does he matter? I related a similar experience about the man who led me to Christ. A tragedy.
Haggard needs prayer — that he can, with the help of the Lord, repair his family tragedy and begin to share Jesus Christ with the lost wherever he may be.
ExP(Jack)
La Shawn,
There will always be some people who will try to blame others for their lack of faith or their failings. It is very easy to blame someone else and no doubt gives them a sense of justification. I would not take it too personally, in fact, what you have said here has probably gotten them thinking about their lack of faith and/or anger at God. I don’t think that God is buying it, though, and I don’t think you should either. God Bless you and God Bless them. Thank you for sharing your gift of faith with all of us.
Well I would say not all commenters are particularly sane. I would keep that in mind for myself when evaluating commenters. Some of the most ferocious have some demon of thier own creation working at them. Love and tolerance is the best reply but sometimes it does not relieve their focus. People not on a path to God are not able to see their errors in a greater sense. But merely mentioning it is enough to help them at some future date if they wish to be helped.
LaShawn, you are an interesting and fascinating lady, and contrary to what someone said above the light does shine on your blog. In fact I would say that in many ways you are an example of the “salt and light†we all ought to be.
Wow! Nicely said. Nothing I comment here can add to that.
You are in my prayers to continue to be a “disciple of example”.
…..Dan
A Pastor of a large, influential church with political connections to the President does not just get up one morning and say, “Hey I think I will go buy some crystal meth and hire a homosexual masseuse to give me a massage.”
As Christians we should not “judge” Ted Haggard, but we should be extremely concerned at how a man with obvious moral “cracks” in his life was allowed so much responsibility in the Christian community. Christians should be praying and helping each other with accountability so that these kind of scandals do not happen.
I am glad your faith is so strong that it cannot be shaken by other, weaker Christians or non-believers. Our faith in God should be strong. But the truth is that many non-believers and new believers ARE watching Christian leaders very closely. Jesus expressed much concern about this problem and was openly against pharisees. If we truly love and want to shepherd our new believers in the faith and want to express a faith that others will want to choose to receive also, then we need to be more responsible and sensitive in choosing and supporting our Christian leaders.
P.S. Thanks for your blog! I just found it and like it alot!
LaShawn: When I feel betrayed or disheartened by the church or Christians in general, I remember wisdom that my father passed on to me. A mentor of his told him, “Christians and Christians will let you down, but Christ NEVER will.” I think that should sum it up.
La Shawn,
I am a fairly recent reader of your blog. Tales of “Hate-Filled Christians” and hypocrites is so alien to my experience. I was raised Catholic, converted to Baptist, and hold to a Reformed theology. So I’ve gone through much study and soul searching.
The important lesson all Christians should take from this and many other examples of the failures of leaders to live up to the standard they propose, is that there was only one perfect man: Christ Jesus. The rest of us are fallen and sinful. We do the best we can some of the time, but we all fail all too frequently. And I am thankful that I do not have the availability of some of the temptations available to those with higher position and greater resources.
Of course I will pray for you and Mr. (no longer pastor) Haggard. For your continued strength in the faith, and for Mr. Haggard to lean on the faith that was at the core of his ministry.
My pastor said it wonderfully this Sunday: your heart breaks for his family, those touched by his ministry, and most of all, for those who will be lost due to his bad example.
Do not put your faith in men, but in the Savior that died for your sins, His Holy Word, and the salvation that is yours through His Grace alone.
Great post. I will keep you in prayer.
To Vynette #32,
Thank you for the reply. My mother is not an academic type. She has a high school degree, a mother, and had a moderately successful career in real estate sales.
Her life exemplified one that is filled with good works and kindness toward others. I don’t have any clue how God judges people, but I am fairly confident mom is held good stead.
John
If people studied the Bible and other books that taught about their faith, it would be a little less difficult for people to be shaken. But as Darkstar said there is temptation and always free will. Even when one is saved…
I am Catholic and as such I am not afraid or threatened when people have problems with my faith, because I have studied and understand it. My only problem as a Catholic Christian (and I believe that you can be both)is when people attack Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular when they really know nothing about one or the other.
I believe as someone else said that while doctrinal issues are important in many areas, we have other areas where we need to fight true evil, like the killing of innocent unborn babies because they are inconvenient to someone. We as conservative Christians have a duty to fight for real justice. There is a place for discussing differences and I think that that is good, as long as we are not attacking one another based upon false impressions, questioning is good.
The focus, as Christians, should always be Our Lord and Savior and what we do to show that we are truly living for Him.
Heather
Amen sister
i am a Reformed or Orthodox believer myself…as well as a hard rocking vocalist, guitar, Harley riding right wing crazy…I have absolutely n0 faith in humanity. That is a fundamental dif between us and the libs. They think man is basically good inside.
Thanks for praying for me.
Hello La Shawn,
I followed your advice to read Ephesians in its entirety.
Thank you. … I needed that.
You are not only blessed, but a blessing to countless others, including me.
Ron
LaShawn,
Bravo, your concise explanation warmed my heart and brought a tear to my eye.
I do not speak for God, but I suspect that your stand and your words are pleasing to Him.
Your brother, Tom.
God bless La Shawn. I remain a committed Catholic despite some of the past foolishness of my brothers and sisters in faith. I always try to keep foremost in my mind the simple truth that they are only flawed humans like me – and God’s truth is a whole different story!
As always, with affectionate support for everything you do – even at the times I may not agree.
Ms. Barber:
Thank you for your blog and your prayers! Another entry that is worthy to print, cut and place in my wallet. BTW, if you keep this up, I’ll have to get a bigger wallet! That’s okay, it’s a delightful “problem” to have. I will take your suggestion and read through Ephesians this evening.
Warmest regards and blessings to you!
There is no falling away from the faith for a true Christian. The seed that falls on good soil (the true Christian) is sustained until the end. To add to the five solas, we also have TULIP, or the doctrine of Calvinism:
Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perserverance of the saints
He who stands firm to the end will be saved. Those who make excuses to persevere in the faith are the seed that fell on thorny soil.
I understand that this blog is not specifically religious, and that I would probably do better to seek an answer elswhere, but Walt Schute raised a question that I’ve had about Calvinist theology and that I would like clarified (if he or anyone else is willing to answer).
Being of the Arminian/Wesleyan theological school of thought, as opposed to TULIP, I’ve always been taught
Deprivation
Conditional Election
Unlimited Atonement
Resistible Grace
Assurance and Security
although I’ve only come to name those beliefs as such fairly recently. The main conflict I see between Calvinism and Arminism is Unlimited vs. Limited Atonement. The idea that God has elected, and for no particular reason, those who will be saved is very unsettling to me. Why would God go through the trouble of creating human beings and then damn them to Hell without giving them the chance to be saved? Or am I just understanding Calvinism incorrectly? The idea of Unlimited Atonement–that Jesus Christ died for all humanity and that humans, through their God-given free will, can choose to follow Him or not–is a much more logical (not to mention heartening) idea. But then again, I’m only 18. I’ve yet to really study theology to too great an extent.
Thanks for this great post La Shawn!
The man founded the church.
Jay,
I haven’t actually debated this with anyone, but when I was taught about Calvinism, it seemed to be a good fit to what was in Scripture.
This limited vs. unlimited atonement issue does appear to be important. I think it comes down to this: Did Jesus die for those who are now in hell?
Here’s a couple of links for you:
http://www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/calvinism.html
Jay,
Here’s a link for you.
Thanks Walt. I already took some initiative and found some resources of my own. Some were Arminian, some where Calvinist, and they all made me confused :/ I just blogged about it, so maybe I’ll get a discussion going with my circle of readers. You can join in too, if you want. Oh, the beauty of the blogosphere.
I’m pretty new to your blog (found it through your appearences on The Vent)but just want to say that you have really inspired and encouraged me with your posts and the Biblical wisdom you have shared. As a young Christian woman, I really look up to you, and God has spoken to me through you this past week. Just wanted to say thanks!
Jay,
There are two kinds of influence that the Creator may exercise over creation – moral persuasion or physical persuasion.
These are the forces of love as opposed to the forces of compulsion. Humanity was constituted free. God has refused to exercise compulsion over creation as yet.
Thus it is that immediately any ecclesiastical authority commences to use compulsion, it ceases to represent God, and becomes instead the representative of anti-God forces.
Humans must make choices of their own free will, using those reasoning powers with which they have been endowed. “Come now and let us reason together…” (Is.1:18)
Scripturally, there is no such teaching as ‘Original Sin’. Neither is there an automatic fatherhood of Satan. Adam, created by God, chose Satan. So too, every person has the right to freely choose to follow Adam, who was earthy, or to follow Jesus, who was spiritual.
The doctrines, the traditions, the forms, the rituals, the theological empire-building, and the mind-numbing complexities introduced by the Christian churches over the last two millennia render unintelligible the single simple dictum of the New Testament – follow the Old Man, Adam, or the New Man, the ‘last Adam.’ Our choice!
The New Testament writers enumerate principles to follow in order that Christians living many centuries later may become one with Jesus. Where John preached the gospel of love, Paul announced redemption by a inner and spiritual identification with Jesus, with a self-imposed crucifixion and resurrection.
By subordinating the will of his own flesh, and by choosing the truth of God instead of lies, and obedience to God instead of disobedience, Jesus restored man to his position as it existed in the beginning. By this ‘atonement’ he has made it possible for godly men and women to emulate him and become children of God.
Those that do not choose to do so are still sons of Adam and must carry Adam’s burden of sin and death.
As for the ‘elect’, the proposition of the New Testament is that the ‘elect’ are ‘foreknown’, not ‘foreordained’. There is a vast difference between to two positions.
La Shawn – I’m more than a day late to the party here, but I wanted to thank you for this posting and to add a note of caution. It’s wonderful that you are secure enough in your faith to claim, “I can’t imagine losing my faith in Christ because of what another Christian says or does.” I encourage you to remain steadfast in your faith in the hope of salvation through Jesus. But please, please consider that any of us could fall from grace. Therefore, “if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12) and “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Maybe after re-reading Ephesians, we could check out Philippians.
Grace and peace,
AC
Sister La Shawn:
Your Christian blog-family is always here to support you. That is why I sent a request to have you added to my Yahoo! IM Buddies.
Oh, in case you are interested, I give a very brief explanation of Calvinism in a post titled A Calvinist Manifesto. It might help you to explain Calvinism to your non-Calvinist friends and readers.
After being forgiven for so much in my life, and being trained as a baby Christian to keep my eyes on Christ and not on men, when a close friend who was a pastor revealed that he’d been basically living a double life, and confessed it to the church, I didn’t find my faith shaken at all.
I found my heart broken that my brother had fallen.
I remember a speech by Gordon Hinkley, President and Apostle of the Mormon Church, where he said ‘ours is not an easy religion.’ He went on to talk about what is required of it’s members, the burdens if you will of belief. Mormon theology aside, he is correct. I thought about this after reading your comments regarding those who were unable to carry the burden of faith, who gave up for facile reasons. Belief in God, faith in our Lord and Savior is not easy. The journey to Ameus is long and difficult. While we are urged and obliged to be our brother’s keeper, ultimately it is up to our brother to make the journey.
There is no falling away from the faith for a true Christian.
This is a general theme from some that I find so disheartening.
It is as if a “true Christian” always passes all trials before moving on to the next level/season.
It is as if a young Christian doesn’t need the strength and guidence of mature Christians to walk a Chist-like path.
It is as if Christians have never been taught that they need other Christians around to steel them when they need support.
The seed that falls on good soil (the true Christian) is sustained until the end.
As I understand it, the “good soil” in this case means the seed, young Christian, must be tended. So the young Christian has to read the Bible. The young Christian has to surround themselves with mature Christians who can help them along the way. The young Christian has to grow and get stronger in the word. This holds true for the more mature Christian as well.
So, I really find comment #53, which I quoted, disheartening. And it’s more sad that as of when I respond, no one else has written anything.
First timer here. Excellent post! I agree with you. Keep it up!
I can’t say I’m the same Christian as you. But know that GOD puts roadblocks in your way to test you. If you have hit a roadblock you must be on the right road!
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