Extra Cannonical Thoughts from the Cannon of My Sermon
I spoke this morning about the difference in "giving up my life" for a cause I believe in.
We are called as Christians to be willing to do exactly that.
The persons who destroyed the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and those who attacked Pearl Harbor (a tangential commonality) all had such a belief as well.
The difference comes at the cost of the life of others.
Those who must destroy others, find their life forfeit as a side-effect of such action.
Those who stand up, in courage, for their belief ultimately find their death because of the action of others.
The thought occurred to me that those who must destroy another to rid the world of that belief, and to make their own superior, must by the very reason that such behavior is necessary, be in an unreasonable belief system.
If my ideology is strong enough, by its own merit, then it will have a life beyond my physical might. The very power of reason, and moreover, its substance, as I act out such belief, will provide the means by which such ideology can surround the world. My death then becomes a warning peal to all others that what I stood for was a threat.
Those who cannot change the world with their belief, and subsequent action, must therefore destroy all opposition, because it cannot stand on its own merits.
May I have the grace and ability to do as I believe, and believe in such a way as to convince others, rather than find needs to destroy them, so that my beliefs may live.
Peace,
1 Comments:
Hi David,
Intriguing reflection. I will think on it.
But at present I am feeling discouraged with Christianity. I just saw a new book, supposedly listing the 25 top Christian books of all time. It includes the book by the leader who burned people at the stake:-( for not believing in the same Christian doctrine, who tortured people, etc.
And this week, I read a Christian leader defend the Crusades, etc.
And a Christian leader who claims the recent natural disasters happening lately are punishment from God and how Jesus only died for a limited number of humans:-(
And there a bunch of other examples...
Do we Christians really have good news, such a much better answer than non-Christians?
Yes if one listens to John Wesley or William Barclay, but not if one listens to most Christian leaders, especially the new ones:-(
Daniel Wilcox
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