LOVE, WHEN THERE CAN BE NO 👍🏻

Over and over again on Facebook I get faced with the dilemma of not being able to "like" (👍) a post by somebody that I love very much.  So I was thinking about how to love people when you totally oppose what to believe or how they act toward others. It's not the first time I have had to think about this kind of thing. When I was in pastoral ministry serving local churches, I was told that there were KKK members in the congregations that I was sent to love and serve.

And who am I to judge? Jesus said we will be judged by the same criteria that we judge others. He also said that He did not come to judge but to save. And once when I was serving as a Christian minister in the national parks at Dinali national park in Alaska, I heard the Lord say to me, "Who are you to criticize my servant?"

At the time I wasn't aware that I was judging or criticizing anyone of the Lord's servants, though of course as a seminary student I had critiqued other students sermons, and certainly had opinions about the belief of fellow students when we debated ethics and theology. This was a constant occupation whenever we gathered for meals and the refectory or just set around somewhere. I "heard" the Lord admonishing me about that for several days before I had occasion to meet a man who was on fire for the Lord, but was also a former Hell's Angel who told me that he had murdered people. He spent about five hours trying to convince me that baptism of the babies is invalid, but only baptism of adults is from God.  At the time I was sitting all by myself with him on a crowded bus driving through Denali National Park on a day when Denali, a.k.a. Mt. McKinley was visible, which is a very rare, holy, and wonderful thing to behold.  But, he was kind of scary, and it took me a while to warm up to him. After hearing his testimony the following night, it dawned on me that because he felt's sent to proclaim the Gospel to other bikers like himself, that the Lord no doubt knew what he was doing to have called him and appointed him to be a shepherd to a flock that probably no one else could reach in the same way.

I realized at that time, that the Holy Spirit was convicting me of being judgmental when the Lord asked, "Who are you to criticize my servant?"  Through the experience with the biker evangelist, I came to realize in a deeper way how much the Lord loves each and every person. He is always calling us to love one another as Jesus loves us, just as Jesus told His disciples to love one another as He loved them. And there were several times when it was clear that at a particular moment He didn't really like them. He called Peter "Satan" and told him to get out of His sight when Peter tried to dissuade him from facing the Cross. The disciples disappointed Him by not getting what He was trying to teach them, and Jesus was probably shaking His head when He said in disappointment, "O ye of little faith!"

And even though God loves each person who He created and creates, God in Christ Jesus showed that He didn't like (👍 ) the members of the religious establishment by calling them "a brood of vipers".

When we are on Facebook, we see a lot of ways that people like (👍) posts or not. So much electronic "ink" and cyber space is taken up with arguments and even bullying when people disagree with one another. I have been in the position where I have felt led to delete posts on my Facebook page when I put up something that I believe very strongly, but then get attacked by people who don't agree with me.

 I don't mind debating with people about what I believe, but I won't leave abusive and nasty comments on my page. There is too much disrespect and nastiness out there as it is.  I don't want to could contribute to it by leaving anything out there that someone would see. And it makes me sad for the people who feel the need to badger and force their opinions on others in a kind of self-righteousness, especially when it is done under the guise of "Christianity".

 I see that that probably sounds judgmental. And I'm sorry about that, but each one of us has a right to his or her own opinions. However, no one has the right to bully another person. And I just can't like (👍) it at all.
Ever. No apologies.

 So, my hope is that we will continue to love one another as Jesus loves us, and respect and honor each other, too, even when there's no way we can like (👍) something that is said or done.

Beloved, may the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours, today and always.

❤️ ❤️ ❤️