Re: Nice 'Lecture'...
Submitted by sally on March 28 2002 01:53:41
In reply to Nice 'Lecture'... submitted by Andy on March 27 2002 14:39:44
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Hi Andy, How do you categorize degrees of importance? I don't understand the question. Any thing that is going to be a major struggle in your life should be shared I would think. Your wife is to be helpmeet. I guess you don't have to tell her what you don't want but I'd hardly call her my best friend if a bunch of guys on the Internet knew things about me she didn't know. Any sin at all will keep you out of His Kingdom. Do your best friends know everything about you?… Can they be trusted to keep this information to themselves? Where have you been? Have you noticed how much I talk? Believe me my friends know more about me than they've ever asked to know. And what do I care if they share the info. God knows my heart and it would be pointless for me to try hide my sins. Before I wrote on this site about how I had the habit of fantasizing people's funerals I thought about it. I came on here with my real name and email addy and I thought, "this could come back to bite me." I really have not told my friends that I've done this. Nor have I told any but one person that I had a period of time where this thought of murder would pop into my head. Then I thought, "ah who cares if it comes back and bites me. God knows what I've done. And it's not like I should be a hypocrite and pretend to be sinless." The only reason I've not told me friends this stuff is that it's never come up. How many churches are there in existence today where you can go and confess, even only to the pastor, that you are a boylover? They are obligated to tell law enforcement if you confess to certain details. Is a person to sit down together with someone they feel they love, and confess to them every ungodly urge which has ever passed through their mind? The scripture tells us to confess our sins, but not to everyone. We confess to the one(s) we have offended… otherwise we are obligated to confess only to God. I tend to agree with you on this. Kind of. I think I was talking to Splash and he used the word healing and I was talking about the verse in James that tells us if we are sick we need to call the elders and we need to confess our sins and we will be healed. But I don't think we need to confess to everyone. But I can't imagine a marriage going very well if you had this huge secret between you. How many churches do you know of that are like this? I once suggested to a friend that he ask his pastor what would happen if he put a sign out in front of his church that read, Others Need Not Attend How many people would come to church?… How many would stay away? How many people actually live up to the ideals that you have suggested? How many "Judases" are there in the church who will heap praises upon themselves at the expense of their "friends"? There are some lousy churches out there. I've been in some good ones. I believe that every church except perhaps the Holiness Pentecostal and Second Touch Methodist strains know that we are sinners, though. Maybe they acknowledge it in general but really think in their hearts that they personally are pretty good people. I was talking to a friend who had left my church once. We were discussing what the problem with our church was. I suggested that no one ever confessed sins. Everyone pretended they were sinless. He agreed that it was healthy for us to confess our sins and to seek support from the church. Then he thought for a minute and then he laughed and said, "Just you go first, Sally. I'm not getting up there and telling my sins. " And I thought for a minute and agreed that it wasn't a very attractive prospect. But we can't complain about the lousy churches if we are not willing to risk the hurt that it will take to make them better. Can I serve Christ only in a church building? Can I turn something else into a "church"?… an assembly? I believe that is what we are trying to do here in this forum. Although we have had a feeble beginning, I can recognize this forum as a church. There are a lot of hurting people here who can, and have, and are sharing their hurts and fears here. I have seen many hearts turned to Christ, and many people saved from taking their own lives because of this forum, and it has only been here for a little more than three years. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Bach.) I do believe you can serve those who are not in your church. But I don't believe that you can turn something else into a church. A church has to have elders for one thing. In my tradition-- the Reformed tradition-- we believe that there are three marks of a true church-- the gospel must be preached, the sacraments must be properly administered (baptism and the Lord's Supper are the sacraments we hold to), and biblical discipline must be exercised. I don't believe that any of these things can be done on an Internet discussion board. I love these forums and I think it is a good thing to encourage people and to argue in cyberspace. But I don't think that this can take the place of the daily interaction with a local church body. I love what you have said here, and you are exactly right. The thing is, we have to recognize it when we find it, and I think it is right here. Do you think it is asking too much of you to keep coming back and lecturing us as often as possible? Heh, heh... I think I will print this and frame it and put it above my monitor. LOL This is a historic moment. Someone actually encouraged me to speak instead of throwing rotten vegetables. The truth is that I'm trying to answer everyone tonight and then hoping to cut my visits back to one day a week. I have the kids to school and the husband to tend to and then there is this novel that is supposed to be done in two months... You'd think with the amount of talking I do I could spit out a novel in no time but it just isn't as interesting all of you are. Sally, I hope you will give us the benefit of the other three-fourths of your lecture. I appreciate what you have to say, and look forward to reading more. Oh well I've got to tell you... with the exception of just one guy, you are probably the nicest people I've ever lectured on the Internet. It's been a pleasure to call you all sinners. LOL I'm serious, though, you all have been wonderful and thought provoking. And though we are not in agreement I'm thinking we've done pretty well here and for that I thank God. sally |
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