The Blame Game and Freedom
We've been in a wave of terrorist attacking with knives and axes since Operation Protective Edge commenced.
These sorts of attacks bother me more than bombs and missiles. For one, they can conceal their weapon and take it to any public venue, which makes me feel a little more on edge when I leave the house. Also there is something extra horrific about a terrorist hacking people with their own two hands, people who are just trying to go about daily life, and then be praised as heroic. It exposes the depths of depravity and sin...
The fact that we miss that... the depravity... on a societal/cultural scale, bothers me. Instead we blame shift, and take extra steps to ensure that it really was a terrorist act, as an expression of compassion
Even more so, it is the fact that this mindset has infiltrated the church.
If you sit under the teachings of someone who promotes the idea that Israel creates conditions that make terrorists, that Israel is responsible for these things, then be discerning about that person's overall theology and how they view the authority of scripture. No where in scripture are we told we sin because some else caused us to do so. Its like Adam saying it was the woman, and Eve saying it was the serpents fault. If we miss that basic truth, then how much more is off? If we can't get that we have a sin nature that needs to be redeemed, then we can't know real freedom.
If I blame someone else for my sin, then I'm putting it in the wrong place. I'm not handing it over to the Lord to deal with on the cross, to put it to death, and to resurrect new life. That's what I want for my Arab neighbors... real freedom that comes only from Yeshua, God in the flesh of a Jewish man, who loved them enough to pay for them with His own life.
I once described Yeshua this way to a Muslim women who was being abused by her husband. She had this surprise that God, who came as both a MAN and JEWISH died for her. I didn't hide his identity, and she was shocked by the gospel.
Perhaps we are not being bold enough with them because we aren't being bold enough with ourselves.
Lord, show me my sin, so I can repent.
Now that's a valid prayer.
As long as I play the blame game, no one gets free.
These sorts of attacks bother me more than bombs and missiles. For one, they can conceal their weapon and take it to any public venue, which makes me feel a little more on edge when I leave the house. Also there is something extra horrific about a terrorist hacking people with their own two hands, people who are just trying to go about daily life, and then be praised as heroic. It exposes the depths of depravity and sin...
The fact that we miss that... the depravity... on a societal/cultural scale, bothers me. Instead we blame shift, and take extra steps to ensure that it really was a terrorist act, as an expression of compassion
Even more so, it is the fact that this mindset has infiltrated the church.
If you sit under the teachings of someone who promotes the idea that Israel creates conditions that make terrorists, that Israel is responsible for these things, then be discerning about that person's overall theology and how they view the authority of scripture. No where in scripture are we told we sin because some else caused us to do so. Its like Adam saying it was the woman, and Eve saying it was the serpents fault. If we miss that basic truth, then how much more is off? If we can't get that we have a sin nature that needs to be redeemed, then we can't know real freedom.
If I blame someone else for my sin, then I'm putting it in the wrong place. I'm not handing it over to the Lord to deal with on the cross, to put it to death, and to resurrect new life. That's what I want for my Arab neighbors... real freedom that comes only from Yeshua, God in the flesh of a Jewish man, who loved them enough to pay for them with His own life.
I once described Yeshua this way to a Muslim women who was being abused by her husband. She had this surprise that God, who came as both a MAN and JEWISH died for her. I didn't hide his identity, and she was shocked by the gospel.
Perhaps we are not being bold enough with them because we aren't being bold enough with ourselves.
Lord, show me my sin, so I can repent.
Now that's a valid prayer.
As long as I play the blame game, no one gets free.
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