To
Ban or Not to Ban
8/11/14
Are
we tired of the word “ban” yet? In my book it is right up there with
the word “protest” for both words do not accomplish much except for further
division and more hurt. And do we really understand the true meaning
behind this word and the purposes behind it, and what does God say about its
usage? These questions should raise our awareness a tad more along
with our responsibility to work harder not to have to put these types of words
into play. But so far we have yet to figure out this part of life’s
equation and press onward in a splitting manner.
I
can hear it now, it is about time that he addresses a current topic and
supports the cause to rid our society of this type of filth. While
this subject is a heated area within our country and society today many of us
are totally missing the root or core problem here and to be honest this topic
and all of its issues is a direct reflection of the Church’s inability to
complete the mission that she was given. Uh oh, he is not going to
be on the side that we thought he should be on. If you have not read
my article called “Is God Pro Choice?” please do so before you continue with
this one. One must have an understanding about some things
concerning God so that we can understand the entire “ban” issues that are
before us. And once we understand this basic knowledge it should be
very clear that we have fallen down on the job in our mission.
From
the beginning of God’s Word there has been a presence of humanity and while not
every detail has been precisely written down God has given us the ability to
reason things out as to what occurred; reading between the lines so to
speak. Man had a choice to obey God’s one command, and we did
not. Throughout human history people have had the opportunity to
follow and obey our own laws and those that are morally sound, but we still do
not. I can safely say that as long as humans are walking around on
this earth our patterns of rebellion and law breaking tendencies will continue,
this is a safe conclusion. It does not matter if you chose to use
the Bible as this source of context or not, humans will disobey at some point
in their life.
One
of the more hot topics of today is of course the personal freedoms that some
believe are in jeopardy. It does not matter which side of the coin
you wish to support you will have followers and haters. Protesting
and wanting a ban on something is not a new concept and it is easy to find such
references in both biblical and secular texts and I will give both types of
examples in this article. I will also give the reason why the Church
has failed in her mission as well and how she has become weak because of her
ignorance to the knowledge of God and His Kingdom. And through this
topic I can even justify that the Church does not even believe in God’s
authority over His own creation because of our actions.
Banning
the gay community is one of the more specific “bans” that is gracing our
society today and it is not the answer. Our society is not allowing
this issue to drop and through the divided sides the circumstances and
arguments are becoming more detrimental each day. We scream
democracy for everyone and don’t threaten my rights but don’t you find it odd
when the one side cannot or refuses to acknowledge the other side’s
opinion? I am not taking sides here in this article but my intent is
for us to see that both sides are placing all of the true cards out on the
table and then allowing the societal commoners choose accordingly.
Is
the acceptance of the gay community and this type of lifestyle run parallel
with God’s Laws? The answer is “no”. But according to the
world’s standards this type of lifestyle is acceptable and is now being heavily
promoted. Both laws are in play here and both sides can learn from
each other but we have forgotten the civility of this subject and have thrown
“our rights” as the front running statement and have lost the defining edge of
the truth. Then the question becomes of how can we understand the
truth especially if we are refusing to place all of the facts onto the table
and then allowing those people to choose which side to participate and agree
with.
The
biblical example I am going to use is one that many people know about and that
is Sodom and Gomorrah. I am not going into many details here but
when we read this passage and see what it says we must acknowledge the fact
that a gay society existed and flourished as the norm. At no time
does this passage mention or even suggest that those people did not have a choice
in which type of lifestyle they lived but according to the words within this
passage the people of these cities were allowed to live in this manner, up to a
certain point. It was not man who destroyed the cities but it was
God for the hearts of those people became complacent enough with His ways that
God had to do something about the conditions that they believed in.
How
do we know that it was their choice to live in this manner? That
answer actually occurs before the destruction of the cities began at a meeting
and dinner with Abraham. It is through this setting that it becomes
clear that the people of those two cities had a choice for it was Abraham who
argued about the number of righteous people within those walls and if he did
not know that at one time there were people that lived there who knew God and
lived by His ways then Abraham could not have asked God to spare the
cities. This also confirms that God does not “ban” anything He
allows us to choose our path and even gives us time to think about our choices
and change them back to His ways.
This
issue today is still highly debated and from what it seems the battle lines
have been drawn quite heavily, and from the way that we folks have addressed
this issue, they are rightly so drawn in this manner. We have the
church groups all over the country and in other countries as well crying out
that they wish to ban the homosexuals and their lifestyle being forced upon
their lives. While this could be deemed as a noble idea in some
organizations, it does not spread the true meaning of our mission. I
have illustrated one biblical example already but will use Jesus as a
second. Jesus hung out with these people and while He did so told
them about God and His plan for their lives away from their sin. God
continued to give them the facts and then allowed them to make their own
choice. Jesus did not ban anything and if you want to know the
truth, the only thing Jesus came close to banning was some of the activities
that went on inside the temple.
Banning
anything is a cop-out and serves no purpose but division. I also
will inform you that it is a lazy approach to finding a solution as
well. In times past the Church has used her status and power to
direct the decisions of many people and this practice has not stopped even in
recent times. Watching these church groups protesting and
demonstrating across the land pains me at the least and infuriates me at the
most. I can almost see Jesus over turning their signs with His pure
reactions all the while telling them that their tactics are wrong and that they
are serving as a detriment to His Kingdom instead. How can you win
someone over to your cause if you protest them in anger?
The
reason that banning is a cop-out scenario is that it takes no one on one effort
at all to make a sign and scream at someone else but it does in order to talk
with others and to establish a relationship trust between each
party. It is a choice to protest and it is a choice to talk with,
both are applicable when dealing with humans, but only one of those choices
actually has the opportunity to bear good fruit. Banning people,
groups or organizations is done by spot laws and ideas not ones that are
thought through carefully and if someone takes the time to think through something
then they will have a better understanding about the other side before a
divisional tactic is made.
If
the Bride of Christ wishes for others to come to know Him as their Savior, then
it is our duty (mission) to go to the people and to be a witness, not a ban, to
them. This is the part of the bride issue that the Church has also
lied to herself about, in that the bride’s hands should not be dirty and that a
spotless bride means not to play in the dirt. Well, we have to
remember that each one of us is made up of dirt and in order to witness to
people effectively we must have to interact with the people that do not share
the views of God, which means we have to get our hands
dirty. Please, think about this for a while and grasp its
meaning. If we do not work correctly, then we cannot believe in its
meaning or in the results that our work produces.
Since
there have been many protests and other issues concerning the gay population of
the world I chose this example to use within my article. However, that is not the only issue that I
could have chosen that has the same connotations attached to a cause. Taxes, regional conflicts, abortion, religion,
immigration could be other examples that I could use as examples. To my Christian friends who read my blogs you
must understand that these issues shall never leave our societies and if
continued misunderstanding about their causes and results remain, on opposite
parties of the issues, nothing but deepening division shall remain. I am not saying to dry out our mouths and
hearts concerning the fields of these issues, but if we are really going to
make a difference in people’s lives we must change our tactics and begin to
truly help these people instead of trying to ban them and the horrific
procedures that they are voluntarily choosing to participate in.
It
is our responsibility to know the details of what actually occurs to the spirit
and body when these issues overtake our minds and hearts. The root of the problem is our enemy and it
is through his tactics of lying that makes these issues what they are
today. If one looks back into history,
they will see that the gay issues are not new to our society nor are any one of
the examples that I gave above. Humans
are predictable in their actions and how they respond and one can trace this
human protesting and banning to some of the first laws ever recorded. If we try and ban a certain choice that humans
have made popular or into law then we have failed in our responsibility as
Christians to teach what is wrong and at the same time hate what is influencing
them all wrapped up in the love of God projected by our knowledge of God.
There
is no evidence within God’s Constitution that suggests that we ban anyone or
anything from our lives or from listening to the truth. God’s Constitution does however make it very
clear that humans have a choice in what they bring into their lives and how
they deal with that substance afterwards.
It is also very clear that God has the final say in everything according
to His perfect ways and not through our amendments that we try to establish
within His Constitution. It is our
responsibility to allow sinners within our church walls and it is also our
responsibility to teach them that sin is sin and that sin cannot function
within God’s Laws. God has never forced
Himself upon anyone and in like manner we as humans should never force God upon
others either. However, we should set an
example towards others and then be a light unto the world set into motion
through truth.
It
is also known through God’s Constitution that our enemy will tell a half truth
in order to make his point concerning God.
If one does not properly understand God’s Constitution and what it is
saying to our lives, then it becomes impossible for us to explain His message
to others and it becomes just as annoying and irritating to those who struggle
with the presented truth. Jesus stood
His ground when it came to the religious leaders of His day and yet He had time
to show compassion, with truth, to those who did not have anything to do with
the Kingdom. Our enemy wants us to accept
sinners into our church walls and then let them sit there, God wants us to
bring in the same people and then tell them that God loves them and that sin is
sin.
I am
not here to condemn any person for their beliefs but I shall stand up for God
and do my best to show and to teach others that God is real, He does exist, we
do have an enemy and that our choices make the entire difference as to what our
eternal lives shall live. Christians,
stand your ground but never condemn or ban anyone from the Kingdom. Always be open with them and tell the truth
always. In order for you to do this
correctly and in love, you must understand God’s Constitution. Give the people who actually want to know God
a fighting chance, not to fight amongst everyone. Yes, there will be those who just want to
argue to pacify their own territory, let them but always show love to them and
tell the truth always. It is time that
the people within the church walls know who God is and what He stands for in
our lives.
God
never banned anyone He always gave them plenty of time to see the truth before
He had to act accordingly. This previous
statement is a truth and it cannot change.
It has happened in the past and it will happen again in the future. God is a complete God and His ways are
everlasting. I apologize for the
behavior of the Church and everyone representing God that comes to harm or to
divide people. Many people may not like
what I am saying and that is ok. These
words are from God and all He desires is for each one that does not know Him to
give Him a chance; this includes those who have sat in the pews within a church
wall and know absolutely nothing about God as well. Stop the banning and the hateful protests against
people and organizations and try to talk with them and tell them why you
believe in that certain way. They might
not listen or respond in a negative way, but you never know your tone might
just set into motion a willing heart. It
is time for us to be tough on our enemy and to shed light upon his lies, not
towards those who have fallen into his traps.
DLB
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