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Originally Posted by Teft";p="
I have been very frustrated by the fact that Christians on the right who support Bush and the Republicans seem to have either forgotten Jesus' message or didn't know it to begin with.
Jesus wanted to help the poor and heal the sick. He talked of the the rich being able to get into the Kingdom about as easy as a camel walking through the eye of a needle. He talked of love and of bringing good news "to the poor".
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Of course, bringing the "good news" to the poor wasn't that He had opened a soup kitchen down the street. The Good News was the message of salvation by grace, and transformation by the Holy Spirit -ie the kingdom of heaven.
And yeah, it is difficult for a rich man to enter into that kingdom because the rich man has so much to let go of. When he said that, it was in response to the rich ruler who refused to give everything he had to the poor and come follow Jesus. The irony of the kingdom Jesus preached was that if you tried to hoard wealth you'd wind up with nothing, and if you let go of the things in this world for God, you'd gain everything.
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Originally Posted by Teft";p="
For example, Ann Coulter talks constantly about her book sales. She is very wealthy and yet claims to be a Christian. And what about love. She is so filled with anger and hate and "judgment". Remember Jesus said: "A new commandment I give to you, That you will love one another: even as I have loved you... By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another". She's not really about love. Jesus was though. Another passage: "Be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you". How about it Ann, maybe a little tenderheartedness.
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Exactly. Ann, and any "Christian" who puts politics over the message of God is misguided. Christianity literally has nothing to do with politics when it comes right down to it.
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Originally Posted by Teft";p="
The reason many Christians don't follow these messages is simple, they are afraid of death. If one lives with these ideas one may not live too long. The lesson for me from Jesus is that life is how you live it, not how "long" you live it. It's not a longevity contest.
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Oh, in America right now, rarely is someone killed for following Christ, (despite conspiracy theorists to the contrary) but in the rest of the world, sure. I think Christians don't follow these messages because they get wrapped up in meaningless arguments, and stereotype people just as they themselves are often stereotyped. Our culture has made conservative Christianity a political stance, but it never was. Abortion pro or con is a moral issue, not a Republican or Democratic issue. Homosexuality is the same. It's an issue that should have nothing to do with budget deficits or foreign policy.
Unfortunately, when the political parties took stances one way or the other in an effort to curry voters, many Christians began to look at the opposing party as an enemy and our religion as tied to politics.
We should be standing for what we believe is true on all issues, not just a couple cherry-picked issues. In other words, it's fine to stand up for what you believe God says about homosexuality... but you're being a hypocrite if you also don't stand up for what God says about taking care of the poor.