Sticks and stones - Songs have been vocalized, poems penned, and T.V. pleas spouted all in the hope of peaceful co-existence. Sadly it ain't happening. Not this side of the Second Coming of Christ.
This comes to mind because my friend, Stacy Harp, over at Active Christian Media is in the thick of it with a number of pro-sin-of-homosexuality bloggers and other folk. She's not unused to being vilified by a number of people on the Internet. And, as is the case now, some are sending her hate mail.
Of course the natural inclination in such things is to react against them in a like manner. But in my experience it's typically best not to react as the world would. Not always an easy thing. We Christians still battle with the flesh and all it's sinful desires and sometimes we fail. Until that day when all that is contaminated by sin is burned up, we will continue to face the temptation to react and do things like the world. Thankfully, when we rely upon the Holy Spirit and the Word we can receive victory against such temptations. That means all temptations, be it the sin of homosexuality, the sin of heterosexual sex outside of marriage, or the sin of lust, they can all be overcome through the blood of Jesus.
That said, there is another simple fact pre-Second Coming: we can't all get along all the time.
And that is because of sin.
When we humbly stand in the truth of God's Word, the world will hate us for that. And right now it's hating Stacy, a person I know to love the Lord and who I know desires that others know the life saving grace of the cross of Christ too.
Jesus tells us that the world is going to hate us, but like Him we need remember that we are not to hate back. Something to remember as the return of Jesus draws closer.
And if you are reading this, and are not a Christian, the Good News is that Jesus gave up His life for you so that you could be freed from the bondage of the sins that chain you. One of the bonuses in that freedom is a personal relationship with God the Father, the Creator of the Universe. Want to know more? Go here.
