I ask this question because a “Christian evolutionist” (CE)
and Facebook group leader, responded:
·
…there is no form of love that involves name
calling. To be unaccepting is one thing, but to attack by name calling is
another. I know you're accustomed to being censored on facebook due to what it
deems as hate speech…so you know what I am talking about.
What had brought his response? I had submitted an essay
calling Christian Evolution a “false gospel.” The CE claimed that this was “hate
speech.” When challenged, I answered that CE has led many astray into a false
gospel which denies the historical content of Genesis 1-11 and even of the New
Testament’s many citations from these chapters, each regarding them as
historical. I claimed that it was an act of love to warn others away from the
false gospel which took-away from the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32;
Revelation 22:18-19).
His response hurt, and he closed off any further commenting.
He justified his judgment by alluding to Facebook’s many bans based upon what I
had written, as if Facebook provides a moral standard superior to the
Scriptures.
What do I do when I hurt? I write! I began to think of the hard
but loving words of the Prophets of Israel and of John the Baptist who had
warned:
·
He said therefore to the crowds that came out to
be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath
to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from
these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the
root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9)
However, such a warning was an act of love, an act that
Jesus had performed on many occasions:
·
“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you
to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men
and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in
your synagogues and persecute from town to town…” (Matthew 23:33-34)
The CE had denounced what I had written: “there is no form
of love that involves name calling.” Evidently, Jesus was of a different
opinion. It seems that the proclamation of the truth will be met by hatred.
Jesus explained why He was hated to His biological brethren:
·
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates me
because I testify about it that its works are evil.” (John 7:7)
By degrading the Scriptures, CEs had embraced the evil. This
doesn’t mean that we should give needless offense, but I think that there are
times when we have to label something for what it is. To merely discuss CE on a
high intellectual level fails to convey the seriousness of this heresy and the
damage it has wrought upon the Church.
I have to remind myself that the responses of the world to
the things I say do not define me, and that persecution is inevitable when we
follow Jesus:
·
“Blessed are you when others revile you and
persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
In the end, it will become even worse as society rejects
Biblical values:
·
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on
from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12-13)
This is why Jesus prepared us with these words:
·
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated
me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as
its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the
world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A
servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also
persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” (John 15:18-20)
I need all of these words in order to stand. Otherwise, I
will be cowered into silence.
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