Comments on stylos: The Vision (1/19/12): Be kindly affectioned

MJ, Thanks for the comment. Some follow ups: 1....

2012-01-20T13:42:54.819-05:00

MJ,

Thanks for the comment. Some follow ups:

1. On men who have children who did not want them. Assuming this is a Christian man, I would say this is a sinful attitude. The child did not magically appear but was created through union with his wife. So, he created the child too, not just the wife. If he did not want to have children, perhaps he should not have married and been content to be celibate. We are given a mandate to be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28) and children are to be a blessing and not a burden (Pss. 127-128). All that to say that, yes, having children can be an incredible burden. You don't know how selfish you are till you have children. But, as Christians, our mindset should be denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily and following Him(Luke 9:23).

2. Agreed. Rod passages do not sanction physical abuse.

3. Agreed. Biblical authority and rule is not tyranny.

4. On disagreements with brethren. There are good reasons for leaving a church and even for shaking the dust off your feet, especially if the issues is right and vital doctrine. Sadly, however, many evangelicals seems to jump in and out of church the way, they jump in and out of marriages.

Blessing, JTR

...with regard to the relationships that you ha...

2012-01-20T12:18:04.619-05:00
...with regard to the relationships that you have with your fellow believers in the church, it should be like those you have with your family.

What do you say to some individual in your congregation who truly does not like his children, who never wanted children but now must suffer their presence - and the added expense of raising them. You, the pastor, may be unaware of this situation but believe me it does exist.

I've heard many sermons directed primarily at children and wives which emphasize obedience and submission on their part right along with the authority of the father, including the old 'spare the rod' adage - which should be reworded as 'use the rod sparingly'. Only once did I hear a sermon that dared to mention that authority without responsibility and love was tyranny - no more, no less.

As for dumping a fellow believer that you disagree with, isn't there a procedure for handling problems between believers?

You have a very good sermon here, and a very important one. The evil one (whose name I refuse to write for shame) seeks to divide us and turn Christians against each other; sermons like yours will help us stay together and help us stay focused on the Lord.

Love you brother!