Our love? Really? You mean, not by our cruelty towards those we believe to be sinners?
Huh.
So, who looks more like a Christian
Even after being targeted directly
And upon learning of his passing.
Funny, I first heard of the imminent demise of Fred Phelps from George Takei’s post. And I was touched. Honestly moved by the grace and mercy. I will humbly admit that had I heard it without his commentary, my reaction would have been far more along the lines of ‘good riddance’ and ‘hope it hurts’. Not especially Christian of me.
Even still, I think the world just became a better place for having lost that much hatred. It is hard for me to hope that God has mercy on his soul. I don’t want him to experience mercy! I want judgment! Hell-fire and brimstone! But that is my own failing and weakness talking. My lack of understanding. Only God knows a man’s heart.
As much as I hate the bracelets, when I ask ‘What Would Jesus Do?’, I believe that he’d act a lot like George Takei here. He would recognize the sin and show grace and mercy to the sinner.
Far as bad people are concerned….
I’ve always felt that, “GOD will get you.” And if I can help him, I will.
Indeed. God has him now and I have to trust His judgment.
I would imagine that the shame Mr. Phelps is probably at this moment experiencing is more punishment that we could dose out in a lifetime.
Full Definition of SHAME
1
a : a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety
b : the susceptibility to such emotion
2
: a condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute :
It would probably fall right in there with the horror of hearing “I never knew you”…. Matt 7:21-23
That would be my assumption.
I’ve tried to make the point before, but it hasn’t been very well received (and not very well explained by me either) that we can all learn to love the sinner without ever loving the sin. Are we not all sinners?
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Despite this fact, God does not hate us, but rather sent his son to save us. While here, he told us:
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another
So we are commanded to love all regardless of their sins, and realize we are all his children.
When I read this post, all I could think was that good ‘ol George there seems to have a better grasp of this than Fred did. Mr. Phelps will get a just reward, but it will certainly be tempered with mercy if he just opens his heart to the ALL the teachings of Christ.
St Grendel´s last blog post ..the zombified radioactive cockroach of guns
Mr. Takei is most definitely A Class Act. Kudos, sir.
Whenever someone asks “What would Jesus do?” it’s good to keep in mind that “flipping over tables and chasing people with a whip” is within the realm of possibility.
LOL! I’m going to keep this truth in mind for Sunday lunch. It is almost certain to come in handy one day.
Evyl Robot Michael´s last blog post ..St. Paddy’s Day Cheer Aftermath
+1 on Sean’s point… And Takei IS a class act, unlike Phelps…
Old NFO´s last blog post ..An oldie but worth reading again…
Mr. Takei is a Good Person. or at least, that’s how he presents himself to the world. lived through some crazy hardship as a kid in internment camps, then dealt with lifelong oppression as a gay man…and yet, he’s able to be kind to a man who appeared to drip with hate for gay people.
class act, indeed.
Mr. Takei, there are many “Christians” that could take some lessons from you. Well done, sir, and God bless you.
As an aside, has anyone seen the story concerning folks holding up signs at FP’s funeral procession reading “We’re sorry for your loss”? The WBC people were actually confused and had “no idea what they were trying to say.”
A simple expression of love, compassion and forgiveness is completely foreign to these people. That’s the most heartbreaking thing I think I’ve ever seen. God help them. 🙁
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