Show me a passage in the Bible where Christ mocks the church.
Seriously, show me. Find me one where He makes fun of His followers. Where He calls them names, even in jest. Where He belittles them.
Know of any? I don’t. Maybe I missed it, and if I did, please correct me. But I do not know of any place in the Bible where Jesus mocks the church.
Corrects them, rebukes their behavior, gets angry and flips over tables- yes. Mocks them- no.
We need to stop making fun of people.
We need to stop calling names. We need to stop belittling. We need to stop shaming, discriminating, and abusing others. There is no place for this kind of behavior in Christianity, unless I am sorely mistaken- again, in which case please correct me.
This is hard. I know. Controlling your tongue is hard. I know. It’s hard for me, too. But it is vital. If we truly want to love in a way that is examplary of the love of God, we MUST keep the words of our mouth from being ones that mock others.
I don’t care if they can’t hear you, if you don’t mean it, if it’s supposed to be a joke, if the individual in question doesn’t seem to mind, or if you always talk like that and that’s “just how you are.” Your tongue is powerful. James chapter one calls it the rudder which is small, yet powerful, and controls the direction of the entire ship.
Where are your words steering you? Where are MY words steering ME? Call me out on this, guys. I don’t want to be full of nice-sounding ideas and not living them out.
Your words matter.
If we are to love others as Christ loved the church, then we MUST NOT BELITTLE OTHERS, EVEN IN JEST. That’s it. That’s how it is.
It’s not funny to put people down. It’s not ok. And it is definitely not Godly. It is hurtful, it is despicable, and it is wrong.
So let’s stop. We can, you know. Not on our own, of course- a task like setting out to control your tongue requires the infinite grace and strength of God. Rely on Him for it, because He is the only One Who can provide it.
We can do this.
So let’s do it.
At some point in the past few months my phone started notifying me of my Bible app's verse of the day. It was super annoying, because I'm prideful and I don't like to be helped or reminded- I can remember to read the Bible ON MY OWN, thank you very much. And, I don't want to read what cutesy verses you picked out, app, I'll go find something really amazing to read ON MY OWN. Get it? Hear me? I'm fine, on my own. Like I said, I am prideful. I would be more ashamed to admit it, except that I really want to make this clear: I AM SUCH A SINNER. I thought I'd been saying this, but maybe it hasn't been clear. My sin is like, all over the place. I sin every day. It's usually based in pride or selfishness. -BUT- My sin is not the end of the story. God was merciful towards me, showed me my sin, and saved me. He has caused change in my heart and my life that I never could have accomplished on my own- and I know that with certainty, because I DID try on...
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