Bible Questions Answered:
“...because I don't believe in their
practices, they call me a bigot, because I am a Christian...”
Tony/ San Diego, California U.S.A.
Bible Answer:
Definition of bigotry:
Bigotry is the state of mind of a
bigot: someone who, as a result of their prejudices, treats other
people with hatred, contempt, and intolerance* on the
basis of a person's ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender,
sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics.
Wikipedia
Intolerant: Unwilling to grant
equal freedom of expression.
Merriam-Webster
This absolutely does “not,”describe
the Christian!
This absolutely does “not, describe
the Christian!
Only a total illiterate, would say such
nonsensical, and ridiculous things!
A Christian, Loves his neighbor:
Matthew 22:36-40 KJV
36 Master, which is the great
commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt
love The Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great
commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets.
John 13:34,35 KJV
34 A new commandment I give unto
you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love
one another.
35 By this shall all men know that
ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 15:12,17 KJV
12 This is My commandment, That ye
love one another, as I have loved you.
17 These things I command you, that
ye love one another.
Romans 13:8 KJV
Owe no man any thing, but to love
one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
I Corinthians
13:1 NLT
If I could speak all the languages
of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
I Thessalonians
4:9 KJV
But as touching brotherly love ye
need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God
to love one another.
I John 2:9-11
KJV
9 He that saith he is in The Light,
and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother
abideth in The Light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11 But he that hateth his brother is
in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he
goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
I John 3:11,14,15,23 KJV
11 For this is the message that ye
heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
14 We know that we have passed from
death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his
brother abideth in death.
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a
murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in
him.
23 And this is His commandment, That
we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one
another, as He gave us commandment.
I John
4:7,11,12,20,21 KJV
7 Beloved, let us love one another:
for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and
knoweth God.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we
ought also to love one another.
12 No man hath seen God at any time.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected
in us.
20 If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
21 And this commandment have we from
Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
Our Savior, Himself
taught, (not acceptance but) tolerance!
Matthew 13:24-30
KJV
24 Another parable put He forth unto
them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed
good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy
came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up,
and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the
householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed
in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath
done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and
gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye
gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the
harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather
ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them:
but gather the wheat into my barn.
At this point, we
must stop to properly understand God's love, and what must be our own.
John 3:16 KJV
For God so
loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
II Corinthians
5:21 KJV
For He (God
The Father) hath made Him (Jesus Christ God's Son) to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him.
Because Jesus loved
the world, did God's Son, love sin?
Absolutely
“not!”
Deuteronomy
25:16 KJV
For all that do such things, and all
that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto The Lord thy
God.
Psalm 5:4,5 NLT
4 O God, you take no pleasure in
wickedness; you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.
5 Therefore, the proud may not stand
in your presence, for you hate all who do evil.
Psalm 11:4,5 KJV
4 The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord's throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the
children of men.
5 The Lord trieth the righteous: but
the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth.
Habakkuk 1:13
KJV
Thou art of purer eyes than to
behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity..."
God loved the
world, humanity His creation, but He hated their sin!
And that is the
character of the Christian, in the world.
Love the
individuals, pray for them, help them, but hate the sin.
Is their sin, any
worse than our sins were and are?
No!
Romans 3:23 KJV
For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God;
James 2:10 KJV
For whosoever shall keep the whole
law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
The role of the
Christian.
Jude 22,23 NLT
22 And you must show mercy..."
23 Rescue others by snatching them
from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so
with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
Romans 12:9,10
NLT
9 Don’t just pretend to love
others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is
good.
10 Love each other with genuine
affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
Bigotry, treats others, who are not like, or believe like,
themselves, with hatred, and contempt.
This certainly was not Jesus Christ, nor is it true of His true
followers!
Hate the sin, yes, but love and try our best to help the individual!
Jesus told the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector.
Luke 18:9-14 NLT
9 Then Jesus
told this story to some who had great confidence in their own
righteousness and scorned everyone else:
10 “Two men
went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a
despised tax collector.
11 The Pharisee
stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God,
that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t
cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m
certainly not like that tax collector!
12 I fast twice
a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
13 “But the
tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to
heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O
God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
14 I tell you,
this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God.
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will be exalted.”
The Pharisee, exalted himself, while despising his neighbor. This is
bigotry.
The follower of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 5:38-48
NLT
38 “You have
heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An
eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
39 But I say,
do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right
cheek, offer the other cheek also.
40 If you are
sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.
41 If a soldier
demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.
42 Give to
those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.
43 “You have
heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your
enemy.
44 But I say,
love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
45 In that way,
you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He
gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain
on the just and the unjust alike.
46 If you love
only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt
tax collectors do that much.
47 If you are
kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?
Even pagans do that.
48 But you are
to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Now, are Christians thee only ones who though they love all, yet maintain their standards?
Are Christians thee only ones who maintain their beliefs?
Absolutely not!
What kind of doctor would recognize disease as a killer, and yet say,
well I don't want to be a bigot, so I will say that some disease is
OK!
What kind of soldier would maintain his post, yet think to himself,
“after all enemy soldiers are just men like me, I don't want to be
accused of being a bigot, so I will let some of them past my watch.
In Boulder, Colorado (America), we have The National Bureau of
Standards. It is here were the standards of all measurements are
scrupulously kept! A pound, 16 ounces or 0.4536 Kilograms, in the
form of metal weights, that are kept by the bureau. The measurement
of one foot, an inch, a yard, etc. Any and all measurements that you
can think of, one will find there. And time, counted off by an Atomic
Clock, with no variations, for thousands of years.
This is mentioned to state that there must of necessity, always be
standards! Society as we know it, could not exist without them. And
it is no less true for Spiritual Standards taught by our Creator!
Some one in their sinful rebellion may say, “I don't believe in
Jesus!”
That of course is their choice, but our Savior says.....
John 8:24 KJV
I said
therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe
not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.
What an absolute “test,” of Spiritual Faith!
Love, mercy, help, prayer, giving, sharing, and not only of those who
love us, but of our enemies!
This is the teaching of the Christian Faith!
John 13:34,35
KJV
34 A new
commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this
shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to
another.
