MY FRIENDS, I HAVE MADE A PAINFUL DECISION ~ After about seven dueling
years with him on the TimesDaily Religion Forum, and maybe four years
dueling with him on Facebook - I have decided to UnFriend my long time
nemesis, Crusty. I have stayed Friends with him all these years, hoping
to shine some Light into his world. And, hoping that our dialogues
might be fruitful to my other Friends.
But, it seems that, instead of seeing any Light - he is becoming increasingly more negative - and our dialogues more frequently turn into "spitting contests" - which benefits no one. So, it seems that it is time to cut the umbilical cord and say goodbye to my long time Friend, Crusty.
Am I doing this because Crusty disagrees with me? Absolutely not. I love discussions regarding our Christian faith. If no one ever disagreed how could there be a discussion? If we all agree on everything - where is the discussion? Without discussion, where is the learning and growth?
And, that is why, over all these years, even though many Friends have suggested I cut him loose - I have wanted to keep Crusty as a Friend. And, as long as his participation inspired a few good discussions, I felt it was worthwhile. But, as I said above - he has gotten more and more negative and disagreeable.
We might bring a negative person into our group, church, etc. - as long as we had hope of our group, or us individually, being a positive influence and our efforts show some progress. But when that negative person just becomes more negative - it is time to remove the leaven from our group or church.
Having a person in our dialogues who disagrees is not a negative. That can be a positive, for it encourages discussion. That is why I am so high on Home Family Bible Studies that are spirited and interactive - with folks who are willing to speak up and share their thoughts on Scripture.
If no one ever disagreed in Scripture studies, there would be little or no actual discussions. Without discussing Scripture in an interactive study group - agreeing, disagreeing, agreeing to disagree as Christian brothers and sisters - it would be much more difficult for each of us to mature in our knowledge of God's Word.
Let's say that you are in a Bible study and you find yourself disagreeing with one of your brothers and sisters on the meaning of a particular verse or passage, what will happen? You will discuss it for a while during the study - but, not wanting to totally sidetrack the study - you let it go.
What happens next? Most likely you will go home and dig deeper into your Bible - trying to understand why you believe as you do - and trying to see how your study group friend came to a different conclusion. In the process, you and most likely others from that study group are going deeper into Scripture to better understand that verse or passage. That, my Friends, is how we grow more mature in His Word.
It is a known fact that we get much more out of a Bible discussion group - than we do from a sermon. In a sermon, even a great sermon, we just listen - and sometimes our minds wander. Or, something in that sermon will trigger a thought or idea pertaining to a particular passage. You are dying to ask a question - but, you cannot, for it is a sermon and not a Bible study. And, unless you take a moment to write down that thought (which most often we do not) - within a few minutes that thought has flown like a butterfly out the window.
And, Bible studies where the leader stands at a podium and teaches - is really just another sermon, but not on Sunday. That is why whenever I have the opportunity to lead a Bible study - I will always sit among the study group and not isolate myself behind a podium.
I am not saying that we do not learn from sermons, but it is my contention that we learn much more when we are actively discussing Scripture - instead of just listening to sermons. But, with what we do learn from sermons (20%), Bible studies (40%) and Sunday School classes (40%) - we grow toward maturity in our Christian faith.
Feeling as I do about Bible study and discussion groups - I do not UnFriend a person for disagreeing with me. I applaud that person and do my best to respond accurately and Biblically to the points raised by that Friend. But, at some point we must remove the negative leaven when we see the possibility of that negativity leading others down the wrong path.
And, that is why tomorrow I intend to UnFriend Crusty. Why not do it right now? Because if I do it now, Crusty will just notice that I have disappeared. He will assume that I have UnFriended him, but will just assume that I only did it to jump out of the fire.
That is not true. What I am doing is protecting other Friends from the fire - and from endless "spitting contests" which seem to be growing with no positive outcome in sight. At least this way, Crusty will be able to read this last post and know why I have UnFriended him.
I do pray that someone, somewhere, will be able to reach Crusty with the Light of the Gospel. Since it seem very apparent that person will not be me, and to prevent his negativity from discouraging and/or affecting other Friends, I believe it is time. God bless, Bill
But, it seems that, instead of seeing any Light - he is becoming increasingly more negative - and our dialogues more frequently turn into "spitting contests" - which benefits no one. So, it seems that it is time to cut the umbilical cord and say goodbye to my long time Friend, Crusty.
Am I doing this because Crusty disagrees with me? Absolutely not. I love discussions regarding our Christian faith. If no one ever disagreed how could there be a discussion? If we all agree on everything - where is the discussion? Without discussion, where is the learning and growth?
And, that is why, over all these years, even though many Friends have suggested I cut him loose - I have wanted to keep Crusty as a Friend. And, as long as his participation inspired a few good discussions, I felt it was worthwhile. But, as I said above - he has gotten more and more negative and disagreeable.
We might bring a negative person into our group, church, etc. - as long as we had hope of our group, or us individually, being a positive influence and our efforts show some progress. But when that negative person just becomes more negative - it is time to remove the leaven from our group or church.
Having a person in our dialogues who disagrees is not a negative. That can be a positive, for it encourages discussion. That is why I am so high on Home Family Bible Studies that are spirited and interactive - with folks who are willing to speak up and share their thoughts on Scripture.
If no one ever disagreed in Scripture studies, there would be little or no actual discussions. Without discussing Scripture in an interactive study group - agreeing, disagreeing, agreeing to disagree as Christian brothers and sisters - it would be much more difficult for each of us to mature in our knowledge of God's Word.
Let's say that you are in a Bible study and you find yourself disagreeing with one of your brothers and sisters on the meaning of a particular verse or passage, what will happen? You will discuss it for a while during the study - but, not wanting to totally sidetrack the study - you let it go.
What happens next? Most likely you will go home and dig deeper into your Bible - trying to understand why you believe as you do - and trying to see how your study group friend came to a different conclusion. In the process, you and most likely others from that study group are going deeper into Scripture to better understand that verse or passage. That, my Friends, is how we grow more mature in His Word.
It is a known fact that we get much more out of a Bible discussion group - than we do from a sermon. In a sermon, even a great sermon, we just listen - and sometimes our minds wander. Or, something in that sermon will trigger a thought or idea pertaining to a particular passage. You are dying to ask a question - but, you cannot, for it is a sermon and not a Bible study. And, unless you take a moment to write down that thought (which most often we do not) - within a few minutes that thought has flown like a butterfly out the window.
And, Bible studies where the leader stands at a podium and teaches - is really just another sermon, but not on Sunday. That is why whenever I have the opportunity to lead a Bible study - I will always sit among the study group and not isolate myself behind a podium.
I am not saying that we do not learn from sermons, but it is my contention that we learn much more when we are actively discussing Scripture - instead of just listening to sermons. But, with what we do learn from sermons (20%), Bible studies (40%) and Sunday School classes (40%) - we grow toward maturity in our Christian faith.
Feeling as I do about Bible study and discussion groups - I do not UnFriend a person for disagreeing with me. I applaud that person and do my best to respond accurately and Biblically to the points raised by that Friend. But, at some point we must remove the negative leaven when we see the possibility of that negativity leading others down the wrong path.
And, that is why tomorrow I intend to UnFriend Crusty. Why not do it right now? Because if I do it now, Crusty will just notice that I have disappeared. He will assume that I have UnFriended him, but will just assume that I only did it to jump out of the fire.
That is not true. What I am doing is protecting other Friends from the fire - and from endless "spitting contests" which seem to be growing with no positive outcome in sight. At least this way, Crusty will be able to read this last post and know why I have UnFriended him.
I do pray that someone, somewhere, will be able to reach Crusty with the Light of the Gospel. Since it seem very apparent that person will not be me, and to prevent his negativity from discouraging and/or affecting other Friends, I believe it is time. God bless, Bill
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