January 15, 2009

A Conundrum

"Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you."
--Proverbs 9:8--
I go to a community college. All day long I am surrounded by souls. Many of whom are just slightly older high-schoolers, maturity-wise. Finding someone who is interested in truth and wisdom is...well, very very rare. I am more likely to be "scoffed" or ridiculed when I speak up, than to be received well. It is even more rare to find a teacher who, although disgustingly liberal, will respect you for standing up for what you believe.
But does that mean you don't try? Do you stand up in class and say, "That is wrong?" Or do you ignore the evolutionary propaganda and sit by quietly while your dozens of more naive, sponge-like classmates absorb the "material" because, well, the PhD in the front of the room believes it so it must be true? When you come across one of those "scoffers" Proverbs talks about, do you let it slide because they won't believe you anyway?
God did not send us to monasteries up in the Alps (yes, Alps) for a reason! He wants us to be "fishers of men."
Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves." (Luke 10:2) Like lambs among wolves. That doesn't sound like a very good Shepherd and that also doesn't sound anything like words of the wisest man to ever live (Solomon), who counseled us to NOT reprove scoffers!
The thing is, Jesus did not send us out to harvest the fields of souls alone. He sent us with a Guardian, a Counselor -- the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is wait for the "Field Manager" to send us to our tasks!
So the "task" that started this train of thought. I was at school yesterday, standing at the computers in the library. Two guys started talking, not whispering, two computers down, about how they were going to start a video arcade/strip club not far from here. The main guy went on and on about how the local mega-church would shut them down within a month but what a month it would be! It was his friend's dream!! And what a great dream it was! To break up families, degrade men and women, and society! What a hoot!
I must admit, my head was about to explode. Steam was practically visible coming from my ears like a teapot. I was getting angrier and angrier. How dare they!! I had to do something. I felt like something inside me was pushing to get out -- to yell "perverts!" at them.
But, expectedly, my Americanized politeness/political correctness instincts fought back. No, I thought, I shouldn't. Freedom of speech and all. What if I see them around school? Etc. Etc. You can imagine my train of thought.
Unfortunately for them, I have spent the last two years trying to get rid of my Americanized politeness and fear of man's disapproval. The Holy Spirit was clearly telling me I couldn't let evil raise its ugly head without hitting it back down, like that frog-bopping game in Chucky Cheese's when I was kid.
I walked over to them as I left. "You guys are disgusting," I said firmly, detest practically dripping from my voice, looking the main guy square in the eye. Right on queue, the scoffing began. "HA!" he hooted, clapping his hands, "Our first protester!!" The other looked shocked.
I walked away, refraining from kicking him right where it hurts. I'm fiesty -- not mean, and not in a rush for an arrest warrant to show up on my record.
But I felt like the victor. I knew that I had done the right thing. I don't think it'll make a difference but at least I did not stand idly by. I was faithful to what I believe. More importantly, I was faithful to the "still, small voice" within me -- the Holy Spirit. And that is the main part. That is the part Solomon left out. If I could re-write it, it would say, "Do not reprove scoffers, UNLESS THE HOLY SPIRIT TELLS YOU TOO, but expect them to hate you anyway."
"A man truly believes, not what he recites in his creed, but what he is willing to die for."
--author forgotten--
I wasn't in any danger of dying, except maybe socially. But the concept can be broadened to that. Essentially, if you aren't willing to overturn the moneychangers' tables with Jesus, don't think walking with Him.

10 comments:

Robert said...

Good for you! Continue to stand for up for Christ. We are ambassadors of Christ. I once heard a pastor tell a story of how he went to car lot and the salesman kept taking the name of God in vain. But, after every comment where the salesman would take the name of the Lord in vain the pastor would repsond praise Jesus...the salesman finally paused and said hey why is it after ever time I say God d...you respond praise Jesus? The pastor responded; you can bring him down, but I have decided to lift him up!

AFamousStatue said...

: ) That's an awesome story, RunTX. God gave us free will so we can choose for Him and also so we have the choice to choose against Him.

Just like we all have the choice to speak up or be silent when the Holy Spirit moves us to speak.

Looking forward to following your blog. (School keeps me pretty busy though. :/ )

Unknown said...

Thank you for your uncompromising stand. Its refreshing to know that we are handing the torch to such as you
darrel
www.whydepression.info

The Jules said...

Can't see it myself. I would be wondering who created God. A bigger God?

Leah said...

Perhaps it is better to gently reprove a sinner than to tell them they are disgusting. They thrive on that because they are ignorant. If you yell at them you are allowing Satan an entry into your soul. I too have felt this outrage. Peace be upon you Christian sister.

AFamousStatue said...

@ The Jules:

All I can say to that is my personal experience. I have blogged about it so much. In a nutshell, what I know is before God, I was dead (in an endless cycle of self-gratification that never gratified) and now, with God, I am alive. I believe He is the Alpha and the Omega -- the Beginning and the End. He was not created but has existed since before time began. This concept is far too big for human minds to comprehend. But then the universe is too big for our minds to comprehend too but we do not doubt its existence. I have had too many "signs and wonders" that have only strengthened my faith in Him to doubt His all-encompassing presence. Email me if you desire to hear more. Otherwise, please read some of my archives. It may help...

@Leah:

Thank you for your input. I agree with you that confrontations can be messy and cause more trouble than they fix. I do not usually operate in such abrupt, caustic ways. But I always operate under God's specific leading and I do believe that is what I had. Again, I refer back to Jesus' overturning the moneychanger's tables. He did not think about how they would "feel." He knew evil was being done and must be answered. I follow His example. My words were reproving out of concern for their souls and the souls of everyone who would visit their strip club.

Again, thank you for your thoughts. I appreciate it. : )

AFamousStatue said...

@Darrel:

What a wonderful thing to say!! Thank you so much!! I enjoy keeping up with your blog in the future! I have a few family members who suffer with depression. Thank you for speaking out for them. : )

The Jules said...

But isn't that just giving up and saying that we can't understand the universe, so therefore it must be magic, or a God? Then saying that God has always existed is just avoiding the question.

The universe is amazing, and to say that it was simply created by a higher being just replaces the natural wonder of it with a mundane human substitute.

One day we might know how it all works, but just because we don't yet doesn't mean we should give in to superstition to explain it.

That's my personal view anyhoo.

Robert said...

Man after reading your post I feel like shouting...get after it sister!

AFamousStatue said...

@ The Jules:

I'm not superstitious. Those are the people who are frightened about walking under ladders and seeing black cats. Those are the people who operate out of fear and live by unsubstantiated claims and beliefs.

God, on the other hand, has more evidence stacked up for His existence than not! I believe because I have learned of Him -- not because He is my last option. The universe analogy was to explain how big God is. The universe goes past what we can see, and we believe that it does. However, people think of God and say, "If we cannot see Him, He must not exist."

But they do not think of the ways we DO see Him -- or at least part of Him.

Another analogy -- probably not the best one. We see a Michelangelo painting and we do not see Michelangelo, but we know he existed because people tell us he did and we see his work.

I see a hummingbird whose heart beats up to 1,260 bt/min and whose wings allow it to fly up to 60 MPH and I see the work of an Artist. I do not see the Artist but His art causes me to believe He must exist. If the hummingbird is too likely to have possibly evolved from a lizard for you, think of the lensed eye! The closest link scientists can find to the lensed eye is the light-recepting spots on some cave fish. There is no "link" connecting those spots and the incredible lensed eye that is function-less without every part all at once. Even Darwin called it "the damned lensed eye!"

I couldn't find that quote -- so here's another one by him:

"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree."

- Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, p. 175.

I could go on, Jules, but I am running out of time and space. I believe in God because I have evidence for my faith. Some physical and some spiritual. But a wise man once said, "No one is as invisible as him we CHOOSE not to see." (or something like that)

If you won't take a chance that there is a God, even a little leap of faith, even the most obvious evidences for Him will remain hidden from you.

To find Him, you must have a completely open heart and completely open mind. One cannot approach the Creator of the Universe by saying, "You might be out there, but I don't think you are. So you come to my level and show Yourself to me. Then I'll believe you."

To that, He may very well respond, "If you would open your eyes, you would see how I have shown Myself to you all your life and you have not looked at me..."

Praying for you. A sincere seeker will find. The insincere will only find a locked, hidden door.