God says (according to Evangelicals):
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 17:16-20)
But the fruit of the Spirit is [present tense] love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29)
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12)
Based on these Scriptures and others I can easily provide, Victor Justice, Revival Fires, Derrick Thiessen (also known as Dr. David Tee), and Daniel Kluver don’t really believe and practice the Bible. In fact, it can be argued that they are not Christians, at all.
Remember, God said it, I didn’t. 🙂
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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And you shall know all about them….
I remember warbling “And you’ll know we are Christians by our love” as a child and actually believing it, but I was raised in the very liberal Catholic churches/schools of the 1960s-70s US San Francisco Bay Area. By and large, those Catholics actually did believe in kindness, compassion, gentle honesty, integrity, respect for everyone, support for the poor, civil rights, the farmworker movement. There was effectively a don’t ask, don’t tell policy about reproductive choices. This was fallout from the grand Vatican II council meeting that attempted to drag the church into the 20th century, and in retrospect probably a brief period of light in the religious murk. (And there’s no question that there were evil things happening to children behind the scenes, they simply never happened to me.)
I abandoned the theology (I’m an atheist) but not the attitude about how to treat others. And so this True Christian “love” practiced by these exceedingly nasty people who pester Bruce, still blows my mind.
Of course, they may come back and tell you they don’t have to listen to you quoting the Bible. Yes, I read a comment to that effect, that Christians didn’t need to listen to outsiders about the Bible. Something about us not being fit to quote the Bible, so some such crap.
Karen, now I have that song in my head! It was a favorite at the Baptist Student Union when I was in college.
Bruce, there are so many mean, judgmental Christians thrse days that it’s hard NOT to equate “Christian” with bigotry, misogyny, hatred, white supremacy and the like. These folks you have mentioned seem to not read or apply any parts of their Bible that require goodness or kindness. But what they’re doing seems to be the norm.in Christianity right now, so I think Christianity has been redefined.
This is so very true. Sorry to say that I have put this in practice too many times.