Evangelicals love to claim that they are people of the book; that God said it, they believe it …. end of discussion. However, get into a discussion, debate, or argument with an Evangelical and you will quickly learn that he has all sorts of ways to avoid the clear meaning of the Bible.
Colossians 3:12-15 says:
Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. . . And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Who is the Apostle Paul talking to in Colossians 3? God’s chosen ones, those who are holy and beloved. Most scholars agree that Paul is speaking to Christians. Paul sets forth clear commands for followers of Christ:
- Clothe yourself with compassion
- Clothe yourself with kindness
- Clothe yourself with humility
- Clothe yourself with meekness
- Clothe yourself with patience
- Bear with one another
- Forgive one another (you must forgive as Christ has forgiven you)
- Above everything, clothe yourself with love (which binds everything together)
- Let the peace of God rule your heart
Do these verses reflect how Evangelicals behave on this site? I think not. The Bible commands Christians to judge people by the fruit they produce. Based on my experiences with Evangelicals, all I see are rotting, worm-filled apples, with a few edible apples at the bottom of the bushel basket. And as sure as the sun comes up in the morning, Evangelical zealots will object to my exegesis. Fine, then by all means tell me how I am reading and understanding this text incorrectly. I will be waiting for your response, but I won’t hold my breath. Instead of raging against an Evangelical-pastor-turned-atheist, perhaps you should buy some clothing. You are naked, man.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.
Praise the lord and pass the ammunition……………..
A lot of evangelicals have certainly taken on the clothing of judgmentalism, meanness, bigotry, and cruelty lately. A good number of them seem to follow the lead of Cheetolini rather than the example of Jesus of the Gospels. Sure, they’ll give some lip-service to Jesus, but they prefer the wrathful and vengeful LORD of the Old Testament, the crude facsimile of which they see in their retributive and foul-mouthed Orange Idol. Most of them don’t even make excuses of “baby Christian” anymore like they did in his 1st term. They’ve full-on embraced the ugliness.
Cheetolini? Oh I get it. Cheetos/Mussolini. That Trump is a student of Mussolini and copies his behaviors is obvious. Trump’s chronic lying recalls one of Mussolini’s strategies. To paraphrase Mussolini, he said just say whatever you need to say to manipulate the public. If later you need to contradict yourself, it won’t matter because people will not remember what you said before. Clearly, Mussolini was right. Strategic lying works on ENOUGH people so that Trump can do it successfully. Lying works and Trump is an expert and a veteran liar.
This is possibly Christianity’s most salient reason it is false. People who are Christian don’t behave any better than anyone else, in fact their attitudes and behavior is much worse. “We’ll know they are Christian by their hate.”
Sadly, I have to agree with your assessment of my fellow Christians, Bruce. I have experienced it myself. I know I can’t apologize on behalf of others, but I will do it anyway. I am sorry for the way you have been treated by those claiming to be Christians.
Thank you, Todd. I had an Evangelical preacher take issue with this post. He basically he argued that he treats me like shit because “the Christian life is hard.” 🤬🤬 I plan to respond to him later. I’ve never expected Christians to be perfect. I know I wasn’t. What I do expect is that they practice what they preach, and the bent of their life is godliness and holiness.
Again, thanks. I appreciate your thoughtful words.
I have heard some Christians explain their different behavior in the world by claiming “but those verses mean we treat our fellow church members with love. It doesn’t mean we don’t call out sin or have to treat non-Christians (not our church/denomination) with respect. God calls us to condemn the wrong beliefs.”
And people wonder why there are so many wars in the name of God/s.
(Missi Montana writing under the pen name Aspen Perez. I changed the name on my blog.)