2nd Thessalonians 2:10-12 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
What is an immoral system? Those who are familiar with the acts of the Papacy, or modern day Christianity, should have no doubt that the language in 2nd Thessalonians 2:10-12 accurately describes an immoral system. The plausible reasoning, by which the advocates of that system have palliated and apologized for sins of various kinds, is among its most remarkable features. Thus, love the sinner, hate the sin emerge as an apology and acceptance of sin. Sinning is of no consequence for 'we all sin".
What is an immoral system? Those who are familiar with the acts of the Papacy, or modern day Christianity, should have no doubt that the language in 2nd Thessalonians 2:10-12 accurately describes an immoral system. The plausible reasoning, by which the advocates of that system have palliated and apologized for sins of various kinds, is among its most remarkable features. Thus, love the sinner, hate the sin emerge as an apology and acceptance of sin. Sinning is of no consequence for 'we all sin".
Clichés have a way of sneaking into our sub consciousness and thru a process of self-coding, they emerge as something profound and worthy of reflecting upon. Call them clichés, truisms, rhymes or even crude remarks they are capable of improving or even perverting our thought process. Many of the clichés we heard as a child lay dormant waiting for that moment to spring forth and replicate themselves in the mind of those we meet. Often they are nothing more than cute phrases that tickle the ear and soothe the mind of the discontented. In the early onset of emerging, nations and communities the use clichés or truisms as learning or indoctrination tools were commonplace.
Often, speeches that the presenter considers worthy of the populace remembering are filled clichés. Although bordering on embellishment, John F. Kennedy's famous speech. "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country", was enshrined in history as one of the greatest presidential speeches made by an American president.
My grandmother used numerous clichés to teach me objectivity lessons. Among her favorite were, "It is the early bird that gets the worm", and "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Both of these statements drove her point home, but one afternoon while plowing my mother's garden I began to question the early bird concept, there were variables that created inconsistencies. Even today, I still find myself wondering; why a cake is not a cake once you eat it or why one monkey doesn't stop the show.
The use of clichés or truisms in a religious setting often promotes a sublime intent to deflect or detract from or even shape the word of God. When a Bible truth is reduced to a Cliché the values of Christianity suffers. Clichés maintain the innate ability to cross the line between teaching and indoctrination in a veiled manner. A cute phrase can create a point of reflection such as, "One monkey doesn't stop the show", or a point of action such as, "Love the sinner, and hate the sin".
On any given Sunday, thousands of preachers will stand before their congregation and proclaim that Jesus said, "Love the sinner, and hate the sin." Many of those hearing those words will believe because "my Pastor said it". If we do not show love they will hate us. If we do not show love they will not come to our churches, thus our bottom line will suffer. The organized church has decided that in order to remain relevant in a pessimist society it must dumb down its rhetoric in the face of it an adversary. Thus, the organized church has chosen to become a part of the immoral system rather than being shamed into an irrelevant existence. Imagine the howls of the wolves if one would proclaim from the pulpit or on national television, "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matthew 23:33) The political correctness police would descend upon the interloper, with the intent of shaming the pastor and the church into compliance with the immoral system.
Shaming has evolved into an art form. It has morphed into something sinister from the days when one kid would say to the other, "Your mother wears cowboy boots". Usually, a fight would erupt and afterward, they would usually leave the playground as friends unless an adult intervened. The intervention of adults usually results in words used like antisocial and bully to describe a harmless prank.
In today's society, we create new and potent words, and those that speak from self-elevated positions rush to provide the proper definition and narrative. The media courts this new age narrative. The list of the made-up word includes; racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it. Call a person one of these words and the result is similar to saying to the person you have body odor. These words affect or offend a person whether it is true or not.
I was in a Sunday school when I first heard the words, "love the sinner and hate the sin". To put things in the proper perspective, it was the Sunday after the Supreme Court of the United States validated the alternate lifestyle agenda. My world, based on the Holy Spirit led common sense and the Bible entered into a state of turmoil. The Sunday school teacher took an ample amount of time explaining what I considered a new concept of Christian values. The pastor made a feeble attempt to explain how and why we were supposed to love the sinner and hate the sin. I am not alone in saying, "I don't get it", but the shame of acknowledgment it silences the voice of many. The government's re-indoctrination of Christian values with the support of the clergy was in full play. I left the church that day one very confused soul.
A possible reason Christians have begun to spout these phrases and cliches as if they were God inspired scripture is they are a part of the process of justifying sin. Now that sin has been justified by the government, the populace is facing cultural crises, church crises, and family crises. These crises have torn our communities and cities apart and now they are on the verge of destroying the very nation that spawned them. As marriage equality gained support, the traditional church and Christianity found itself in a dilemma. How do the churches attract people in a society that have turned its back on God? Traditional churches are becoming empty and many churchgoers are wonders where it will end.
Two statements in the above paragraph are not scriptural. The founding of the church was not to attract people to Christ, and Christians who study the Word of God know how this world is going to end. I must restate to draw people to Christ was not the purpose of the church; it was a place of refuge for those who had found Christ.
Many learned Bible scholars would have us to believe that Jesus actually said, "Love the sinner, and hate the sin." Whether he said it or not our indoctrination implies that, he would be on board with this 'simple truth'. Why would he not be? The adage supports universal love. We take the catchphrase from Mahatma Gandhi who morphed it from Augustine's, "With love for mankind and hatred of sins", not because we agree with everything Mahatma Gandhi said, but because he conveniently said, “Hate the sin and not the sinner.” The problem of dealing with any sin is settled.
The problem with Mahatma Gandhi statement “Hate the sin, not the sinner” is, there is nothing in the Word of God to validate the statement. The question that it does present is how does humanity separate sin from a sinner? Will the creation of laws eliminate hate? Can we accent the positive and the negative will disappear?
The immoral system that has become a part of the organized church teaches that the use of the word sinner is hate speech and it would be judging to make such an assessment of a person's nature. According to the pious prelates, the bible says, we are not to judge, yet, every day we make judgment calls. We judge when we refuse to hire a person because of his history or calling a person names because they do not agree with modernist views.
The use of Matthew 7:1 as the foundation of the dissent against judging is a miss-characterization of the heart of Jesus. Matthew 7:1 does not say, "Judge not", it says, "Judge not that ye may not be judged", and in the rest of the paragraph Jesus explains his meaning. If you do not want to be judge, do not judge, because if you judge, you will be judged. My Grandmother said it this way, "If you can't stand hot grease stay out of the kitchen." My brother interpreted it as, "grandmother said to stay out of the kitchen when she is cooking." We err when we surgical remove a segment of a verse or scripture and present it as a complete thought. To do so is an attempt to turns the Word of God into a polluted mess.
The provincial rabbit hole has re-emerged or recreated itself in the name of political correctness, and now it has become a safe haven for the church. The leader of this immoral system is promoting, promising and dispensing the blessings of God for a fee. "This was the problem with the early church that the protestant reformation was supposed to correct." Salvation and money have become synonymous and sin is not a part of the equation. The church is no longer a place for the broke and poor because if you are serving God, he will give you money. The Santa Claus concept of Christianity has placed many in a Lazarus syndrome; we are begging God for the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table. A careful study of Lazarus offers a clear path of refutation to many of the notions and clichés that have caused Christian values to suffer. Cliché after cliché emerge, but they are lacking in the constancy and power of God word.
The Bible makes a clear distinction between the fate of the righteous and the sinner. "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1st Peter 4:18) "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD." (Romans 6:23) Paul's message to the Corinthians was as such, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the LORD, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. (2nd Corinthians 6:17). "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)
The problem with most truisms, clichés, and new age interpretations is that they seek to justify a preconceived ideology. My perspective is supportive of what I expect to prove. In essence, if we want to prove that infidelity is acceptable all we need to do is study the life of Abraham and other great bible figures. Once we have completed our study we can proudly proclaim, David was a man after God's own heart, "BUT" he sinned.
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