Christian lifestyle and decisions: debate I had, care to join in?

There is a story in the bible, in the book of Acts I believe, about a husband and wife who lied about money they earned by selling a house or field, I forget which it is. Anyway, it was theres, but I thin they lied to a priest or Paul about it and they dropped dead.

Your conversation is very interesting and I hope you will forgive the slight of hand as I move it to the BTS Forum:

Faith & Spirituality
www.belowtopsecret.com...

Where it can flourish with other such topics...

Maxmars, Conspiracy in Religion, Mod

reply to post by troubleshooter


I have never heard of the seven churches. Interesting.

reply to post by troubleshooter


Good point trouble. Thank you for the input. Wish I could give you a star.

Well I believe the golden rule might be good to follow in this case.
For an example a rich christian that has been blessed during the good times, may be inclined to apply the golden rule to his loyal faithful employee's that have have been with him for many years.

If they are observed not to be applying it, for example they lay off 5 workers that have been with them for 10 plus years, make them suck it up so to speak. And they continue buying a new $75,000 vehicle every year and go on a 1 month $15,000 vacation as usual. They aren't applying the golden rule, are they? If however they cut back themselves and layoff only 2 people and carry the other three until things pick up, then they are applying the golden rule the best they can.

Remember people are watching what Christians do, not what they say.
Actions are gospel.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by ZombieOctopus

 

I was trying to avoid it because I didn't want it viewed as flaming but I often wonder if they use their influence in the religious community to further their business.

They probably do but there really isn't anything wrong with using your social connections to promote your business.

I also have always felt that the christian religion's downfall is that it offers redemtion, so it attracts less then stellar types so they can be forgiven over and over again. They go to church and they feel better about what they have done.

This behavior is an act of insincerity it is not a true request for forgiveness and it is apparent by the continuance of the behavior. The reality of it is they are not forgiven of what they did because the never really meant it when they asked for it.

The most disturbing thing I found was giving 10% of the tithe right to the church.
I have always felt that it should go right to charity. Yes, churches do good things with it but I would rather see my money go right to the source.

This should be the least disturbing of the issues you have as this actually is a compliance to their faith. The other examples you give teeter along the lines of being a bit greedy but this one is actually a statement of their faith.

While I do agree that I prefer to give to specific charities over the church itself, apparently they are comfortable with the church handling it.

I watched a show once where a single mom working two jobs still gave 10% to her church and I was horrified. And I thought that church should of been shamed.

The things that alot of churches do should make their leaders ashamed especially the televangilists. But i certainly wouldnt be horrified of this woman acting on her faith.

reply to post by xynephadyn


Keep your two cents - I have a nickel of my own. Christians are no more......or less......moral than other people. Christianity is not, at it's core, a religion based on morality. It is, rather, a religion based on forgiveness. Jesus did not primarily associate with the most righteous members of society, rather he reached out to thieves, tax collectors (another word for thieves), and prostitutes.

The expectation was not that a person would become Christian and suddenly achieve some level of moral perfection. The idea is that a person becomes Christian by receiving forgiveness.

Hopefully some day you will understand that concept, but from the tone of your post I suspect that day will not be soon.

reply to post by EMPIRE


There is no doubt that amongst the teachings of the New Testament, there are few people more reviled than those claiming to be righteous when they were not. Jesus was constantly running afoul of the religious leaders of the day primarily because he was calling them to task and revealing their hypocrisy. The husband and wife you spoke of were killed not for keeping some of the money, but rather for lying about it. If they had sold that field and came in and donated half the money and then said "we decided to donate half of what we got to the church", then there would have been no issue.

To lie and claim to be more righteous than you are is one of the very greatest of the New Testament no no's.

reply to post by nixie_nox


Remember that the physical work of the church is to do more than to just tend to the physical needs of people. That 10% figure is not a Christian thing. I'm pretty sure that was an Old Testament law which predated the Christian era by a substantial margin.

The original purpose of that money was not only to do charitable works for the needy, but also to support the priests and the workings of the "church" itself.

Originally posted by HotSauce

Your dad is right, it is their money so it is their choice how to spend it. I dont't think it is immoral to make use of loopholes in the tax code, that is just being wise. Jesus said pay Caeser what is Caesar's, he didn't say pay Caesar extra.

As a Christian I would say that his dad is wrong. We are all living on borrowed money, borrowed life, even time, it's not ours, not even our bodies, not even our planet.

But a $3500 chandelier is forgiveable as long as buying such won't affect your commitments to give to the needy or to the church.

reply to post by nixie_nox

There isn't anything wrong with tithing 10% to your church,totally biblical.
If they take several trips a year and even meet a business associate for dinner on the trip it's totally legal to write that off,not that it makes your trip free by any means at all. If they bought a 3500.00 chandelier it sounds okay and it sounds like they can afford to do that. I bet they also give a lot of money to charity and help in lots of other ways that most people aren't even aware of...Probably best to wish them well,sounds like they have been succesful and that is a nice thing to see,we all want that for ourselves...

"...she and her husband started/..."

Judge not lest ye be judged. How far do you take it? Should they sell everything beyond what you think is "Christian" and give the proceeds away just to fill some collectivist fantasy you have? They earned what they spent and you have no right to chastise them for it. Get your head out your collectivist butt.