Blog posts to write 17 May 2024

Posts that I have been thinking of writing, hope to get to soon:
-False flag Christians: insincere but loud Christians, in essence planted by the devil to do evil things in the name of Christianity, thereby discrediting Christianity in the eyes of many people.
Sorry, I know that it can only be offensive to someone if I casually say that they have been planted by the devil, even if they know that they are very far from true sincerity. However, I believe that the further we are from true pursuit of Christ in our hearts, the easier it is for the devil to manipulate us and use us for his own ends. I believe that as Christians we each have been manipulated and used by the devil each time we have followed our own desires rather than obeying the Spirit of God. If a Christian or Christian movement is wholly insincere, working towards their own selfish interests under the name of Christ, then yes, I think that to all practical intents and purposes, they can be considered to have been planted by the devil, even if they do not think of themselves that way.

Yes, this includes Christians from different faith traditions, different ethnicities, like people I consider to be essentially White Supremacists who call themselves “Evangelical Christians”, and act as if only they can truly understand the Bible (even though they frankly do not demonstrate any true understanding). It also includes the prosperity Gospel grifters so common who seek to make the Gospel a means of lavish financial blessing, especially for their own selves, and twist the Bible to make it predominantly about money.

If Jesus is not truly at the centre, and if we do not worship Him the way He has called us to in the Bible, then the movement, no matter how intellectual or powerful it seems, ultimately is not of Christ.

Character/Emotional maturity: following on from above, I must acknowledge the ways that I too have been manipulated by the devil to carry out his ends, especially when I have vented my spleen on this blog and also my other blog, especially about some of the people I have describe above, whom I think of as pseudochristians. I have thought of a term for such pseudoChristians: “Insincerists”
Now here is the thing: these people truly and objectively fall very far from Bible standards. They definitely, consistently fail to demonstrate any true pursuit of Christlike character, However, no matter how poor someone’s character might be, no matter what awful or evil things they might have done in the past or continue to do, because they are human beings, they are still of incredible worth, because they are made in the image of God.

My huge mistake on this blog and on my other blog is that I have conflated someone’s inherent worth with their character. Because I am a Christian, whenever I think of someone, anyone, I have to think of them in terms of their inherent worth. Yet character is still an important consideration, as someone’s character, and especially their own going efforts at pursuing Christlike character, determine how close it is safe to allow myself to get to them.
So from henceforth this is the way I would like to approach this:

1. Talk kindly about everyone. (Here is the thing: I have realised that I do not need to harp on about someone’s character at all, at least here on this blog!) Perhaps sometimes I will need to be candid. However perhaps instead of telling you how bad people are, I can just state whether or not I would pursue any closeness with them.

2. Politely stay far away from people until they have proven themselves to have strong character and strong ongoing pursuit of character, instead of throwing myself headfirst into a church, for instance, then ranting endlessly about it afterwards.

3. All of this means that I can still be kind and friendly to people no matter who they prove themselves to be. I can still send them birthday greetings, I can still ask them how they are, I can still care about their lives.

4. TRUST: Trust is the big issue about all these things, that is, I simply do not trust these people. My mind is always racing about what they might be capable of, or how they might abuse my kindness. Perhaps the issue is that I need to trust God, and act with His leading. If I and my big imagination did not have to be constantly wondering what people might get up to, then my approach to everyone could be very different.

5. Stories: I wonder whether there is still a place to write accounts of what happened in different situations, but this time without all the rancour, but coming instead from a place of compassion, as cautionary tales to stop people from encountering the kinds of things that I have encountered. While all of this I have written here is a new consideration for me and I am sincerely embracing it, the fact is that my heart and mind are trained in the habits of anger and angry ranting. Until those habits are fully broken and replaced with habits of genuine kindness, I don’t think that I can trust myself to write anything about anyone.

With anything, it is one thing to sincerely make the determination. The real work comes in developing the habits to make the kindness or whatever else consistently real in your life. Perhaps I should refrain from telling stories until I am confident that the anger has truly be vanquished.

6. Thank You!
Once again, I would really like to thank anyone who might be praying for me. In truth, this emotional maturity is something that I have struggled with for a long time. I just have not known how to interact with people in a gracious way.

What I have described here might not fully represent emotional maturity. However, this is something distinct that I have also been thinking through, and basically using boundaries and kindness to express unfailing grace to others. As I am writing this I have forgotten the finer aspects, and examples but I hope to remember them again soon!

All the same I would like to thank whoever might be praying. In truth, I have sat and wondered at others for many years, and tried to work out how they manage to remain gracious rather than ranting endlessly as I have done. Now I feel that I understand, and I am immensely grateful for anyone who might have been praying for me to reach that understanding.