ChristianDebates

So much to say and so difficult to condense it down.

1. We are the MTV and sound-bite generation. Five paragraphs is too much to read so you won't read it if I don't keep it SHORT!

2. We don't win the lost by being LIKE them. We must be different from them and be LIKE CHRIST, for the appealing power of Christ is His power to CHANGE the human HEART on the inside.

3. There are obvious sins in the Bible - 10 Commandments. There are also sins that are NOT so obvious. Since I was a child I have known smoking is a sin (this is an example so don't get excited). When I became a Christian, I surrendered the smoking, the drunkenness, and the illicit drugs to Christ. But EVERYBODY does not know that smoking is a sin along with those more obvious sins. It took me some time, but I did realize that truth and for over 20 years I have accepted as genuine Christians those who smoke and I trust God will teach them Himself in time.

4. I figure tattoos and piercings fall into that category. Some people's life experiences and Bible knowledge is not thorough enough to realize we are not to disfigure our bodies. I can accept them as Christians, even if their experiments on their bodies came after Christ, but I never tell them to "go for it". I try to help them see it is out of God's will to mar the Temple of God.

5. And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled - 1 Cor. 10.6. "Revenge" here is "punish", like a court-martial. A military person is subject to a higher law than civilians, and are tried by a different court (the Military Code of Justice). They have a HIGHER standard. You and I are in God's Army. WE are subject to a HIGHER standard than the world. See # 2 above.

Even if it was OK technically for men to do tattoos and earrings, we must serve the higher standard because it has a REP in the world and will give us a RAP.

6. WE REPRESENT JESUS CHRIST TO A LOST WORLD. We should be above reproach and our good must not be evil spoken of. This alone is reason enough that we should not consume alcohol in public, nor smoke, nor use bad language, nor receive tattoos, nor pierce our Temples, for these are all things the pagans do and we are to represent Christ, which MAY MEAN even giving up some things that are not technically sins, for the sake of our Master's good name.

7. If you had a baby, would you want your baby-sitter to carry your baby in her arms as she walked one inch from a thousand foot cliff with huge rocks at the bottom? Or would you want your baby-sitter to walk a MILE AWAY from that dangerous cliff while carrying your precious baby?

8. In light of 7, WHY do we want to walk as close to the cliff of sin that we can possibly walk and take the chance we won't fall over? WHY don't we walk as far away from sin as possible and PLEASE THE HEART OF OUR FATHER?

9. Now I'm finished, I think. Whether you have a tattoo or not, piercings I not, or smoke or not, I love you in the Lord Jesus Christ and I trust you will mature in time as His Spirit and His Word works on you, and I do not reject you because you have made mistakes even if you think they are not mistakes. GOD KNOWS I've made PLENTY of my own, but I regret them ALL.