I am so tired of people thinking that Christians have to be "nice." Folks, Christ didn't die to make me "nice," He died to save me from my sins. He died to ransom me out from under the wrath of God. He died to give me life, and to give it to me abundantly. He died to make me HOLY, separated unto Himself.
He didn't die to make me "nice."
Let's take a little look at being holy, for instance. The one truly holy being in all the Universe is God Himself - and God isn't "nice." He is good, He is loving, He is perfect... But He isn't "nice."
God is the Judge of all the Earth, and He will do what is right - including punishing the unrepentant wicked. He will also punish the unrepentant "good." He has clearly stated that all of our so-called "good" works are like filthy rags (the original means used menstrual pads, guys), and that without faith, it is impossible to please Him. He demands that we worship Him; that we have no other gods before Him; that we not blaspheme His name; and that we love Him with all our hearts, minds, soul and strength. He has offered a way - His way - to make us perfect and holy in His sight, but if we don't do it His way, we have no other hope of heaven. If we don't do it His way, we go to hell.
Not very "nice."
Let's take a look at how God make that bridge between our sinfulness and His holiness: Christ dying on the Cross. In spite of the fact that He had no obligation to save us from our just punishment, in spite of the fact that He was completely without sin or fault, and in spite of the fact that we refuse to give Him our praise and gratitude for all He has done on our behalf, Christ willingly came down to earth. He put aside His glory and descended to live among us, wretched and filthy sinners that we are, and then die for a bunch of rebellious, stubborn, and arrogant people.
He was beaten bloody, He was scorned and mocked, He was humiliated, and finally hung on a cross to die in excruciating (ever wonder where we got that word?) pain and agony.
All this to take on our punishment, to die as our substitute, and to reveal and satisfy God's deep and abiding hatred of sin.
No, not very "nice."
How about the heroes of the faith? Noah, who was faithful enough to endure 120 years of derision while he built the ark, but was weak enough to get shamefully drunk after the flood. Abraham, who was faithful enough to trust that God would raise Isaac from the dead, and yet didn't trust Him to fulfill the promise of Isaac's birth. Moses, who was one of God's greatest spokesmen, but who was a murderer. Samson, who slew the enemies of God in enormous numbers, yet was brought down by his sensuality. David, the man after God's own heart, who was an adulterer and a murderer. Peter, an apostle who walked and lived with Jesus Himself for three years, and yet denied Him and also had to be rebuked for hypocracy. Paul, the greatest evangelist and theologian of all, whose temper and brash, uncompromising writing still makes him a target for scorn today.
Not very "nice" at all.
Forgive me when I get extremely irritated and impatient with people who seem to assume that Christians have to go around with their hands folded in prayer and take everything the heathen care to sling at them lying down. The Bible commands for us to earnestly contend for the faith, to always have a reason for the hope which is within us. The Bible condemns us if we call evil, good, and good, evil. God commands us to hate sin and to stand in the truth.
God calls us to be conformed to the image of His Son - who excoriated the scribes and pharisees for their hypocracy and pride, whipped the money changers out of the Temple in righteous anger, and roundly scolded His disciples for their lack of faith and understanding.
So don't expect me to be "nice." I can be kind and gracious, I'm hospitable and caring... But I will not indulge fools, and I will not tolerate what God calls evil.
By God's grace, I am not "nice," but I am His - and I will follow where He leads and trust Him to take care of the fallout.
(Linked at Cao's Blog - Sunday Open Trackbacks)
