E-MESS: Throwing stones

I am curious as to what you think about Christians and how they react and treat unbelievers.

There is a Facebook page I follow called The Christian Post, which covers news topics dealing with Christianity. I cringe almost every time I read comments on stories, because every time a non believer asks about a Bible verse or says something negative, it seems that the majority of Christians reply to them with snarky and hurtful remarks that make the unbelievers turn away from God even more.

Now, I know that we are not to tolerate sin and stand up for Jesus, but where do we draw the line? Is it right to put non believers in their "place" just because they disagree with us on certain issues?  Would Jesus approve more of OUR behavior as Christians, or would He almost be more in the corner of the non believers who are simply lost and need guidance? Sometimes I am ashamed to have the title of Christian. Not because of Jesus, but because of how we have dragged Him to the cross over and over again with our hatred.

Just curious as to what your thoughts would be!

It is so sad that some believers treat non-believers so badly.  They are not reacting as Jesus did.  Jesus welcomed honest questions and the funny thing is the people he had the biggest problem was the church folk.  He didn't have a problem with sinners. In fact, it seems he preferred to associate them.

He had a soft spot in his heart for the lost.  You can point out many examples in the Bible of how Jesus loved the sinner even though he did not condone the sin.  One of the best stories is about the woman caught in adultery.  Everyone else wanted to kill her and the irony was the one person, who had the right to judge her, Jesus, was the one who did not.

This is also a good illustration how even in our sin, the safest place for us is at the feet of Jesus.  My first question to Jesus is going to be what did you write in the sand that caused people to drop their rocks?  I think he was listing people's names and their secret sins, but that is just a guess.

The Bible also talks about how we are do deal with sin. I  Colossians 4:6 the Bible says, "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt..."  Grace is first and should be abundant and dealing with people's sin should be the seasoning.  I think many times we substitute seasoning with smiting. When it comes to dealing with people's sin I think we need to Love them first, introduce the to God, and he will work on the sin.  It is not our job.