Sick of some comments by other Christians on the internet? (youtube for instance)

Cam42 · 06-15-2011, 05:09 PM

I've found a great way to deal with these: Ignore youtube comments. They're all worthless anyway.

SccHarpGirl · 06-15-2011, 06:45 PM

I'd suggest not even reading comments on youtube, cnn, etc since they will permanently lower your IQ and damage your brain.

**Becky** · 06-26-2011, 11:19 PM

I know this isn't just about youtube comments (as people have said... those are rather meaningless), but its also about Christians, everywhere, miss representing Christ. Here's the thing though... do we trust God or not?

You know I'm an arminian, so don't take this the wrong way.... but God is way bigger then all the miss conceptions that we give others. We have no control over others, and we hate not having control. But God is bigger. He is the one who can change hearts. God is big enough to handle people who call themselves believers but aren't, or believers who are miss representing Him.

We can get so lost if we are thinking that we have to rely on the believers around us to save the world. We will go insane, because there is too much wrong, too much against us, too many lies and confusions, and miss understandings, and uneducated.. and if everyone would just be like me then the world would be better! But thank God its not about us. God is so much bigger, and He can handle all of the mess, even in the youtube cesspit

**Fandrew** · 06-27-2011, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SccHarpGirl

I'd suggest not even reading comments on youtube, cnn, etc since they will permanently lower your IQ and damage your brain.

**Dwight Schrute** · 06-27-2011, 07:50 AM

for what it's worth, Digg isn't much better. the punchline to every joke is how dumb, evil, uneducated, and blind Christians and Conservatives are. rather sad. this also reminds me of an offensive photo that was circulating around the Internet some years back about arguing on the Internet being like winning in the special olympics.

lifesglorydead · 06-27-2011, 02:00 PM

I think one thing that a lot of Christians (including myself) forget is that Cross in of itself is a stumbling block in of itself. The apostle Paul says this multiple times throughout scripture. What that means for us a lot of the time is that Jesus himself offends. Even if every Christian acted lovingly and sincerely and didn't act like a fumbling idiot in front of the world, there would still be people who vehemently disagree with our message.

Now I'm not saying that unloving people are not a problem. But it helps to keep things in perspective- we simply have no way of going and righting ALL the wrongs of our brothers and sisters in Christ on the internet. What we can do is live out our faith in a real and missional way, always, as Peter says, being prepared to give an answer to those who question the hope we have, with gentleness and respect.

monkeysmile · 06-29-2011, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Random:Dice

Good day CGR, but I really need to get this off my chest, better here than somewhere else.

Go on youtube, look at a secular video that talks about God, read the debate. Some where there is always some 'Christian' telling atheists/muslims/gays/anyone that they are going to hell, or God hates gays, proposing some stupid argument against evolution or whatever. In the process they make the rest of us look unloving, intolerant and even unintelligent sometimes.

How can we come to them with the Gospel ie the Good news after offending the living daylight out of them? How can you show love to the heathen when the heathen already assume you hate him to begin with? People back up their preconceptions about Christianity.

I had a friend in school, he smoked pot like chimney and took loads of other drugs (stardust, Magic mushroom, E's) but he was the philosophical type and I loved him like a brother even though I never did anything of this nature ever (in fact i was known for not 'partying') and by the time we left school he wasn't a christian, but at least he had an open heart to God, since we talked a lot for years. All it will take is someone else like me to be friends with, and he might just make the decision to follow Christ.

Half of the people posting intolerance are breaking down bridges instead of building them up; but read this; Jesus says: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

And John says again: "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." 1 John 4:20

Its as simple as that people!!

Lots of love
RD

They are, unless they are saved. Same with anyone. We're supposed to warn them, even if they are offended. Don't sugar coat the truth.

Teletubby · 06-29-2011, 09:55 AM

We may find some of those rants are posted by the enemy posing as brothers.

**DaGeek** · 06-29-2011, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeysmile

They are, unless they are saved. Same with anyone. We're supposed to warn them, even if they are offended. Don't sugar coat the truth.

I don't think the OP is trying to dispute that, but rather the method of "informing" people. I'm sorry, but it's for the most part a terrible idea just to walk up to someone and say "Hey, you're a Muslim, right? YOU'RE GOING TO HELL." That's not how we're supposed to witness. Sure, I'm not disputing that there can/will be exceptions, but as a rule of thumb I'm gonna go with the loving approach. Sugercoating is never the answer, but being an outright butthole is right along the same lines.

And, for the record, I'm not stating that the loving approach doesn't tell people they're going to Hell. Truly, if we truly loved people, we would tell them that. But there are significantly better ways to do it than others.

**Chrysostom** · 06-29-2011, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaGeek

I don't think the OP is trying to dispute that, but rather the method of "informing" people. I'm sorry, but it's for the most part a terrible idea just to walk up to someone and say "Hey, you're a Muslim, right? YOU'RE GOING TO HELL." That's not how we're supposed to witness. Sure, I'm not disputing that there can/will be exceptions, but as a rule of thumb I'm gonna go with the loving approach. Sugercoating is never the answer, but being an outright butthole is right along the same lines.

And, for the record, I'm not stating that the loving approach doesn't tell people they're going to Hell. Truly, if we truly loved people, we would tell them that. But there are significantly better ways to do it than others.

"Don't sugarcoat" is fair enough on its own, because if you're sugarcoating then you're dealing with something that is really bad news, then trying to make that bad news easier to handle.

But how did Jesus address the woman at the well? He certainly recognized her self-destructive lifestyle, just as she did, but he brought her *good* news. He didn't take news that was bad and sugarcoat it; he had news that was good in its own right and passed it on to her. Living water? Forgiveness? Something better than this lifestyle of finding meaning in worthless relationships?

How did Jesus respond to the whore who washed hiis feet? Disgust? Condemnation? No, he recognized an act of selfless love and honored it. Was his ministry to "sinners" a constant announcement of condemnation? Or did he spend half his time partying with drunks and prostitutes and lepers? Did he do that dishonestly, or did he have news that was genuinely worth partying about?

Of course you'll remember that harsh words of judgment often came out of Jesus mouth. When, for instance, someone who had all his ducks in a row came to ask Jesus how to be perfect, Jesus sad to throw it all away. When the "righteous" man praised God for his righteousness, Jesus favored the traitorous tax collector. "Woe to you," said Jesus -- as he condemned the self-righteous religious leaders who were so careful not to sugarcoat the truth that they presented only bad news to others. "Sugarcoating" only applies to bad news, but Jesus held out good news to those we would condemn.

The real question is, do we have good news for YouTube commenters? For the communities on Digg and Reddit and gawker? For those who feel paralyzed and incapable of real human freedom, who hide in social networking like so many husbands and a well? For those who live drunk on the lie that as long as you demonize somebody else then you must be good? For those who've whored themselves out to pornography and so many drunken mistakes that they are capable of doing nothing but falling down on the floor in shame and far and a deep, abiding emptiness? Does Jesus have good news for them? Or do we just need a little more sugarcoating, a little more gluttony or sex or obscene comments in cyberspace, to cover the harsh reality that there's no real hope so they might as well take as much for themselves now in this moment while they still can?

monkeysmile · 06-29-2011, 10:54 PM

I refer to sugar coating as not only for bad news, but any time you change the truth to make it more appealing to others. The gospel is good news, but people also don't want condemnation for sinful lifestyles. What some people do to sugar coat the gospel in this sense is trying to work in a way that you can live however you want and still be a Christian, because they think it would be too offensive or hard to take for the non-believers to tell them to repent as well as believe. To accept the good news of salvation people need to realize they need saved, and if they're never told the truth because it might offend them, how will they hear?

SccHarpGirl · 07-01-2011, 05:56 PM

The Guitar Guy · 07-24-2011, 05:27 PM

Nailed it. That is probably the No. 2 problem with Christianity today (No. 1 is it being such a title, but that's for later), that so many people begin to despise God because of all of the so called "Christians" out in the world hating on all non-Christians and mostly gays. Gays are sinners just like us, God looks at all unforgiven sinners the same, straight or gay. That is all I have to say.

The Guitar Guy

2 Corinthians 9:7

phaze7486 · 08-28-2011, 10:08 PM

I totally agree with you O.P. in fact i even have a song that relates to what your saying, its called Real Men Will Be Found With Their Face Flat On The Ground by akissforjersey, look it up and pay attention to the lyrics. But anyway i don't think there will ever be a way to stop it, as there will always be people like that.