All this talk about eschatology recently brought to mind last night a situation I was in about a year or so ago.
In a very casual setting where maybe 10 or so people were all just sitting and chatting, a lady whom I'd known for a couple of years brought up eschatology. I'm not sure why, but for some reason she wanted to discuss it so she brought it up. She mentioned what her position is, and then went on to say of another, specific position (I'll let you guess which one), that people who hold to that position, are idiots, stupid, arrogant, full of themselves, deniers of the Scriptures, aligned with heretical teachings, have no idea what the Bible really says, and on and on she went. It was nothing short of brutal. What was worse, if possible, was that the majority of people sitting there were in 100% agreement with her, and added their own opinions of the stupidity of such people who hold to that position.
Not one of them sitting there knew that the idiotic, moronic, heretical person that they were describing, was me. Not one of them knew that I do in fact hold to the eschatological position they were throwing under the bus. And I didn't tell them.
I simply excused myself, and made sure in the future that if that topic ever came up again among that group of folks, that I was long out of dodge before I had to hear just what a moron I am. Bear in mind, ALL of that came from people who profess to love the Lord.
With the recent blog discussions that have sprung up lately, I've read this very same description (in some places not so bad, in others, much worse) of myself and the position I hold, from various bloggers & commenters (and no, I'm not naming names, and I have my reasons and I'm at peace with them). To be perfectly honest and blunt, it hurts and offends to see yourself and others that hold the same position you do, dismissed as complete fools, not worthy of anyone's time, or be thought of as idiots who don't really believe the Bible, or worse. It especially offends to see it from people you like. Think about that for a minute and pretend it's you being described in such a way, and then you'll get it.
All that to say this:
Be careful who you're throwing under the bus and shredding with your words. You might be surprised who it is you're really talking about. And with that, I will defer you back to yesterday's post about Christlike blogging. If it doesn't apply to you, then ignore it. If it does, then apply it, as I have been convicted to do as well.
That is all.
