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You Can't Be A Christian


The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.  The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires. (Proverbs 11:3-6)

          This morning, we have another comparison between the righteous and upright and the unfaithful and wicked. To begin with, the righteous or upright are guided by integrity. They are all in, one hundred percent, whole-hearted, true to their word and that’s what protects them. On the other hand, those who are wicked are unfaithful. Their wandering back and forth is what destroys them. Years ago, Biblical Archeology Review published an article in which it asserted that Judaism included the worship of a wife of Yahweh. They knew this because little two-throne carvings have been found in Israel. In a sense, they’re accurate. The Jews of the time incorporated Ashtaroth into their religion, and sometimes turned away from Yahweh completely, worshipping Baal and Ashtaroth. At the same time, they were very wrong, because we have documentary evidence showing that God rejected the idea of Ashtaroth. The Jews didn’t. They wandered back and forth, so God gave them over to the people and “gods” they loved. 
          I read (not for the first time) a meme this morning that says that you can’t be a Christian and hate. It goes on to tell what it is a Christian can’t hate: gay people, people whose skin colors are not the same, people who don’t think the way you do…. I happen to agree with it as far as it went, but it didn’t go far enough. First and foremost, you can’t be a Christian and hate God. The greatest commandment begins with “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and with all your strength. You can’t be a Christian and hate what Scripture says. You can’t be a Christian and hate the Church. You can’t be a Christian and hate Christians. You also can’t be a Christian and run back and forth between being a Christian and being a friend to the World. You can’t be a Christian AND anything that is not Christian. You can’t be a Christian AND tell God He’s wrong about what He’s decreed. We try. It doesn’t work. It removes our integrity, and when you lack integrity, you dis-integrate.

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