Did Jesus engage in "Triumphalism" versus the Pharisees with his message of Matthew 23?
Did the early Church fathers of Christianity engage in "triumphalism" vs. Gnostic sects & Arianism heresies?
What do you do? Do you just go about totally revising the New Testament and early Christian church history where-ever it doesn't "fit" with your sectarian brand?
...I DO have a problem with someone whose revelling in being "saved" seems to be largely augmented by looking down their noses at the poor rubes who are not part of their heavenly club...arrogant belief that your preferred set of ordering worship is superior to that of the church down the road...
IOW...your set of ordering outreach MUST BE "superior to that of" my church down FReeper road, eh?
So how is it that...
...as you look down your nose at my engagement of what every major Christian denomination regards as "heresy" that you manage to escape your own finger-pointing of "arrogance"?
If my outreach technique doesn't match your elitist standard, am I not a "poor rube" in your eyes?
If you accuse me of doing something that "has no place in Christian thought" -- are you not engaging in your own intolerant heresy hunting whereby you flunk your own standards of perceived tolerance? Are you not thereby engaging in your own version of "Christian triumphalism" where you're expressing, "Boy, I'm glad I'm not a sinner like that Colofornian is"???
I applaud you talking to the poor lady in your example. But I would stop you if you did it by beating her around the head with your bible.
EXPOSING people to Biblical concepts is not automatic IMPOSING upon people from the Bible...'tis your unproved assumption of hyperbole that translates such to "beating...round the head."
Elsewise, you'd have been guilty of beating me over the head with your Bible in your last post...
...since your accusations were plenty...(elitism; triumphalism; arrogance; superiorism; "no place in Christian thought"; assaulting women)
...If you were somehow representing some kind of "kinder and gentler" humble version of Christianity, sorry, you flunked your own personal standards with that post!!!
Well, to set the record straight, I'm not trying to revise the NT or early Church history - I dont think I mentioned any of that. I just think that witnessing to someone is more effective if you respect their situation, even if you disagree with it. Honey catches more flies than vinegar. Or if you want to be more scriptural, Jesus talking to the woman at the well.
I'm sorry if you thought I was speaking about you personally with the bit about those "revelling in being "saved" seems to be largely augmented by looking down their noses at the poor rubes who are not part of their heavenly club" and "arrogant belief that your preferred set of ordering worship is superior to that of the church down the road". I was speaking in general terms. The tragic fact is that kind of thing does happen. There are Christians who seem to spend more time bashing other Christians about points of theology than they do standing up to secularism, islam, or neo-paganism. I've been on the recieving end of a lot of that, and so I'm quite sensitised to it. Its very saddening and very painful. Friendly fire always is.
I'm a Baptist. I'm a baptist by conviction. I disagree with some of the beliefs and practices of the Anglicans, Methodists, Lutherans and Catholics I have come across, but I don't deny they are Christian. Some Catholics (and extreme protestant groups) dont afford me the same consideration, and I resent that. I resent that an awful lot. I particularly dont like getting it on this site.
Mormans and Jehovahs Witnesses are heretics, but that just means they are wrong. Of course exposing people to the correct Biblical concepts is not automatically imposing upon people from the Bible - but some people do that, and I think that although with God's grace that can work it's more usually counter-productive. Again I wasnt attacking you personally - I don't know how you work - I was making a general comment. I apologise if you've taken that to heart.