Pipe Down Bullhorn Guy!
Love it, love it, love it.
A cross-post by Christian over at the HomeBrewed Theology blog, which really sums it all up for me right now.
Pipe Down Bullhorn Guy!
We’ve all seen them, whether on the news, the street corner, or in the movies.
We’ve all heard them – “The End is Near!”, “God Hates _______!”, “_____ is a _____!”
Typically, we all have the same response.
We cringe.
The bullhorn guy is loud, is obnoxious, and is absolutely, positively, without a doubt convinced that he is right.
The sin of the bullhorn guy, you see, is pride.
He ignores anything that contradicts with his world view.
He shouts down anyone who tries to have a rational discussion.
He approaches the world like this:
Ears plugged. Mouth open. Brain disengaged.
That’s not Jesus.
Jesus met people where they were.
In the story of Lazarus, he knew the end of the story, but until he met the mourners in their grief, his message went unheard.
In the story of the adulteress, he met her in her shame and loved her without condemnation.
You see, conviction in our sin is the job of the Holy Spirit.
Judgment of our lives is the job of Jesus and the Father.
Condemnation of our fellow man was the job of the Pharisees.
Is there a time where the bullhorn may be necessary? Yes. However, if that is your primary method of communication, you’re doing it wrong.
Meeting and loving people where they are doesn’t mean we agree with them.
It doesn’t mean we condone their actions.
It means we value them as God does.
It means we see them as God sees them.
It means that they, like us, are perfectly and wonderfully made.
Condemnation will never change a person’s heart.
Love will.
Bullhorn guy, we may never agree. We may never be close friends.
And that’s ok.
You see, pride goes before a fall.
I’m willing to admit that I may have it wrong.
Are you?
Tags: Christian Life
April 6th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
As you might expect, I just love it too webmaster!
But how do we get this message through to Bullhorn Guy?
If he sees this will he say: “Yes. Maybe I have got it wrong, and I will change my ways!” – or will he dismiss it as liberal, misguided, sinful heresy, and redouble his efforts?
I say “he” – I’ve never seen a “Bullhorn Woman”. Is this an exclusively male preoccupation? I wonder how a psychologist would describe this behaviour?
April 7th, 2010 at 11:28 am
Bullhorn Man: I love this description – I’ll save it in the folder where I put that very funny post on Leviticus.
So accurate. Both funny and emotional too. I never manage to put it as well as this, but I sigh in despair every time I read something supposedly from a Christian perspective that’s entirely directed at the need to condemn the wickedness of some *other* group, usually women, foreigners or gays.
@ Jim: It’s not entirely male, but women tend to have other failings. When we disapprove of people we don’t usually Bullhorn them, we exclude – often without saying a word. And being excluded by a group of women can be very hurtful.
Having said that, the woman teacher who insisted on praying for the seriously ill child was a bit of a Bullhorn – steaming ahead, refusing to listen.
April 7th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Sophie and Jim,
You both raise excellent questions. How do we get through? I dunno. Perhaps we should focus on love and humility in how we approach him/her and not on our desired outcome? I know that’s not an easy thing to do, especially when they’re screaming something that makes our blood boil. I do my best to remember the words “In your anger, do not sin”, but sometimes I still resort to using some derogatory term to describe them.
Thanks for the comments and questions.
Have a wonderful day
Christian – http://homebrewedtheology.com