The lyrics of her albums we used to listen to are so great. The song that was playing on my run was In the Name. The lyrics that really stood out to me were these from the chorus: To each his own won't lead you home. Such a small statement with a huge message. We have heard the message of tolerance preached for years. You can have you beliefs, but don't infringe on others' beliefs. Don't force your beliefs on others. Don't speak your beliefs too loudly, because you might make someone else feel bad or *gasp* be accused of being judgmental. The funny thing is that this message of tolerance (or accusation of intolerance) is directed at Christians, but apparently doesn't apply to those who have nothing but intolerance for biblical beliefs. The thing that saddens me about this is that Christians who love Jesus and love people do not tend to 'force' their beliefs on others. Although they get unfairly generalized into this category, they are more likely to share with others out of love for them and a desire for them to know truth. Another verse of the same song says this: You can hold onto your philosophy, Of what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours, but what's the truth?
On Sunday, Phil preached an incredible sermon out of John 8 and talked about knowing and abiding in truth will lead to freedom. The analogy he used was brilliant. He had lopped off a branch of an evergreen tree and explained the freedom dilemma of the branch this way, relative to our own freedom, or lack thereof. While the branch was attached to the tree, it didn't appear to have freedom. It couldn't go anywhere, except for swaying back and forth in the wind. Once it was cut off from the tree, it could go anywhere it wanted to go. From the outside, and by the world's standards, this branch was finally free. However, where we see an illusion of freedom, God sees something different. Cut off from the source of life, this branch was now dying. When it was part of the tree, it had the ability to produce sap, pinecones, shade. Now, it could do none of those things. In the same way, we have a hard time understanding that being a slave to Christ means freedom. The truth is, we have a choice. We can choose to be a slave to Christ, which enables us to walk in our gifts and what we were created to do, while bearing spiritual fruit and having joy and peace that passes all understanding. Or, we can choose to be a slave to sin, living a life filled with empty promises and a lot of heartache.
So, what's the truth? Well, the truth is that if we live by the principle of tolerance and neglect to share the gospel with others out of love, then we begin to see that tolerance is actually very unloving. The truth is that we can be nice to people and politically correct all day long, but if we keep THE TRUTH from them, then we aren't really loving them.
Ironically, Jennifer Knapp wrote songs filled with conviction and the truth of scripture until she came out in 2002, and announced her sexual orientation and homosexual lifestyle to the world. Her mission is now to travel and sing songs and give lectures about tolerance for the LGBT lifestyle in Christian communities. Somewhere along the way, she lost sight of the truth of scripture. I am so thankful that God used the amazing gifts and abilities He gave her to communicate His truth through her music when He did. He's still using it to influence me today.
Love God. Love People. Seek Truth.
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