By Whose Authority?

By whose authority does any Christian condemn anyone else?

I see and hear condemnation every time I turn on talk radio, I read a Christian forum, I watch Christians on TV, I listen to right-wing politics... It is every-frickin'-where!

Yet, when these people are confronted about their force of personal views upon everyone around them, they deny it...

They attack individuals views that do not line up with their own, "If you live/do/think this way, you aren't of Jesus, and if you aren't of Jesus, you go to Hell..." They argue that they say these things out of love.... Yet they speak in a tone of judgmental authority... They condemn people to hell before they even try to understand why people live/do/think the way they do!

Everyone believes they have the right interpretation of the Scriptures, everyone believes that they are right... No one believes that they might have the wrong understanding... No one is willing to admit that the interpretation they have of Scripture is Holy Spirit inspired...

What makes your Spiritually inspired interpretation better than mine, because I know as well that the Holy Spirit has inspired my understanding... And if I listen to you then I am going against what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me... How can you tell me I am inspired by something other than the Spirit?

Here's the thing though, that Christians get tangled in...

Personal interpretation...

Every interpretation started somewhere. The idea of spiritual adversaries evolving into the belief of the devil... the Trinity... Prosperity Teaching... Catechism... Baptism... Grace Salvation... and many others... All of these are a doctrines that someone came up with and others have identified with them... People have argued for and against all of these doctrines, and the people arguing believe they are lead by the Holy Spirit in their belief...

Most people read that read the Bible are already indoctrinated with a set of beliefs that flavor the words they read... Most people have some familiarity with a certain denomination of Christianity, and are already familiar with terms and ideas that are not specifically named in the Bible...

There are ideas that are simple, and almost all Christians can arrive at the same conclusion about, but then there are other ideas that take teachers teaching to arrive at... In the end, I have to wonder if we are taking too much time being taught what to believe than we should... It seems that the direction of the Holy Spirit has taken a back seat to subscribing to a denominational belief.

I am convicted... and YES... I said CONVICTED... by the Holy Spirit to step back and re-evaluate the Word.... And I believe that others are having the same conviction... but maybe most people are still too scared to stand up to their long history of being told what to believe.

I want to explain a realization that I came to awhile back... We are all given a PERSONAL interpretation of the Word... That is the AWESOMENESS of our spirituality... We each have the opportunity to read a Word that is written for us personally... We can arrive at this interpretation through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, if we allow it... That is how, each time you open the Bible, you see something new, even though it might be in a Scripture you had memorized when you were 4 years old in Sunday School...

Two people can have different understandings of the Word, because the Spirit will counsel each person according to their needs... Someone may have a revelation that you have not had yet, and likewise you might have a revelation that others have not had yet...

So... Who is anyone to tell someone else that they are going to Hell?

A personal interpretation is just that, PERSONAL... Because you have a PERSONAL relationship with God...

Every time you refute someone with Scripture, you are quoting an interpretation of that Scripture's meaning... Someone had to translate that verse for you... You had to accept someone's explanation of meaning for that verse... You had to accept a doctrine to frame the context of that verse...

So did the person you are refuting...

What makes your version right? Is it just because it's what YOU believe?

Every time you quote a Bible scripture, you are quoting an interpretation... not all interpretations are created equal. The difference is one of love versus judgment.

If you really want to minister through the Word, you should direct people to find what the Bible says by not speaking. Use your actions to reach others. Make them ask. Don't speak what you think the Bible says... The Holy Spirit is much more effective in bringing personal conviction than any person ever will be...