Victoria Osteen? What About Her? What About Us?

*This post has already become one of my most popular since it was written.  If the post has been a blessing or of interest to you, would you kindly bless me with a comment and a blog following? Thanks in advance!

Imagine you were human. Imagine you make a mistake and publicly say something that is incorrect or highly controversial. Imagine your brothers and sisters all over the world begin to mock you, disparage you, and even call you demonic. Imagine that you and your family are barraged by social media with every kind of foul and vicious attack. Imagine how you would feel, being persecuted by the very people who should love you and pray for you. 

Jesus himself told a group of religious men who were ready to stone a woman caught in adultery that the one who was sinless should cast the first stone. Even these pompous men dropped their rocks. Yet this is a lesson we apparently have not learned. 

We love to throw our rocks from the comfort of our computers, never considering the repercussions of our actions to those we stone with our words. We even love when others pick up stones and throw with us- sharing our disparaging words, meme, or video. We call it "going viral." 

Yeah, it's viral. Like a contagious disease spreading it's poison. We do exactly opposite of what Jesus taught us by His words and actions. And then we condone our behavior saying we must judge one another lest others be deceived by the one we disparage. 

I can hear someone saying, "But that one has a higher accountability.." That if we care about the body of Christ, we must be watchmen...My Bible tells me to examine MYSELF. To take the log out of my eye before trying to remove the splinter from someone else's. As imperfect as I am, I have enough work to do right here in this heart before passing judgment on others. 

And the spirit of our stones thrown is not one of love. There is little or no love anywhere recognizable- at least in most of the posts I've seen.

I'm writing to myself first and then sharing with you! IMHO- it's time for those who call themselves believers in Jesus Christ to repent of this sin. We need to stop falling prey to what I call the Internet Cesspool. Stop making excuses for gossip and slander. God is not pleased and the world looks on and laughs at us. 

Now imagine again you are a human who makes a mistake. Imagine swimming in a sea of prayer, love, and forgiveness, encouragement and godly exhortation. Imagine thousands of hands lifting you to your feet after you've fallen. Imagine having your biological family being covered and protected by your spiritual family. Imagine what that would look like to a watching world!

If you are called by His name, then seek His face, turn from your wicked ways, humble yourself and pray. And let's start looking a little more like the One who loves us by being a little more like Him. 

Update: Here's a link to a great video by Clayton Jennings regarding the same issue. It's worth the time to watch.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=729360307101778&fref=nf