I had to laugh one day when I was told Facebook relationships were not real friends. I have had deeper and kinder experiences with believers on Facebook than I ever had in person, face to face.
Here is the reason we can develop deeper relationships with those on Facebook than with our families and church attendees: we are able to find those who are like-minded, following the same path we desire to walk, loving the same things we love, and seeking the same things we love.
In families, we have only what was given to us without our choice. We have to struggle to be ourselves in front of people who want us to be just like them. Of course God placed us in families but when we become His child He gives us a new family.
There is a saying, you will know a person by the company they keep. If we think we must remain with family just because they were endowed with the same blood that runs through our bodies, then we miss out on many life experiences that bring wonderful wisdom and human connections for a lifetime and even eternity.
Family tends to want us to think like they do, say what they say, and show approval of many things, even if we do not approve. God was clear that family would be a burden to the born-again believer who has a very different mindset than those who were their childhood companions every day.
Luke 2116 "…15 For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death. 17And you will be hated by everyone because of My name."
The one family member who thought differently from the rest was often rejected, almost an outcast for their dissimilarity. Most people do not like challenges or corrections; they want everyone to be just like them.
There is a sense of failure in those who meet up with someone who is different. For those who are pleased with themselves, they feel a personal attack when someone comes along who is different, even if they merely live their own life differently without talking about it.
I will never forget the story a friend told me about family reaction to a decision she and her husband made that they never spoke of to other family members.
This family decided not to have a television in their home anymore because it was becoming a distraction. They removed their television without telling anyone. One day a family member who came to visit was insulted by the absence of the television, accusing the family of acting superior to the other family members. This family member actually accused them of pride and thinking they were better.
Most of us do not encounter such blatant rudeness over our own personal choices, but some people treat us differently in subtle ways for not endorsing whatever they are doing while taking a different route.
One family I knew chastised a young woman, their daughter and sister, for wanting to go to college. The rest of the family was on welfare, living with shack-up girlfriends while pressuring this young woman to do the same things they did. Even though the young woman wanted something better for her life, her family pressured and disrespected her until she finally gave up and became like them.
I encouraged the young woman to trust in Christ. She didn't at that time, but she was interested in having a different life than her family, however weak and depressed, finally giving in to her family to be accepted by them. That was many years ago, we moved away from the area, and I never found out how it all turned out for her as she became an adult with her own choices.
This is why God told us, as born-again believers, to remove ourselves, becoming separate from our bio-family and the world that tries to hinder us, to embrace our new family, which is the family of Christ.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Did you know that rudeness and arrogance are sins?
So many people count themselves as innocent because they didn't rob a store or rape anyone. They ruminate on all the stuff they didn't do and neglect to confess the sinful attitudes and arrogant justifications for disrespect, as though they have not sinned.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
May the Lord keep us in perfect peace as we seek Him to be changed into His likeness and character.
Here is what love looks like; anything appearing opposite of this description from God's Word is sin.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
May the Lord keep us in perfect peace as we seek Him to be changed into His likeness and character.
Intentions Matter
Anyone who comes along with the intention of reminding us of past forgiven sins is being sent by the devil. Ignore them and remove them from your life.
Those who should take center stage in your life are those who are humble enough to realize all have sinned, and when someone has repented, they are forgiven by God and free from the guilt of that sin.
Galatians 6:1-5 "6 Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
The key to a restored life for every sinner is sorrow for sin and a desire to be cleansed of it by Christ in us. Without confession of sin, there can be no cleansing or spiritual and emotional progress.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Those who are hell bent on keeping us in bondage to guilt over past forgiven sins have no place in our lives. And, often those who love to hold others' feet to the fire for past forgiven sins are those who have many unconfessed sinful habits that remain in themselves.
The reason we witness so many Christians who don't seem to grow in maturity in their walk is that they are neglecting humility, which requires acknowledgment of sin that changes our character.
Another reason for the neglect of confession of sin is that many who say they are Christians have never been born again. They have no ability to see the depth of their own sinfulness.
1 John 1:10 "10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
Psalm 32:5
"Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah"
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."
Those who cannot confess their sin against someone else will never confess it to God. Those who only confess it to God but not the one they harmed are not sorry enough to verbalize it to the one they harmed. This person loves only themselves. When we love others, we want to reconcile with them and carry on to a deeper relationship with them.
When a sin against someone is confessed and the offended party forgives, the relationship grows deeper than it was before. This is true of our relationship with God too!
This is why God designed confession and forgiveness as two sides of the same coin; if both are present, the relationship is restored and grows deeper.
Sadly many professing Christians today don't believe that things they say and do are sinful. They justify their sin toward others through their own concocted ideas rather than what really occurred. They make judgments about others based on what they wish to believe about them rather than what has really happened.
This is the nature of gossip, guessing and embellishing things about others that are based on nothing more than the ideas in the head of the one who wishes to harm others. Why do they wish to harm others, many reasons and the biggest one is often jealousy.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
When we know what love looks like according to the Bible we will be able to discern what it does not look like.
May authentic believers walk in the love of Christ daily no matter what others are doing and saying.
Those who should take center stage in your life are those who are humble enough to realize all have sinned, and when someone has repented, they are forgiven by God and free from the guilt of that sin.
Galatians 6:1-5 "6 Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks that he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting, but to himself alone, and not to another.
5 For each one will bear his own load."
4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting, but to himself alone, and not to another.
5 For each one will bear his own load."
The key to a restored life for every sinner is sorrow for sin and a desire to be cleansed of it by Christ in us. Without confession of sin, there can be no cleansing or spiritual and emotional progress.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Those who are hell bent on keeping us in bondage to guilt over past forgiven sins have no place in our lives. And, often those who love to hold others' feet to the fire for past forgiven sins are those who have many unconfessed sinful habits that remain in themselves.
The reason we witness so many Christians who don't seem to grow in maturity in their walk is that they are neglecting humility, which requires acknowledgment of sin that changes our character.
Another reason for the neglect of confession of sin is that many who say they are Christians have never been born again. They have no ability to see the depth of their own sinfulness.
1 John 1:10 "10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
Psalm 32:5
"Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah"
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."
Those who cannot confess their sin against someone else will never confess it to God. Those who only confess it to God but not the one they harmed are not sorry enough to verbalize it to the one they harmed. This person loves only themselves. When we love others, we want to reconcile with them and carry on to a deeper relationship with them.
When a sin against someone is confessed and the offended party forgives, the relationship grows deeper than it was before. This is true of our relationship with God too!
This is why God designed confession and forgiveness as two sides of the same coin; if both are present, the relationship is restored and grows deeper.
Sadly many professing Christians today don't believe that things they say and do are sinful. They justify their sin toward others through their own concocted ideas rather than what really occurred. They make judgments about others based on what they wish to believe about them rather than what has really happened.
This is the nature of gossip, guessing and embellishing things about others that are based on nothing more than the ideas in the head of the one who wishes to harm others. Why do they wish to harm others, many reasons and the biggest one is often jealousy.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
When we know what love looks like according to the Bible we will be able to discern what it does not look like.
May authentic believers walk in the love of Christ daily no matter what others are doing and saying.
Sunday, July 13, 2025
Stand Up
A Quote from David Jeremiah
"Stand up"
"Not standing down, which is cowardice
Not standing aside, which is compromise
Not standing against which is contention
but standing up, which is conviction and courage."
"Stand up"
"Not standing down, which is cowardice
Not standing aside, which is compromise
Not standing against which is contention
but standing up, which is conviction and courage."
Husband is the Brother to the Wife and Wife is the Sister to the Husband
red with Public
Matthew 18:15-16 "15 If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’"
It is imperative that if a spouse ever has to expose the sin of a spouse to others, she/he need to be careful who they take the problem to, because of the proliferation of false believers who bring false teachings that might further destroy the marriage.
It is also a mistake to take a marriage problem to an adult child in our day; adult children are prone to take sides based on who is their favorite parent.
We live in a world in which it is difficult to find someone who is loving and kind enough to seek Christ to help those who are struggling. Most people tend to want to avoid anyone with problems or at least pretend the problems do not exist. And worse, people remember the story and pass it on only with a little embellishment added, as well as guesses that are likely not true.
James 5:19-20
"My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins."
Proverbs 27:5-6
"Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed. The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
For someone who is repentant in their marriage, we are to extend forgiveness while loving them to restoration.
2 Corinthians 2:6-8
The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him. So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love for him."
I remember the story of a woman many years ago who had committed a sin. She made the mistake of confessing to a family member what she had done that had nothing to do with the one to whom she was confessing. She was wrongly counseled to do it, just to be accountable to someone.
She didn't need to be accountable to someone whom the sin was not against. She had been accountable to her husband, who forgave her as well as God, Who forgave her.
Here was the problem with going to someone outside her marriage to confess a sin that was not against the hearer: it became a source of gossip, with the act of repentance left out of the story.
For the rest of her life, this woman endured the judgment of her family over something she never did to them and of which she was repentant.
The false idea that we should tell on ourselves for things not done against those hearing has brought more misery to marriages and families than any other erroneous doctrine.
Another story was one in which a sister had gone to a Christian counselor for marriage problems. She was told by her counselor that her marriage problems were because she had to care for her older sister when she came down with polio and became permanently paralyzed. Her sister was a middle-aged woman in a wheelchair, and the younger sister cared for her when they were in their teens.
This foolish counselor convinced the younger woman it was wrong that she had to take care of her sister with polio many years ago, and that it was causing her marriage problems in the present. She was advised to go to her older sister and tell her she was the reason for her marriage problems, because of her polio. It literally blew up the relationship. This is what modern psychology does to Christianity, literally a relationship destroyer.
My friend, who was grieving over the loss of the love of her sister, left her with bad feelings that she had to be taken care of when she was the one suffering as a teenager many years before.
How seriously foolish it was of the younger sister, who did not have the presence of mind to see the silliness of the "Christian" counselor.
Did my friend deliberately contract polio to irritate her younger sister? Or, perhaps the older sister should have sat in her wheelchair alone without help? How about the pain and suffering of a young woman who would never walk again? None of these ideas entered the mind of the selfish younger sister and her foolish counselor.
Oh, and one more thing; perhaps the Lord placed the younger sister there in that family to be love and support for her older sister, earning her jewels in her crown in heaven.
The world is full of those who pretend to know everything about every situation when they really know very little and only what the person in front of them is telling them.
We must avoid sharing our problems with those who are not loving, don't care, and are gossips. And, believe me, many people like this champ at the bit to have something to tattle about.
This is a good time to mention what the last days apostate church looks like and be reminded to avoid these kinds of people.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Difficult (Ragingly Insane)Times Will Come
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
Superficial, shallow conversation does not build relationships.
So many people depend on walking on eggshells so no one is angry with them. Very little in conversation is important or grows hearts and minds.
Sadly, this shallow exchange does nothing to build lasting, quality relationships.
Deeper, more quality relationships are based on each person desiring to know the heart of the other person; this is rare in our culture. Since we live in a culture that prioritizes boasting and flaunting things about oneself, there is little interest in anything about the other person.
One of the clues in a shallow relationship is that stories about life that bring life lessons are seen as boring and uninteresting. Lessons about life are not important to most people in our day.
Boasting about activities and sounding intelligent are the preferred means of communication today. This is the reason most people live by cliches and slogans without really knowing what they mean. Most of these conversations provide information about activities, but truly are boring without depth and meaning.
Many adults think on a one-dimensional level without attention to life lessons. Since life lessons and wisdom are not a priority, the culture remains unconcerned about others, except and unless pretending empathy from time to time will impress others.
When someone comes along with authentic empathy and wishes to share a profound insight, it is met with blank and unresponsive stares. These profound insights are often even considered rude because causing a person to think beyond shallowness brings agitation.
Our culture does not want to do the hard work of discovering whether something is worthy of attention. When a culture is dedicated to appearing special through its activities, they rarely think about the meanings of life experiences.
Perhaps, making someone else think more deeply brings humility; it demands that the one hearing the wisdom will take the time and effort to think beyond trivialities. This is offensive to most people since the culture has elevated boasting and superficiality to the level of an art form.
Sadly, this shallow exchange does nothing to build lasting, quality relationships.
Deeper, more quality relationships are based on each person desiring to know the heart of the other person; this is rare in our culture. Since we live in a culture that prioritizes boasting and flaunting things about oneself, there is little interest in anything about the other person.
One of the clues in a shallow relationship is that stories about life that bring life lessons are seen as boring and uninteresting. Lessons about life are not important to most people in our day.
Boasting about activities and sounding intelligent are the preferred means of communication today. This is the reason most people live by cliches and slogans without really knowing what they mean. Most of these conversations provide information about activities, but truly are boring without depth and meaning.
Many adults think on a one-dimensional level without attention to life lessons. Since life lessons and wisdom are not a priority, the culture remains unconcerned about others, except and unless pretending empathy from time to time will impress others.
When someone comes along with authentic empathy and wishes to share a profound insight, it is met with blank and unresponsive stares. These profound insights are often even considered rude because causing a person to think beyond shallowness brings agitation.
Our culture does not want to do the hard work of discovering whether something is worthy of attention. When a culture is dedicated to appearing special through its activities, they rarely think about the meanings of life experiences.
Perhaps, making someone else think more deeply brings humility; it demands that the one hearing the wisdom will take the time and effort to think beyond trivialities. This is offensive to most people since the culture has elevated boasting and superficiality to the level of an art form.
I find that the people I know who think beyond cliches and cultural mantras are often mocked or excluded as though something is wrong with them. This is why those who love to think more deeply isolate themselves, interacting mostly with others who think the way they do. Conversations with people who enjoy wisdom on a deeper level are full of joy at their discoveries.
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 "…15The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 "…15The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Saturday, July 12, 2025
Superficial Shallow Conversations Do not Build Relationships
Nowhere in scripture does it say for believers to fight "tit for tat" conversation to win over the world.
The matter I am referring to is the idea I heard in the last few years that Christians should raise a rainbow flag with the proper Biblical colors as described in the Bible to combat the homosexual flag.
First of all, 99.9 percent of the world does not know the Bible, let alone the colors in the Biblical rainbow. When the world sees a rainbow flag, they are going to assume it is in support of gay rights.
The devil loves this kind of thinking; if he can get Christians to use the "tit for tat" method of fighting, he can deceive a lot of people. He incorporated pieces of the Bible into pagan holidays, creating such strong feelings about the holidays that most Christians today use pagan symbols to represent something about God that He never commanded.
When we deviate from the commands of Christ, thinking we can help God out by adding things to His word, then is when His commands are left in the dust while pagan practices take over.
God commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel.
Mark 16:15 "15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
Romans 10:17
"17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
God gave us our marching orders and that was to be led by the Holy Spirit as we speak the word of God to others which proclaims the way of salvation, so that people might become born again.
God commanded us to go into the world making disciples, but that seemed like too much work, so the designated pastors, who were paid to do the job by the congregation, were expected to do the evangelism while those in the pews did nothing pertaining to preaching and teaching.
Those in the pews are spectators hanging on the pastor's every word, as they idolize him. They have been trained by the culture that we are to leave witnessing about Christ to "the experts" who were trained in it. They do not believe the Holy Spirit is superior to men. I am not sure what or who they think the Holy Spirit is, since they treat Him as if he were an idea instead of a person.
The attendees were encouraged by the paid pastor to bring unsaved people into the gathering, causing a watered-down and perverted form of the principles of God, and causing the proliferation of apostasy within the churches.
To make things even worse, the pastor and the people in the pews practiced silence when those who were not born again lived out freely without challenge their lifestyle of sin. If an unbeliever can remain in a Christian gathering for many years without being saved, then something is wrong with the leaders and the congregants who are saved. Either the unbeliever will be convicted of sin through the preaching of the Word or they will leave under the weight of the knowledge of their sin.
The congregation of the born-again believers ought to be made up of authentic believers only. Since the gathering is for the purpose of building up the saints it is not for the purpose of evangelism. We are to go into the world for that and if someone becomes born again they will come in as a brother or sister in Christ.
If an unbeliever wanders in we welcome them but hold back nothing to soften the message for the new comer.
We are never commanded to use symbols, artifacts, or rituals to influence others to accept the truth of the Bible. We were commanded to use our voice as led by the Holy Spirit to speak to people about Christ.
When we use human tricks to manipulate the thinking of others, we are moving into the realm of emotionalism, fostering empty and shallow sentimentality rather than speaking plainly through conversation that promotes rational reasoning.
Symbols do create emotionalism rather than rational thinking. They well up within people "feelings that often are not accurate to the message. The artifacts, symbols, and rituals are a distraction to the one hearing.
We build within people a shallow, dead faith when we introduce symbols and rituals to convince people of the truth.
John 20:29
"29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Believing without seeing is a matter of the heart; nothing outside the heart will do concerning faith. No object will bring faith to someone, or that faith will be in the object, not in Christ.
Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see."
Personally, I have no desire to fight with someone over a flag. I would rather speak the gospel clearly, having a conversation and hearing responses from the hearer, this could bring connection and trust, not in me but in Christ. Fighting over an object just to feel superior is of no value.
So perhaps my challenge would be not to use symbols at all when witnessing Christ. Use Words, listen to the response, and have answers from God's Word when questions arise.
Conversations with depth are what build relationships. Meaningless superficial conversations do not build relationships; they merely bring up feelings from the shallowest part of our being.
Isaiah 1:18 "18“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool."
The matter I am referring to is the idea I heard in the last few years that Christians should raise a rainbow flag with the proper Biblical colors as described in the Bible to combat the homosexual flag.
First of all, 99.9 percent of the world does not know the Bible, let alone the colors in the Biblical rainbow. When the world sees a rainbow flag, they are going to assume it is in support of gay rights.
The devil loves this kind of thinking; if he can get Christians to use the "tit for tat" method of fighting, he can deceive a lot of people. He incorporated pieces of the Bible into pagan holidays, creating such strong feelings about the holidays that most Christians today use pagan symbols to represent something about God that He never commanded.
When we deviate from the commands of Christ, thinking we can help God out by adding things to His word, then is when His commands are left in the dust while pagan practices take over.
God commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel.
Mark 16:15 "15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
Romans 10:17
"17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
God gave us our marching orders and that was to be led by the Holy Spirit as we speak the word of God to others which proclaims the way of salvation, so that people might become born again.
God commanded us to go into the world making disciples, but that seemed like too much work, so the designated pastors, who were paid to do the job by the congregation, were expected to do the evangelism while those in the pews did nothing pertaining to preaching and teaching.
Those in the pews are spectators hanging on the pastor's every word, as they idolize him. They have been trained by the culture that we are to leave witnessing about Christ to "the experts" who were trained in it. They do not believe the Holy Spirit is superior to men. I am not sure what or who they think the Holy Spirit is, since they treat Him as if he were an idea instead of a person.
The attendees were encouraged by the paid pastor to bring unsaved people into the gathering, causing a watered-down and perverted form of the principles of God, and causing the proliferation of apostasy within the churches.
To make things even worse, the pastor and the people in the pews practiced silence when those who were not born again lived out freely without challenge their lifestyle of sin. If an unbeliever can remain in a Christian gathering for many years without being saved, then something is wrong with the leaders and the congregants who are saved. Either the unbeliever will be convicted of sin through the preaching of the Word or they will leave under the weight of the knowledge of their sin.
The congregation of the born-again believers ought to be made up of authentic believers only. Since the gathering is for the purpose of building up the saints it is not for the purpose of evangelism. We are to go into the world for that and if someone becomes born again they will come in as a brother or sister in Christ.
If an unbeliever wanders in we welcome them but hold back nothing to soften the message for the new comer.
We are never commanded to use symbols, artifacts, or rituals to influence others to accept the truth of the Bible. We were commanded to use our voice as led by the Holy Spirit to speak to people about Christ.
When we use human tricks to manipulate the thinking of others, we are moving into the realm of emotionalism, fostering empty and shallow sentimentality rather than speaking plainly through conversation that promotes rational reasoning.
Symbols do create emotionalism rather than rational thinking. They well up within people "feelings that often are not accurate to the message. The artifacts, symbols, and rituals are a distraction to the one hearing.
We build within people a shallow, dead faith when we introduce symbols and rituals to convince people of the truth.
John 20:29
"29 Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Believing without seeing is a matter of the heart; nothing outside the heart will do concerning faith. No object will bring faith to someone, or that faith will be in the object, not in Christ.
Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see."
Personally, I have no desire to fight with someone over a flag. I would rather speak the gospel clearly, having a conversation and hearing responses from the hearer, this could bring connection and trust, not in me but in Christ. Fighting over an object just to feel superior is of no value.
So perhaps my challenge would be not to use symbols at all when witnessing Christ. Use Words, listen to the response, and have answers from God's Word when questions arise.
Conversations with depth are what build relationships. Meaningless superficial conversations do not build relationships; they merely bring up feelings from the shallowest part of our being.
Isaiah 1:18 "18“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool."
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