Does your world tilt?

I love working with people. Secular and Christians alike. Although I must say that the lives Christians live can be significantly more complicated. Not because of the Christianity they live but because of the Christianity they ignore.

Several years ago I was working with a male Pastor who was struggling with alcoholism. Because of a job transfer I only got to see him three or four times. In that time I learned that he was living common law with a woman who was also a Pastor, in a different congregation of course. She probably had alcoholism as well but was not yet ready to admit it. Their relationship broke down shortly after I met him (that’s what brought him to counselling) and she, his common law partner / Pastor moved in with a new partner, a woman. About a year later, I learned that he, this Pastor had moved in with yet another woman.

(((sigh)))

I was reading some comments about a Christian musician who recently announced to the world that she is a homosexual who has been living common law with another woman. The comments that followed this story were largely in favour of both her being sexually disoriented and her announcing it to the public. A typical thought in the comments was, “There will be a lot of Christian artists announcing their homosexuality in the next few years.” No mention of any possible conflict between Whom she served and how she lived.

(((sigh)))

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve worked with dozens of homosexual couples who were experiencing relationship problems. The path to recovery for them is not much different than for straight couples. None of those clients were Christian couples so the issue of what the Bible teaches never came up. If it had, I suspect that the number of sessions involved would have increased significantly. Or - not - depending on how interested they were in what their “Lord” had to say about the issue of sexual intimacy.

Jesus was more than clear in Genesis, which He quoted again during His earthly ministry, that sexual love is to take place within the safety of a male / female marriage.

Jesus also said, "The one who obeys Me is the one who loves Me."

That's why I get nervous around Christians who seem to want to do as little as they can get away with when it comes to obeying their Lord and Saviour. I mean really:
. How do you feel when your children look for ways to not obey you?

. How do you feel when your children rationalise their wrong behaviours?

. How do you feel when your children do only the bare minimum of what you ask?

. How do you feel when your children tell you that what they're doing wrong isn't really wrong?

. How do you feel when your children accuse you of not loving them because you ask them to do something difficult?

. How do you feel when your children follow the letter but not the spirit of what you want from them?

. How do you feel when your children look for ways to interpret what you say as meaning something else?

If you've got children like that, you aren't being loved, you're being manipulated.

If you've got children like that, you have kids who are ignoring your authority and demanding, either straight up or passive aggressively that THEY be in control.

If you've got children like that, you have kids who think that they know better than you as to what's good for them.


I don't expect non Christians to get that kind of thinking but those who claim to follow Jesus should.


I just finished explaining to my nine-year-old that one sign of maturity is when he no longer has to do something just because he really wants to do it. One sign of maturity is that he can make himself do something that has to be done even though he really doesn’t want to do it.


Based on those two examples, I get really nervous around Christians in leadership positions who seem to be very immature spiritually. A Lutheran Pastor, Reverend David Eck and his partner Gary over at blog “I’m Christian. I’m Gay. Deal with it.” might be an example of that kind of immaturity. Jesus is surely SOMETHING to these two Christians but Lord / Master is most certainly not one of them.


I get nervous around Christians who look for ways to believe that the Bible isn't speaking to them.

I get nervous around Christians who look for ways to convince themselves that the Bible isn't saying what it clearly says to the vast majority of believers.

I get nervous around Christians who are only willing to SACRIFICE for their Lord and Saviour in areas where it won't cost or hurt.

I get nervous around Christians who are not willing to DENY themselves for the One who died for them.

I get nervous around Christians who aren't willing to DIE to self for the One who is willing to give them eternal life in paradise.

Those kind of Christian make me feel uneasy. When I encounter them, for a few seconds, my world tilts.