Fair warning, this is going to be ;
part book review
part commentary
and a wee bit of theology thoughts from yours truly...
So I just finished this book this weekend:
This is a very old book, in fact we're talking around the year 1909 when it was finished. Maybe a few years earlier, or later, I'm not sure. But like a few of you know, I'm a Seventh Day Adventist and part of our church focuses on the writings of Ellen White.
A quick Google search about her, and you'll read some real interesting things....
Cult leader, false prophet, crazy old woman....Of there's plenty written about her. In fact, before I was baptized in the church I had a few concerns about any person that is viewed with authority in any religion. Suuuuuuper sketchy if you ask me. But at the end of the day, everything I was reading about the bible and studying it for myself was lining up with what these books spoke about....So around half a decade ago, I started reading some of her works.
They are actually some of the best commentary I've ever read about the bible, and most of the critics have never even read one of her books. Take critics with a grain of salt lol And take it from someone who was skeptical and then actually read the books...It's great stuff.
Any who, one of the investments I made about 3 months ago was the entire 'Testimonies For The Church' set. It's a mammoth 9 volume set, that was written over the decades that Ellen White was an author.
And I decided to go backwards and read Volume 9 first. What a gem!
But what I really wanted to discuss in this post was a quote I read in the book and how powerful it was...
I mean, let this sink in...
If you are a Christian, you'll know some of the drama that's been around our faith for centuries. Even to this day, religion has had the reputation to force upon people beliefs and ways of life. But that's not what God intended...
This quote highlighted what true bible 'religion' is meant to be for Christians.
We aren't meant to strong arm people into our faith. Far from it. We aren't called to force people to think and believe the way we do. Not at all!
What we are meant to do is, die to self daily!
That's our mission. It's not to convert people left right and center, it's for us to convert...Ourselves!
True bible religion is to lead to self-control. End of personal sin. End of selfishness. End of how we used to live, so that we can SHOW the world, and be the salt of the earth. That's how we convert people. Not by strong arming, but by showing the character of Christ in everything we do. How we live, leads people to ask questions, to see LOVE in everything we do and a complete turn away from our old selves.
Easier said than done right?
Much easier to beat the people with bibles and scream at the top our lungs...REPENT!!!
Oh and repent we must....But that's not our call to 'get people' to repent. In fact, we need to worry about how much sin we are still holding onto. Which I know for me, is quite a bit. That's the 'battle'. That's true religion for me, a daily walk in the example of Christ. So that we can lead others from how we live....
Never by force.