Pray For Britney?By Steven F. Deaton |
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The news story came out yesterday (click here). A mega-church in Lexington, KY, was asked to send letters to Britney Spears. The church’s leader, Jon Weece, made the appeal on his Sept. 19 blog post. He said, “No preaching. No criticizing. Just love. As a church, let's love Britney the way Jesus loves her.” Does Jesus love without preaching and criticizing? No doubt, Jesus loves Britney Spears as much as He loves you and me. He loves the whole world; that is what put Him on the cross (Jn. 1:29). Should we pray for Britney? Yes. She and all need prayers. Even corrupt, conniving, callous candidates and politicians need our prayers (1 Tim. 2:1-4). Still, does the Bible call on us to extract criticism and “preaching” from our efforts to help those chained in sin? The answer is no. Jesus confronted many people with preaching and criticism. The Pharisees and scribes took a beating in Matthew 23. Peter was severely rebuked in Matthew 16:21-23. What about Jesus dealing with women who are at rock bottom? When the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, He did not ignore her sin. He did refuse to fall into a trap laid by the Jews, but He told the woman to “go and sin no more” (Jn. 8:11). Jesus even purposely raised the issue of immorality with the woman at the well in John 4. He brought out the fact that she was guilty of sexual immorality (Jn. 4:16-18). Then, when she switched the subject to worship, He pointed out that her worship was sinful (Jn. 4:19-24). The love of the Lord did not exceed the Law of the Lord. Never has, never will. When sin is present, men and women need to be called out of it. That is the very purpose of the gospel. It is not to simply comfort others and let them know we care and are thinking about them. Good will and warm emotions are fine, but absent of a genuine concern for the soul they are merely fleeting and wasted thoughts. Pray for Britney? Yes. But pray she will leave her sin and live for righteousness. |
To everything there is a season, |
