When Christians turn their love for Jesus into a game of "Wack a Mole"

According to an Article in Livescience.com an English biotech company is said to have released millions of genetically modified mosquitoes from 2013 to 2015. They released them into neighborhoods in Jacobina, Brazil. They did it because they wanted to see if they could reduce the number of native disease-carrying mosquitoes. Well, have you ever heard the saying , “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”? Well that could easily be the title to this story. They thought that by modifying certain parts of the insect's DNA, researchers could squash the target population's size without affecting its genetics. You see, the scientists had great intentions with this experiment. They wanted to see if they injected the male mosquitoes , once mated with the female mosquitoes ( the ones that bite) would pass on the Genetically modified genes with a defective gene to limit their fertility. It was their hope to at least ensure any offspring produced would be too weak to progress into adulthood and reproduce themselves. Well, many are concerned it didn't go down that way as planned. Some of the gene-edited mosquitoes passed on their genes to the native insects, which actually has them concerned that they created a more robust hybrid species, according to their new findings.

After reading this story it reminded me of what I have been seeing a lot of within different Christian groups and communities I belong to... virtually and in real life. I feel the devil is definitely in the details. I have witnessed so much bickering over theology, interpretations, and doctrines. Clashes over non essentials, and things don’t really matter in the greater scheme of things. Some parading around like peacocks, flashing their perceived knowledge like brightly colored feathers…perhaps hoping to hear the "ooooohhhhssss" and "ahhhhhhssss" from their counterparts. I've seen fellow Christians fire off social media posts like arrows... making direct attacks at other Christians that may not share their personal theology or denomination...Some feel that this is perfectly OK and quote Proverbs 27:17 saying “ As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Which definitely has it’s place, but there is a time and a place for everything and just because you are ready to duel with the intent to edify it, does not mean it is the time or the place for the other person. Show some respect. Lets be honest. How many souls have been won for Jesus with snarky and condescending comments? How many people have been successfully witnessed to while bickering publicly with others about faith? Are we bringing glory to God with our childish attacks or are we bringing him shame?

Often we approach other Christians and non Christians with good intentions. We may be wanting to share the Gospel with someone, but end up attacking their morals without getting to know the person first. Sometimes we fall victim to stereotyping others or leaning on our own understanding and assumptions instead of sincerely listening to them. We may have a christian friend whose denomination is in direct opposition to our own denomination and feel we need to get them to come to “our side” of the tracks so the can do the “Christian thing” right as if we are somehow an authority…. I can definitely see that this sort of behavior can bring a smile to the devils face as he loves nothing more than to see Christians feasting on each other. I sure we are scoring one for the enemy when we act so poorly to each other that we end up scaring people away from following Jesus entirely. I mean , can you blame them? It was never Jesus being crude and rude to those around him, it was those closest to him!

In John 12:3 , one of Jesus’s own disciples Judas, got snooty with Mary when she took out a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. Judas did not approve of this and asked “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denariib and the money given to the poor?” Which you might agree with him on the philanthropy side of things, but In John 12:6 it busts out Judas by saying, “Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it.”

Jesus did not support this thought process or the behavior of Judas. He said, “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “She was intended to keep this perfume to prepare for the day of My burial. The poor you will always have with you,c but you will not always have Me.”

Disciples of Jesus were even snooty to little kids . In Matthew 19:14 , the “little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. And the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” And after He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.

You see? I'm sure his disciples thought that they were helping him at these times...but really they were missing the point. Jesus didn’t care about the money. Jesus did not get drunk on his fame and success. He did not turn arrogant, shooing away little kids. He was not chomping on someones every last word waiting to force feed his thoughts down their throat. He behaved in a loving, caring way that showed kindness and respect, but still got his point across.

Even sitting with the Samaritan woman at the well… He didn't let the fact that he was a Jew and she was a Samaritan, stop him from talking to her. Jews and Samaritans did not associate with each other. He not only talked to her, He even asked to drink out of her water jar. I don't even like drinking after my son at times. He has so many food "floaties" in his water, just looking at it makes me want to vomit! Can you imagine sitting down and drinking out of a strangers cup you just met? Beside the fact she was a Samaritan, but also a woman, and one who had a reputation and was low on the social totem pole in her town? She had so many things stacked against her but Jesus saw through all of them and then chose to use her to spread the Gospel. The news of the living water. He did it in a graceful caring way that probably made no sense to the disciples who were watching from a distance.

I feel it is very important to make sure our love for Jesus is not be replaced with a club. We need to focus on witnessing to others the way Jesus did. We need to not let our knowledge, our social standing, our titles, our doctrine, our theology, replace the mission of our Lord. We must not run around participating in a Christian Whack A Mole contest by clubbing each other into boxes we have picked for them. We need to trust in his sovereignty and pray on all things before jumping into all things. Our desire to be more Christ like should show in our interactions with others and how we talk to others and how we treat others. If those closest to Jesus, those who witnessed his miracles, his demeanor, his knowledge, his care and kindness, STILL did not seem to get the point, that should show us we need to stay even more aware of our actions. We need to cross examine ourselves more and others less. We need to constantly compare and align ourselves and our motives, and our intentions, and our delivery to that of Jesus or we can find ourselves doing more harm than good just like the scientists did with the mosquitoes.

Jesus corrected his disciples, but in a respectful way that was full of truth. He did not belittle them. He did not yell at them. He did not go for the jugular in the name of love. He did not curse them. He did not look down at them. He simply corrected them in a couple of sentences.

Proverbs 18:19 States "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle."

This verse says a lot! It paints a very adequate picture about how we as humans are wired. If we come with a battering ram, even if being powered with good intentions, we can cause others to go on their defense and inevitably shut us out.

The enemy can easily turn our passion for Christ into a passion to be right if we allow ourselves to be easily blinded by victory. When we start valuing winning arguments instead of winning souls for the Lord, we may end up pushing thirsty people away from the living water we know we all need.