I think it's time I made a post about this website, so I'll do it here since it's the topic at hand.
For those of you who have insisted or suggested that this community has had some problems, I fully admit and acknowledge that as a fact. A good portion of those problems extend forth from how poorly I've run the place in the last couple years. I've not been a good steward of the resources that God provided me with. The single largest issue was a combination of me not spending enough time due to personal issues and then me not working to appoint a proper staff to handle things when I was gone. Instead, I let a few bad circumstances slow and outright stop my plans to find new team members which left the burden basically on two people and ultimately on one as she performed just about all of the public work. I did not give her help nor clear direction, and that only served to frustrate her. In the end, as God always does, he pulled the victory with her gaining the experience to move on and start her own forum. So even through my own failings, to God be the glory.
Fast forward to the here and the now. What folks say gets reported back to me in one form or another by the folks they talk to. Furthermore, I do have an English degree so I can read between the lines. I learned a while back that just about everyone has an opinion or problem with how I run things, but very few step up and have an answer for how to fix that problem. Unfortunately, I though that stepping back and letting the community handle things would work, but it only paralyzed me in the decisions I made. I got too busy trying to keep so-and-so happy or trying to preserve this tenuous peace.
Christianity Board is a
Christian Forum. If you don't know what those words mean, look them up. Obviously, Christ -ian means Christ man just like Amer -ican means someone from America or Ind -ian means someone from India. If those folks from locations are of that location, then this is a place for people who are
of Christ. The problem with this simple part is that some think that being Christian means that everyone should agree with their opinion. No denomination, sect, belief, or doctrine has a monopoly on this mindset! I've seen it firsthand and I can't say that I've probably not exhibited that attitude at certain points in time. If you want a glaring example without names, just look at the battles over which Bible to use. It's like some cannot let go that certain versions might be preferred by someone else. Have we not stopped this nonsense to take the time to realize that when we say
Almighty God surely he'd have the knowledge to give us proper Bibles that ensure the truth gets taught? Maybe the different ways and tenses of saying things hit the note for different people. So really, how dare you judge someone for using a version that might not be yours, one way or another?
Now let us take the second part of the title: forum. What is a forum? http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forum
I knew what a forum was when I chose to make Christianity Board around this format. It was a vision I had and in many ways that vision has been fulfilled, with the thanks going to God that at least a for a time I got things right. That being said, this was meant to be a place where I learn. I don't know everything about the Bible. No one here does. The Bible, the Word of God, is so incredibly complex that it can be examined on different levels and yet still different things can be learned. It's so deep that hours of searching and reading cannot yield what the Holy Spirit does in an instant. The forum format was meant to intimate the true Christian church of old. It's a place where the members come not to get the ones next to them to fully agree, but it's a place to come where they work out how to get it right themselves!
I stand behind the Bible Studies produced at this community. I wouldn't put them out there if I didn't believe them. I know the penalties associated for those who teach falsely and personally I'd like to avoid those. However, God laid it on my heart to be a teacher even when I didn't listen. I'm blessed to be able to operate in the capacity that I can. With that said, your role is not mine and mine is not yours. I need some help, but I can only get that help when people offer it and give it. For that effort, I applaud the OP.
So now that you guys and girls know the vision for the website - the ideal if you will - we have to deal with reality. The reality is that "I am right" mantra is pretty pervasive. However, the "I am right" mantra is exactly what is forgotten:
Matthew 7:1-5 NASB
Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?
Some like to key in on the next verse:
Matthew 7:6 NASB
Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Note that it doesn't say rebuke them or call them names when they disagree. Simply keep your pearls and give them to someone else. It's that simple. Jesus the Christ had the great tool in that he knew the exact state of the hearts he called vipers. We don't have that ability because we're not God. We're told to be fruit testers. If it's good, eat it. (Meaning it aligns with Scripture.) If it's not, discard it and move on. Remember the wheat and chafe?
Who separates them? Not the servants, but the Lord. Matthew 25:32. We are to know their fruit and be aware, but it's not our call or place to fix them.
Are we not called to turn the other cheek? Well guess what, while we're not second class citizens according to this verse, we cannot totally disregard it because it's Scripture too. In the context that it was taught in, we realize that it's about teaching. Guess what? When you teach you draw attention and you're inevitably going to draw the attention of some that disagree with you regardless of their stance on the Lord. Calling names, telling folks they're unlearned, and so on doesn't help anyone! Insults aren't the way God works, and don't fool yourself for an instant thinking that you have the right to insult. Not only is it against forum rules, it's against what God would have us do. Jesus called them vipers and dogs because he knew they were, but does not even a dog get a crumb from the master's table? You don't have the authority to decide souls; that's Christ's alone and it means that maybe sometimes you take a little heat for teaching the truth. So what, you're on a forum? Do you think because John or Jane Doe comes along and says something about you that everyone will believe them? Hardly. Do you think that everyone will believe everything you say whether inspired by the Spirit or not? Hardly as well. If you don't catch it here, the moment you leave this forum you'll run against it.
I don't think anyone believes anything because it was posted in a forum. Even with our Bible Studies, I want people to search them out and either believe if they see it or move on if they do not. That is our role as Christians, to put the seed out and to make it available while we live it as an example. What does the world do when they don't like what you have to say? They insult you. Does that tit for tat get anywhere?
My point is pick your battles, be slow to speak, and for heaven's sake quit worrying about what some person says about you on a forum. I promise you've I've received as much (if not more) hate mail than anyone here. I've been rebuked, cursed, mocked, and whatever else you can think of that would be rude to do. When something like that happens here on forum grounds, report it and let the staff take care of it. Yet, on the other side of the token, shape up and know that scoffers will come. They always have. You're blessed to be dealing with only some rudeness on a forum. The Apostles were stoned and beaten. Our Lord was crucified. All of them were killed.
Use this venue for the truth, but it's going to take more than me and more than just a handful. I need everyone's help to make this a more friendly place. CB is not exactly friendly as it once was. While that is ultimately a reflection on me, it's a reflection on the community as a whole as well. I want this to be a powerful place, but I need some help because the body needs all of the parts with Christ at the head!