Job 13:6
Hear now my reasoning,
To the pleading of my lips listen.
I read an article yesterday that covered the run up to a man’s suicide. In the end, it was no different than the bullying we all think is a children’s problem; only the participants were grown men with jobs, families, and responsibilities to their communities. One side was evil, although both sides proclaimed to be men of God. One deserves punishment that is not coming on this earth.
‘Reasoning’ was also ‘argument’, ‘accusation’, and ‘dispute’. Reasoning was broader in application. ‘Hear’ was also ‘listen to’. I felt the listen was implied and the hear was with a like it or not.
‘Listen’ was also ‘hear’ and ‘heed’ with one ‘listen closely’. I often assume wrongly that people listen closely to me. ‘Pleading’ was also ‘complaint’.
The odd thing about the article is that the author claimed that the second act of bullying was over a topic more worthy than the first. The second topic to me was not even an issue. Funny how people get fired up over what is more important to themselves. The second topic was poorly executed writing by a non-professional. Seems unimportant to me.
The victim in this case was a small country pastor who liked to dress up as a woman at home and posted a couple pictures of himself online. When the story broke, the article tells us that everyone in his circle supported him even so. But in the end, he could not handle that his shame was now known to everyone he had been hiding it from.
The perpetrator also is reportedly some kind of small-town pastor who makes great effort to out everyone else for their faults. This person is also reportedly super ‘ok’ with all the hate that has come about over his actions; and he seems to have a warped sense of how Christians are to behave. I have never met him or read the article myself, but I have often read about the unchristian acts perpetrated by men or women who swear they are only doing what they think is right. My question for myself is how many people who claim to be Christian (and are perpetrating these acts) are truly saved and being misled by the devil (or others) as opposed to how many are not saved and are simply evil?
One of my favorite thoughts on gender issues comes from the scene in a Marvel movie where Thor states ‘All words are made up’. The topic in the movie was not gender. Just the same. this is how I feel about gender issues. It is all made up.
The cultural pressures on gender were made up by the people in the culture and impressed on the minds of those who followed. Yes, the Bible I believe in has points that touch on gender issues, but I believe God gave those to us who are His adopted children for ourselves and our kids. It is not my role to enforce those aspects on others whether they proclaim to be God’s children or not. But it is also my choice how I engage with others around me, and I should not be criminalized for addressing someone who has facial features or dress or names or pasts that makes it unclear as to their preference. I do not want to be addressed as she or it, but it should not be a crime if someone messes that up.
Written ~4/1/24, Posted 6/11/24, Job 290