It could. Good things can come of a response like "Stuff them!". First as Clete stated before, a person who witnesses to a sinner will likely not reap a brother or sister in Christ the first time.
You can either continue to show the compassion of Christ, or give it a good old fashioned one shot-cut em off christian tounge lashing and hope it works. Because after that, you've pretty much isolated that person from yourself. I say the former is more Christ-like. As to "cutting them off", there's a difference between "I can't be around you while sin is destroying your life and your relationship with God" and "Get away you filthy slut." One demonstrates love and a genuine concern with spiritual well-being.
so moving up defiance against God is not necessarily the worst thing.
Ok, so it's not the worst thing. They're still going to hell. And that's why you insult them, right? Because you want them to turn away from hell?
I would hope so! Is there something wrong with being judgemental?
Probably about 75% of the time..
If they know what they are doing is wrong, wouldn't they want people to be honest with them?
You don't have to lie to them. You could tell someone "Your sexual addictions are sinful against God".
Of course mustering up a few harsh words is not the most loving thing one can do. You need to go back and read what "Of course not" means.
It doesn't matter what "of course not" means. You answered my question: of course it's not the most loving thing one can do.
So you are equating hate and not being nice? Not being nice = hate; is that correct?
No. Someone asked "Does Enyart say that it is okay to hate sinners?", and Clete responded "Yes." As Clete would say, "Love and hate are not mutually exclusive." That's why I used the term "hate".
Uh, yeah. It's being Christ-like.
Why don't you limit your mocking to "hypocrite" and "fool"?
And this would be just the beginning! Sheesh, man, if that's what you call weak then you must think that support for claims that gravity makes things fall is weak as well.
Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite, and hypocrite.
So, I have to ask; Johnny, am I your enemy or your neighbor?
Here we go. Let me guess, you're going to excuse 99.9% of the human population from these two groups, and thus you aren't bound to love them?
Again, I will quote Timothy, because you completely ignored him.
II Timothy 2 "24And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
Gentle:
# Considerate or kindly in disposition; amiable and tender.
# Not harsh or severe; mild and soft: a gentle scolding; a gentle tapping at the window. (dictionary.com)
2 a : TRACTABLE, DOCILE b : free from harshness, sternness, or violence (m-w.com)
I also ask you: Jesus ate with sinners. Will you be Christ-like, or will you follow Paul's instruction?
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I think you'll find that most of the name-calling on this forum is not the same name-calling you are defending (and I'm not suggesting that you should be defending it). Lighthouse called me a dumbass and suggested that perhaps I was a failed abortion attempt after suggesting that fetal kicking is not evidence of a soul. By any measure, he failed to make a case and a good argument for his position. He then resorted to derision and claimed it was justified. Just because someone doesn't see your point of view doesn't make them a dumbass or an idiot. We are only human. We still interpret the Bible within the context of our experience. We are still slave to our own bias and subjectivity. We are not 100% right. Thus, I don't think it's justified in any way to call someone a name for disagreeing with you, even on issues you feel strongly about. Everyone has been wrong in the past, and everyone will continue to be wrong in the future. It's part of being human. That's not directed at you, Yorzhik, it's directed at everybody reading this.