Makes you think about the church

I was once asked why I was a Methodist (I think I've written about this subject...), well in light of being asked I found a cute (but sick) joke about being asked what denomination you are.



A man was standing off the edge of the Sydney Harbour Bridge --about to jump. A passer-by tried to talk him down; he asked: "well, are you a Christian?" to which the man answered "yes." He exclaimed: "great, me too; what kind of Christian are you? Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant?" The answer was: "Protestant." "Me too; what kind of Protestant? Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal?" Pentecostal. The man got excited: "me too; are you an initial evidence or a third wave Pentecostal?" "Initial evidence." "Me too; what kind of initial evidence? Are you a AOG, CRC, COC, CCC?" "AOG." Now, he got really excited: "Me too; are you Premillenial, Post Millenial or Amillenial?" The guy on the bridge said: "Amillenial" and with that the passer-by, becoming very angry, screamed: "Die, heretic!" and pushed him off the bridge.



The Methodist Church of Southern Africa is busy debating the issue of Same Sex Relationships and how they fit into the bigger picture. There are some far right of the issue and some far left. I think that as I watch the responses of the various people, although they are all Methodist, it makes me wonder if they would love to push one another off of bridges. The sad thing is that the world looks on to us as the church and is probably saying: "you see, those Christians are a bunch of weirdo's". My prayer is that, apart from our understanding of God, the bible and the church...can Christians not just hold onto the crux of the gospel: LOVE! Love God, love yourself and love one another (that does not mean shouting DIE, HERETIC!)



Picture of the Execution of a heretic






For what it's worth.