It's sad when a person who claims to be a Christian attacks you personally. Even sadder when he doesn't even have his facts straight. But it's probably most sad when he does so for no other reason at all than to just be plum mean!
Today I received a letter in the mail from a preacher I once respected. In his letter, he not only was as vicious as he could be, but he also was very illogical in his response. This was curious, as the man claims to be of a very high I.Q. (He's a Doctor).
In the letter, the man responds to my final letter to him. (In other letters to me he calls me a lot of names. Why? Because someone lied about me and he choose to believe them instead of asking me about it and finding out if their accusations were true. Sadly, this is Standard Operating Prodecure in these last days of apostasy, and I've seen a lot of good men have their good names slandered by this practice. And, now I'm one of them.)
In my last letter to the man, I only wrote one line, a quote from the late great George Mueller towards those who lied about him and tried to slander his good name: "I am content to wait until the judgment seat of Christ for God to clear my character."
I thought that would be the end of the matter. Boy was I wrong!
What this man wrote in return was not only un-christian and hateful, but it also was completely illogical!
His response to my quote of George Mueller was: "No man can condemn your character - You Fool! You mean your reputation. Can't get anything straight, can you???"
I had to read that over and over to even try to understand it. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, so I went to the 1828 Webster's dictionary to see if there really is a difference between one's "reputation" and one's "character." What I found was they both mean the same thing! So he was angrily arguing a point that had nothing to do with anything, and making me out to be a FOOL for not knowing the difference! (Interestingly enough, that seems to be what he preaches against most in his own ministry!)
According to Websters, I found:
Definition of REPUTATION:
1. Good name; the credit, honor or CHARACTER which is derived from a favorable public opinion or esteem...
2. CHARACTER by report; in a good or bad sense; as a man has the reputation of being rich or poor, or of being a thief.
Definition of CHARACTER:
The peculiar qualitites, impressed by nature or habit on a person, which distinguish him from others; these constitute real character...or REPUTATION.
With these definitions, it makes it sound like your character and your reputation are one and the same.
With that in mind, what did this guy mean? I think he just wanted to call me a name and make me feel stupid, while trying to make himself look smart as he gets the final word.
That's fine. I'm okay with that. I'm not even going to respond. I have nothing to say except what I've already said. And I really do look forward to standing before God at the Judgment Seat of Christ and letting him judge.
I just wish men in the ministry would stop attacking in their own words and in the flesh, but would rather instruct meekly with the scriptures. That'd be much better, and wouldn't leave people like me wondering what they are trying to say!
Hey, at least he made me go stick my nose in the dictionary and I got to learn something from all this!
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