I agree with you, we have to take a lot of flack. But often im not sure if its because im saying something stupid or if it is because im a christian.
It seems to me, like people are waiting for a christian to slip up so they can have another excuse not to believe in god.
I have delivered myself from that! I am myself.Im not responsible for someone elses salvation,and god knows im not perfect, so he surely would not have bargained on me to do the 'saving' bits!
All i know is that very often i take punishment not because of what i actually say, but because of who i believe in. If that be the case, im not too bothered, infact if that be the case HALLELUJAH , great is my reward!
If someone dismisses me simply because i serve god, all the better!
But really, i find that among christians there is this rivalry...a kind of wanting to prove that the one is more spiritual than the other. That is unfortunate. But we are all on different levels of understanding and so tolerance is needed. I struggle myself to communicate with the old time religeous folks. I think they remind me too much of the reason i left religion.
There is one bit of information that the non-believers are mostly unaware of...every word that is spoken agains us, is recorded. This is why god is our validator! And whatever measure we are judged with, god judges them. This is why i try to use the bible as my measuring stick when it comes to these things. Interesting, that when i think someone is wrong, and god thinks they are right...he always has this way of showing me .And when someone is wrong and i am wrong too, he shows me the three fingers pointing back. He does this not to show me they are right, but to show me im wrong too. And so, i can even trust him with my misconceptions.He knows how to sort me out! If i dont get the 'fingers pointing back' episode, i know im on the right track. But i never allow someone else to invade my inner peace. There is only one way to keep on track when you are faced with persecution and opposition, you have to know who you are! And when it comes to correcting me, i leave that to god. My conscience is working i believe. And so i dont have to worry to much about insults, they can only hurt me if they are the truth or if i still have an ego.
heneni