I preached a series not too long ago called, Defeaters-Why People Don't Believe. There seem to be some common objections to the Christian faith that stand as roadblocks that can be difficult to climb over. My intent was to give some help in getting over those roadblocks. One of the sermons was on the problem of science. Science really has no beef with Christianity and Christianity has no beef with science. The conflict is really between two philosophies. The philosophy of theism (the belief in a personal God) and the philosophy of naturalism (the measurable world is all there is). Anyway, I found out that someone in our church sent that sermon to a family member who administrates a blog that is pretty much a forum for elevating naturalism at the expense of all religion but Christianity in particular. This administrator took offense to my message and sent it to everyone on his blog asking them to watch it and then send their critique so they could lampoon me. So they did. Many found it appalling, some called me a liar, others couldn't even stomach more than 10 minutes. It was fascinating to read their responses and their critique. But, here is the thing. They watched it. These are people who would never darken the doors of our church. They are a fairly hostile bunch and each one of them sat down and had to watch a sermon because the administrator asked them to because he was so incensed by the whole thing. I ended up registering on the blog and jumping into the conversation. I started by saying, "Hi, I'm Joe Coffey. I feel like I am walking up and sticking my head in a huddle of guys who want to beat me up." They have welcomed me into the conversation. So far, some of them have softened enough to be cordial and even friendly. Others are still calling me names. One of the challenges of being a minister is being able to develop relationships with people who don't believe the way I do. Almost all of my relationships are with people like you who are reading this. Now I have a whole new group of friends. Well, kind of friends. They are friends to me. I am talking to the God they don't believe exists every day about them. One of them told me his wife was pregnant and home sick. I immediately told him that I would be praying for her and for him. The next email I received from him told me not to worry about the caustic comment one of the bloggers had just written about me. I am on a cyber adventure with God. Very cool. The whole internet is a mystery to me but a greater mystery still is the way God works to bring himself front and center to those who believe he is a figment of my imagination. God has given them a cyber pastor and they never saw it coming.
Friday, November 12, 2010
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19 comments:
Hi Joe, yeah, it's me again! I love reading your blog and look forward to it each week. That was an awesome sermon (not that I understood everything you had to say, LOL) ...
I too have found many new friends in cyberspace. This is an amazing technology in our times...the Gospel is being spread far and wide with incredible speed through the internet. I have spoken to people across America and literally around the world about Jesus without leaving my own living room. Just today I received a package of Thanksgiving goodies from someone in Arizona who I have prayed for over the past year, learning of her needs through blogland. Though we've never met in person, we are bonded as sisters in Christ.
I have also had several conversations with strangers who call themselves atheists...it has sharpened me and hopefully, like you said, put Christ in front of folks who would never enter the doors of a church.
Keep us posted on your new friendships! Jesus is a friend of sinners and we should be too...in fact He saved us when we were His enemy! Mind boggling!
Thanks for this message; you are enlightening and inspiring with your perceptions and perspectives! Keep us informed of your progess as it will help us follow better.
Phil
The future of evangelism is here! I have actually had a few great conversations online about God and my relationship with Him. Great to hear!
One has to be incredibly egocentric and self-righteous to believe that an evangelical Christian lifestyle is the only way to live a moral, correct life.
It must be nice to feel so self-important and to defend your judgemental, disrespectful opinions using the Bible so you don't have to actually assess your behavior independently.
The way you devalue the beliefs and "lifestyles" of those who do not share your ideas and then talk about how you care for them because you are "praying for them" is laughable.
How condescending of you to believe that God is "working through you" to get to these poor non-believers.
Please tell us more about what it's like to have a pedestal from which to spread your platform of intolerance, bigotry, and hatred for anyone unlike your white, straight, evangelical, Euro-centric, conservative self.
Perhaps you can use further blog posts to articulate how satisfying it is for you to condescend, belittle, and devalue the beliefs of others because they don't fit within your limited paradigm.
The narrowness of your ideas, the bloatedness of your ego, and your lack of respect for others is just shameful.
Dear Anonymous,
Those of us who know and love our Pastor Joe could jump in and defensively argue against what you wrote here. We could tell you how wrong your judgments are and what a humble servant he really is. But we won't. You see, this is the whole point: Living a life that is hidden in Christ relieves our defensiveness. Instead of arguing, we will extend a hand of friendship and invite you to join us. Come along and have a closer look. It's not about Joe Coffey...he's just a messenger. And I guarantee you, he's out to be your friend. Give him a chance.
Dear Anonymous,
I can understand how you took it like that I guess. On the blog my new friends are trying to convince me of my errors in thinking and I am trying to do the same. We have totally different world views. I don't understand why you think I am arrogant and condescending and they are not. I don't think that is consistent.
Read John 20:24-31
Jesus wasn't hard on Thomas for his doubts. Despite his skepticism. Thomas was still loyal to the believers and to Jesus himself. Some people need to doubt before they believe. If doubt leads to questions, questions lead to answers, and the answers are accepted, then doubt has done its work. It is when doubt becomes stubbornness and stubbornness becomes a lifestyle that doubt harms faith. When you doubt, don't stop there. Let your doubt deepen your faith as you continue to search for the answer."
To that anonymous contributor who took considers Pastor Coffey "egocentric" and "self-righteous," I can only say that in the many, many hours I have listened to his teaching, I have witnessed mostly humility and I’ll even say “self-criticism.” He leads in prayer not by finger-pointing but by calling on God to help us become LESS selfish, LESS of an egotistical mess.
The scathing blog posting is a boilerplate accusation that actually does have a real target: Poseurs who hijack and warp Christianity to falsely bolster their own agendas. In other words, those who make God in their own image versus the other way around, those whose God hates the same people they do.
Hurl your daggers at those hypocrites, but do not make the mistake of including Joe Coffey in that group. In the countless hours I have heard him teach, he illuminates a gospel that brings us closer to becoming selfless, loving, patient, tolerant, beautiful people.
Let me restate that last sentence and add a word: Joe illuminates a gospel that brings us closer to UNDERSTANDING THE HARD WORK OF becoming selfless, loving, patient, tolerant, beautiful people.
nice post. thanks.
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
-1 Cor 1:18
I've always liked this verse, especially in moments like these. It reminds me to have compassion for unbelievers.
I remember the days before I believed, before God softened my heart to hear and feel and understand His message and His love. It's easier in retrospect to see that I was tormented by my own rejection of the truth. Saying the sky is red doesn't make it so, and no matter how much I tried to convince myself to believe it I was confronted each sunny day by its brilliant blue.
I think it's the conflict within (i.e., the untruth to which I had clung, constantly being challenged by the real truth I was unwilling to accept) that once upon a time caused me to point my finger and say "intolerant bigot" to those who loved me and were pointing the way to the One who is Love.
I'm a little late reading this, hopefully "anonymous" reads this.
There is so much hurt in your tone, so much anger and I am sure it stems from something deeper than pastor Joe.
Please understand this is so much more than morality here on earth.
This is about Jesus. This is about the cross.
This is about how much God loved us that while we were still sinners he died for us.
Of course, Pastor Joe and the rest of us who know this truth would pray for others. It's not out of a superior attitude, it's out of love. In the hopes that as many people as possible will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. None of us claim to be perfect, we know we are sinners, but we praise God that through him we have redemption from our sins and the opportunity to live with him forever.
I would encourage you to listen to pastor Joe's sermon on the church's website from Sunday Nov. 14.
Here's an excerpt...
"“So what is Christianity? Christianity is the cross and the cross is something different altogether. The cross is where the absolute holiness of God, the absolute moral standard of God comes from one side and the absolute love and compassion of God comes on the other side and they crash in the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. and what emerges is a grace that the world has never known and what emerges is a group of people who are identified as justified sinners where the holiness of god and the standard of god is something we recognize and realize we are falling short of and yet god delights in us and loves us right where we are and we begin to change.”
Grace and Peace to you.
Judy VC
Hi Everyone,
I just want to thank you for the comments but more than that I am grateful for the way you handled this. There is an empathy and a softness I think that is genuine and a good sign that grace is moving deeper in all of us. Thanks, Joe
Thanks for removing my post. What a nice echo chamber you have created. WWJD? I doubt he'd try and silence those who question others who claim to be his followers. But then again since you believe everyone who doesn't accept Jesus is going to burn in a lake of fire, what else should I have expected? How sad to be unable to engage in a thoughtful dialoge with others who have a different view.
Dear Anonymous,
I didn't edit your post. If I was going to do that I would have also edited this one. But in all honesty this blog is not designed to be a big discussion forum. I intended it to be an encouragement to those who want to read. That may be an echo chamber. I am not sure. Anyway, I suppose this thread will end here but I am glad you felt compelled to write. There may be more at work than you realize in all of us. Joe
WWJD? I used to like that one. But now I see that it's not "What Would Jesus Do?", but "WDJD?", meaning "What DID Jesus do?"
It all and always and all-ways comes back to the cross. Dear anonymous, that's where every one of us has to begin. Go to the cross.
It is all that ever will matter to your soul.
Hey ho Joe! Greetings from one of your friends at the "atheist forum" :).
Don't forget to drop in some time soon, your thread has become something of a combustion chamber for an interesting collection of discussions. Heck we may not convert each other, but we're certainly gaining something by our exchange of ideas right?
Cheers! ; )
If anyone would like to read the actual discussion of Joe's sermon visit http://www.booktalk.org/let-s-analyze-defeaters-the-problem-of-science-a-sermon-by-joe-coffey-t9651-540.html
Il semble que vous soyez un expert dans ce domaine, vos remarques sont tres interessantes, merci.
- Daniel
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