{"id":56706,"date":"2012-02-28T06:35:04","date_gmt":"2012-02-28T10:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=56706"},"modified":"2012-02-28T08:44:50","modified_gmt":"2012-02-28T12:44:50","slug":"are-the-churches-really-christ-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/are-the-churches-really-christ-like\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the churches really Christ-like"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/letter-to-the-editor.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-39981\" title=\"letter to the editor\" src=\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/letter-to-the-editor.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/letter-to-the-editor.jpg 150w, https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/letter-to-the-editor-113x113.jpg 113w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>Dear Editor<\/p>\n<p>Why do I ask that question? You might wonder. For many years now I have been looking at religions with a constructively critical eye. While I commend them for making God\u2019s word available to many and teaching some good moral principles, I do think that the churches are not generally living up to and upholding the standard of God to a satisfactory degree.<\/p>\n<p>1) The churches are \u201crunning down\u201d the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses too much. Now if the pastors and their church members feel that the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses are wrong, why don\u2019t they speak to the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses to correct them when they visit their homes? Why do the pastors tell their members not to listen to the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses when they come to their doors?<\/p>\n<p>If the pastors are truly \u201cChristians,\u201d why don\u2019t they show love to the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses and help them, and urge their members to do likewise, rather than encourage their members to shut their doors on Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses?<\/p>\n<p>I know of a case where hot water was thrown on a Jehovah\u2019s Witness by someone who claimed to be a Christian. In another case, urine was thrown at a Jehovah\u2019s Witness, again by a member of a church claiming to be a Christian. These actions could never be right.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, Christ said that Christians are to expect persecution, which Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses meet frequently (Matthew 24:9; John 15:20). But when those who claim to be Christians are the ones doing the persecuting, then I shake my head and ask: Are they really Christians? Are they truly Christ-like?<\/p>\n<p>Christ said to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:44). So why not love the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses too? Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses speak to all who are willing to converse, even if they disagree on doctrines in the end.<\/p>\n<p>From my observation, I think that the churches must be willing to use the bible to a much greater extent to prove their beliefs and practices. Their members seem afraid to defend their beliefs, hence, they feel it is the best course to avoid Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>I personally think that the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses do a fine job in the way they use the bible to prove their beliefs and practices. Give credit where it is rightfully due. Of course, anyone is free to believe what he or she wishes, freedom of thought.<\/p>\n<p>2) The churches are tolerating wrongs such as: Pastors committing adultery and preaching sermons still; pastors and church members fornicating and they are still highly admired by many in the church, even taking communion in their sinful state. They are only fooling themselves. Are they really Christ-like?<\/p>\n<p>3) Politics is dividing church members. Even when elections are over, church members have been keeping malice with each other due to having different political affiliations. Are they seriously Christ-like?<\/p>\n<p>The above-mentioned are honest, truthful observations I have made over the years, and I think that any fair-minded person would do well to consider the facts as he or she truly sees them. Let the truth be told and make us free. John 8:32.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dear Editor Why do I ask that question? You might wonder. For many years now I have been looking at religions with a constructively critical eye. While I commend them for making God\u2019s word available to many and teaching some&#8230;","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Are the churches really Christ-like - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/are-the-churches-really-christ-like\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are the churches really Christ-like - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Editor Why do I ask that question? 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