Lloyd Lofthouse

Recently I discovered Carly Rae Jepsen’s viral (more than 114 million views so far on You Tube) song “Call Me Maybe” and shared the You-Tube link of this video with friends.  One friend, an Evangelical Born-Again Christian, responded in an unexpected way and turned it into a religious issue that resulted in a volley of e-mails (I’ve edited the e-mails or this post would be way too long).

Caution – it may be easy to become addicted to this song/video.  It’s cute. It’s funny.  It has a story. It’s about life with a witty surprise ending.

Born Again said, “Had a (minor) epiphany after seeing the guy’s body. It’s commonly observed that male homosexuals take better care of their physical selves than normal men. They are often better dressed, in better shape, and have finer living quarters. The epiphany was this is a reflection of the worship they have of their own bodies, while the Bible instructs Christians to take care of their bodies, “… for ye are the temple of the living God.”

To which I responded, “I’m not quite sure what you mean.  If gays take care of their bodies by being in better shape isn’t that the same as treating your body as if it were God’s temple? …”

Then I Googled “Your Body is your Temple” and got”: 1 Corinthians 6: 15, 19-20

15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. Source: Scripture for Christians

In addition, I added, “Here’s a piece in the Huffington Post that says, “Gay Population in the U.S. Estimated at 4 Million.”

If this is correct, that means about 1% of the US population is gay while there are more than 310 million Americans and 75% are fat and a third of those fat people are obese—that’s more than 232 million people.  In addition, I have read and been told by my doctor that 80% of people our age (meaning you and me) are on one or more medications due mostly to lifestyle choices leading to poor health.

With this information, it seems to me that there are far more so-called Christians (mostly heterosexuals) that are an abomination to God’s laws than that 1% gay population of the U.S.

Then there is this from Matt. 7:1  “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” and Matt 7:2-5: “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you…”

Born Again replied, “I see a great difference between taking care of one’s body to maintain health and the obvious possessiveness of the guy or gal with his/her body which goes far beyond health. The commandment to put no other gods before Me can refer, in my opinion, to the obsession of today’s culture with physical beauty.

“Judging to me means deciding between differences where punishment or reward is implied by the judge’s decision. If I make a comment or express an opinion on another, the question I suppose, “Am I judging? Should I never make a decision about another person’s action for fear of judging, or bring to another person’s attention his/her sin that I observe? If I (properly) inform a person he/she is sinning and thereby help that person to stop sinning is this a wrong on my part? That is, am I doing a wrong to make a right? I think not because my helping a person like this is not judging, because I do not have the power to punish.

“In addition, if I tell a person he/she is going to hell unless they accept Christ as their savior I am not condemning that person. The Bible states that God has judged and condemned, and I’m simply reporting what God said he will do to those who do not accept Christ. …

“Remember, according to scripture, only born again Christians have bodies that are temples of God because upon becoming saved the Holy Spirit dwells within them. Upon becoming saved the Christian starts a change that eventually will lead to a healthy lifestyle. You’ll find few Christians that smoke or that drink to excess. From my personal observation there are fewer obese individuals in the churches I’ve attended than the general population.

“On the other hand most Christians I know do not appear to think it behooves them, as a Christian, to lead physically healthy lifestyles.”

And I said, “This is a claim that almost every religion and/or Christian denomination makes (the words may be different but they all mean the same—God chose us over all the others).  According to one site I Googled, in 2008, there were 228,182,000 Christians in the United States and the Evangelical/Born Sect only numbered 2,154.000.

“Evangelicals are not alone in their claim that they are the chosen. And outside of Christianity, the Jews claim to be the chosen of God while Muslims make similar claims alongside Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“Amazing, and the one you joined is the chosen one!?  Did God come down and tell you in person?  What does God say about people making claims in His name or are you just expressing your own individual, personal belief?”

All this from sharing Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” with an Evangelical Born-Again Christian.

Discover The Face in The Glass by Dale Wimbrow

_______________________

Lloyd Lofthouse, a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam Veteran, is the award winning author of The Concubine Saga.

His latest novel is Running with the Enemy. Blamed for a crime he did not commit while serving in Vietnam, his country considers him a traitor. Ethan Card is a loyal U.S. Marine desperate to prove his innocence or he will never go home again.

And the woman he loves and wants to save was trained to hate and kill Americans.

To follow this Blog via E-mail see upper left-hand column and click on “FOLLOW!”