take it in context as to joss stick worship i guess.
what does the joss stick offering represent spiritually, is it
glorifying to God? we, as believers know that idols are nothing,
just wood and plastic and glass. but spiritually, who are the
unbelievers offering it to?
it's not about fearing about being punished by God if you do
smth or not. as christians, we don't have to fear, there is no fear
in perfect love. but our motives should always live our lives to
glorify God. People should see Jesus in us. What would Jesus do,
would he have stood his ground and did what was right in God's
eyes, in the process, stumbling many others, or would he lovingly
refuse and love others according to his own perfect defination of
respect and love, rather than the defination that others set upon
him?
for me, I wouldn't participate in joss stick offering, my
conscience wouldn't allow me to, it wouldn't glorify God in any
way, and I don't want unbelievers to think that christians are
wishy washy in their beliefs, and they can participate in the
rituals of demons (of course we can, but it wouldn't glorify
God)
can you imagine if Jesus folded to the pharasees and his
accusers, just to satisfy their defination of love and respect? We
wouldn't be here.
of course while we do so, we gently explain why we don't
participate, firm but gentle. Jesus is always firm and gentle,
standing for what he knows is right, and not wavering from pressure
from the crowd.
like for my church, sometimes when old folks they receive
Christ, they still do their rituals, and we're not in a hurry to
tell them cannot la etc.
but always, once their relationship with Christ grow, they
automatically stop what they're doing.
so in the end, it boils down to your personal walk with Christ,
only if you have a real relationship with Him, then you will know
what is right in God's eyes.
well said..
For me, I do believe in doing more when my parents are alive
than to worry about holding joss-sticks..
I think we need to be really wise about what's reported in the
media cause bottomline, they are still dealing with the $$ and
cents.