One of the fruit of the Spirit is gentleness. In several places various NT authors exhort us to gentleness. Jesus is described as being gentle. So we know this is important. But what is it? Too many seem to think gentle is a synonym for milksop. What does it really mean?
As an illustration, I'd like to turn to one of the greatest scenes in all of television.
I know the rules: "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires" (James 1:19-20), but like so many, I struggle with anger, often over what are ultimately silly things. But I noticed something about myself that made me think.
I came across an off-hand comment on a blog that grabbed me: "the average Christian’s faith doesn’t touch the sides of their life." He went on to say that most Christians' lives are "largely indistinguishable" from those around us. He's not wrong. It's so easy to live as an average Westerner, to go with the flow the same as our neighbors.
What does it look like when our faith shines through every part of our life?
When we talk about the evidence for Christianity, whether we're trying to encourage the faithful or persuade the unconverted, I don't think we really appreciate the gift we have in James. His story raises a pretty powerful question, one that both doubters and unbelievers would profit from wrestling with.
"The Bible's been translated and re-translated so many times, no one knows what it means."
I was in college the first time I heard those words. The accusations went on: "Modern Bibles just change the King James into modern English, and it was translated from Latin. No one knows what the Bible said when it was written."
It's hard to believe someone can fit so many inaccuracies into such a small space.
Every skeptic isn't necessarily as poorly informed as that person was, but it's still common to hear that we cannot trust the Bible because it's been "translated and re-translated". How do we respond to that?
