If a loving message is not understood as 'loving' by the receiver, should the messenger change his message?

Question

I see a lot of Christians say that Christianity speaks of love. I see a lot of non-Christians disagreeing with that. I see a lot of Christians failing to understand why "the Christian religion is disliked so much if it only speaks of love". I see a lot of non-Christians simply not seeing the Love of Christians.

If a message is meant to be loving, but that message doesn't come across as loving, who should change? The messenger or the reciever?

Should the messenger use better words for his message, to make sure it's understood as he meant it? Or should the receiver try to find the love in a message he finds hateful ?

Answer 1

I think you are correct in saying that the world is not seeing the love in Christians like they should.

That being said, there is a message of repentance from sin and accepting Jesus as one's savior that may be confused with being hateful. There is a standard which God holds us all accountable and everyone of us falls short of that mark. That is why Christ died for our sins as a sacrifice to once and for all make atonement for those sins. I realize that non-Christians don't agree with that. My job is if there is disagreement to act in a way that should be becoming of a Christian. I will not respond in anger or in a hateful way, promise.

I hope people will realize that we (Christians) will be preaching a message with which some will not agree but that doesn't mean we are not acting in love.

A parent disciplines their child and expects them to conform to a certain moral standard (do not hurt people, do not lie, etc). That does not mean the parent isn't acting in love or that the parent has to change their message.

Answer 2

Jesus speaks of love and compassion toward each other. It is not easy to follow His footsteps but it is certainly worth trying.

I think that we all could do better job with understanding each other's messages. I can see that there are too many Christians that are lukewarm to the commands of Lord God, love one another. I see also a lot of anger and bitterness among people, that is not the way Jesus wants us to live.

Yes, messenger should use better words and methods to make sure that the message is understood the way that pleases God.

I also think it would be good if the receiver would not take the messengers' words wrong way, deliberately.

Answer 3

I think that it is really a little bit of both. If the messenger believes heavily in his message, but his intentions of sharing it are not quite clear, perhaps it may be because he needs to change his attitude, he may need to become more tolerant or respectful. And perhaps the receiver needs to disregard any hostility that already exists in his head toward this one particular message. There has to be a give and a take on both sides. Now if there is not, then the messenger needs to back off and the receiver may just need to walk away. Love exists when we have patience and respectfulness to another person, if the messenger comes off as disrespectful then no one will see any love.

Answer 4

I think the messenger could try to find better words, but by changing words sometime you change the message, so in that sense a christian would need to be very careful. Also I think that love is not a spoken language, and True Christians who understand the atonement and mission of Christ know that the love Christ means to teach everyone about is shown with service and kindness and compassion, with sincerity. For myself I think it is far more more rewarding for myself and others to love by service regardless of anothers religion. I think anyone would find that less offensive, and if all I could do for someone is be a true and sincere friend for someone, and never "convince" them of Christianity then I have not failed.

Answer 5

It is best to stick with the message of love. From what you see in my responses sometimes, I find that difficult.
For a long time, I did nothing but quote scriptures, and talk about the love of God, all seemingly to no avail.
Since then, I have gotten more 'aggressive', and decided to fight fire with fire.
Shock value. sometimes it makes people open their eyes.
The truth is, very few people are going to turn to Christ no matter what you do.Many will hear the message, but few receive it.
People who are receptive to the love of God will receive it.
Everyone else will think you are a loser, wimp, psycho, religious nut, or a combination of all the above.
I hope it wouldn't be too much for a society that accepts EVERYTHING as acceptable too accept Christianity, but i guess EVERYTHING will be accepted except the love of God.

Answer 6

Hey Markyyy, you know that I love you, pal.

....This is a very difficult subject for both Christians and non-Christians to be able to come to a common understanding on......I have often seen posts by whomever,that ask for instance the reasons that Christians are so mean-spirited towards a particular lifestye, when in fact,I have never even seen a Christian post a question about the subject in question but rather have only responded to questions with answers from the Word of God(which we deem as the source of truth) As much as we would so very much like to cozy up all the way...we are at odds with each other in our spiritual understanding....The Christian believes firmly,that there are eternal consequences in the balance and dare not shrink back from presenting and defending the Gospel of Jesus Christ.....Unfortunately,our message is both positive and negative in nature and the greater portion is negative....but we will be held accountable for not only that which we have spoken but also that which we have ommited,due to the fear of man rather than fear of God..

Normally I act a little more silly and funny than this...but it needed to be said......

Answer 7

I think it's the responsibility of the messenger to make sure they are speaking in love.

I've met too many people who have been hurt by someone who claims to be speaking in love to another person. It's not just what you say, but how you say it.

More people get hurt because the message was so affected by the way the judgment was handled. That's why God says, Judgment is MINE, saith the Lord. That means it's his job to judge.

Answer 8

Please settle for my peace and love back. additionally please pray on your fellow Christians who're stored ... those that shot my canines on Christmas day 2 years in the past. If those individuals are going to heaven, as they assured me they're going to, I pray that i will pass to hell. I agree, the objective of religion, or a communicate board like it fairly is to unfold a message of love, to realize out to a minimum of one yet another. however the sorrowful actuality is that frequently, for some human beings, faith is a safeguard. It makes them think of they might sin horribly yet be extra holy that the non-believer. That self-righteousness supplies all religions a undesirable rap. it fairly is why whilst human beings hear 'faith' they in the present day see small -mined cruel human beings. confident, maximum folk frequently are small-minded and harsh, yet there is a few thing much extra painful approximately small minded cruel people who think of God is backing them as they pull the set off. i've got under no circumstances considered hatred interior the eyes of a pagan like the hatred interior the eyes of those Christians. it is not your difficulty, yet i wish you may understand why some non-believers sense such vitriol against Christians.

Answer 9

I think that in that case both should change. I guess we all could do a better job with understanding each other's messages. The change is hard on both sides, but if we always tried to think the best of each others, that would eliminate more misunderstandings.

Answer 10

I believe that the messenger should try and convey the message of love in a way that the receiver is going to "see" that love.
If the receiver though is not open to seeing it, they may never no matter what the messenger says.