Let Your Words Edify Others (Pt 2) . . . Or Unhelpful "Help"

You Never Know Until You Try.

I noted in my last post that a TV celebrity profile show was instrumental in breaking the writer’s block I’ve had the last few months. The show was, of all things, about a (recently-retired?) porn star with the initials J. J. It was the typical profile, covering her childhood, how she got into “the biz,” career highlights, and interviews with her; her friends, family and co-workers; and anti-porn activists. As a Feminist and a Christian who abhors porn’s influence, a lesson I got from that show is that God can use anything to get a message through to us.

One anti-porn interviewee was a “minister” who asserted that J. J. is hell-bound because she’s used her body committing fornication for money. J. J.’s husband noted that in addition to her many fan letters, J. J. has received hate mail from professing Christians asserting that she is going to burn in hell, and they’re glad of that fact. J. J. and her friends rebutted that she’s going to heaven because she’s a “good person.”

So what other lesson did I get from that show? You guessed it; it’s about whether words we speak edify, or encourage and lift others. Is the “help” we offer others helpful, or is it harmful? The way I see it, the words of the minister, and if J. J.’s husband gave an accurate account, the words of the professing Christians, were condemning instead of edifying, unhelpful instead of helpful.

Condemning someone is certainly not helpful. In the case of J. J., it just had the predictable result of J. and her friends dismissing the accusations as the rantings of narrow-minded extremists and led to justification as to how the accusers were wrong themselves. What would have been helpful, whether it produced immediate acceptance or not, would've been the gentle, loving presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As I understand Scripture, we’re not hell-bound because we commit one particular sin such as fornication, but we’re all sinners. (Romans 3:23—All have sinned and come short of the glory of God). The antidote for our sin is Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. (John 3:16—For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.). The only way to go to heaven is to accept that antidote, because being “good enough” isn’t good enough. (Isaiah 64:6— . . . all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.). Furthermore, we shouldn’t rejoice in someone’s misfortune. (1 Corinthians 13 tells all about love.) I think going to hell, being eternally separated from God, is the worst misfortune imaginable. Having someone condemn us outright, case closed, no real explanation, is also a misfortune.

Another lesson from that broadcast was that I need to pray before I even think about approaching someone caught in sin and remember that condemning him or her will only drive a wedge between us and make it harder for him or her to listen to and really hear the gospel message. I pray that J. J., her friends and (former) co-workers—everyone in need of the gospel message, will hear this wonderful, life-changing message of love presented in love and will accept it with thanksgiving.