CHATROOM HELL

One evening I was sitting at my desk and began perusing the number of chatrooms that are available. Many bear the appearance of all kinds of vulgarity and were dismissed quickly. However, I did happen to stumble into one that was...well...a different sort of vulgarity.

The chatroom (which will remain nameless) titled itself deceptively, as though to give the appearance of a Christ focused, on-line gathering. I was amazed to find I had stumbled upon people who took a great deal of satisfaction, it seemed, in simply flailing scripture around like children trying to handle a sword. While several of the attendees had a pretty good lock on scripture recall, as with anyone, they would pick and choose the scripture to best support their believes.

One person in particular was fond of bashing the letters of Paul, only because this person thought that the Bible had been somehow altered by the Roman church, and the only reliable foundation was the LAW. And while I found this person intriguing, and had several conversations in an effort to understand why this belief had evolved, what I discovered was this:
The LAW of God has its place and cannot be moved. And while these people cling to God's LAW as the only means of their existence, the LAW rendered them void of compassion, gentleness, goodness, courtesy, love, and the sweetness of spirit that I have come to enjoy in the people around me. The LAW in which they so desperately try to uphold leaves them absolutely miserable; yet they persist in the struggle, locked into a battle they can never win. They continue, night after night, to attack one another from the safety of electronic rooms, reveling in the anonimity that allows such reprehensible behavior.

Many of these poor people sadly miss the point. God gave the Law not expecting that we would be able to uphold it. Why, the very first command...only command..given to Adam "thou shalt not eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil for the day you do you shall surely die" could not be upheld. Try as one may to walk in perfect obedience to these LAWS, the inevitable rebellion to act apart from God will arise and render all efforts of their work useless.

They argue relentlessly and inexhaustibly about who is right and wrong, who knows the Word and doesn't, who keeps the Passover...they bicker like Pharisees, squabble like seagulls over a dead fish. They assail one another without mercy, without regret, without concience, and then return the following night to start all over again. Like a dog returning to its vomit.

I found myself shocked, intrigued, angered, sad, hurt, and simply reeling from the encounters that caused me to question my own faith and consider compromising my values. I cannot sit in judgement of these people, for I too was very nearly sucked into the modern day gladiator games. Through the grace of God, through an offense of simple naivity...my time with this experience came to an abrupt halt.

With great repentence in my heart, I returned to HIS arms and HE spoke to me.

"Rebecca, you witnessed only a tiny speck of what My Son died for. This is in every heart, every mind, from Adam until the end, every day, every night. My Son's blood is waiting to cover all of this." I felt His sadness then. I understood a little more about Passover...not from the ritualistic, barbaric, worldly standpoint...but from the cup that did not Pass Over my Kinsmen Redeemer: Jesus.