Are christians motivated to preach because of personal guilt?
754822
The Holy Bible Douay-Rheims Version \n\nWith Challoner Revisions 1749-52\n1899 Edition of the John Murphy Company\n\nIMPRIMATUR: \nJames Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899.\n\nPope Damasus assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the Roman Council in 382 A.D. He commissioned St. Jerome to translate the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin, which became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible and was declared by the Church to be the only authentic and official version, in 1546. \n\nThe DR New Testament was first published by the English College at Rheims in 1582 A.D. The DR Old Testament was first published by the English College at Douay in 1609 A.D. The first King James Version was not published until 1611. This online DRV contains all 73 books, including the seven Deutero-Canonical books (erroneously called Apocrypha by Protestants). These seven books were included in the 1611 KJV, but not in later KJV Bibles. \n\nThe whole Douay-Rheims Bible was revised and diligently compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner in 1749-1752 A.D. The notes included in the text were written by Dr. Challoner. \n\nThe DR Bible was photographically reproduced from the 1899 edition of the John Murphy Company, Baltimore, Maryland, by Tan Books in 1971. Eventually, this edition was optically scanned to produce a large text file which this publisher used for creating this website, with the aid of text-processing software. \n\nOne important goal of this project was to preserve the original text "as is", without making any changes in the wording, because the original text had the Imprimatur of James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, dated Sept 1st 1899. \n\nThe text file was checked quite thoroughly by software written by the publisher for punctuation errors and verses out of order. The index was humanly checked for misspelled words and the corrections were made to the text. However, some spelling errors may still be present in the text. Many verses were out of order in the original file. These have been corrected. \n\nEvery effort was made to ensure that this online version is an exact match to the original printed version. No words were added or ommitted from the text, except for correcting errors caused by the scanning process. No words were rearranged. No verse numbers were changed, except in the case of Psalm 9. \n\nPsalm 9 originally contained 21 verses and there were 2 versions of Psalm 10, numbering 1-18 and 1-8. This obviously caused a conflict, so it was decided to make the first Psalm 10 as the last part of Psalm 9 and renumber the verses 22-39. This retains the same numbering as all the Douay Rheims. Note, in the Protestant Bibles the numbering of Psalms 10 through 146 differs by one.
1031531
I have pondered this before myself. I watch as so many ministers in my community drive around in caddys. Or golf at one of the many high priced clubs around these parts. But then on Sunday stand in front of a congregation and preach the "so called" word of god. I watch housewives drive away from there 750000 dollar homes in a big SUV. And then go to church on Sunday and ask a god who isn't there why they are so stricken. Hypocrites are everywhere. It amazes me. Of course it may have something to do with christians "we are right you are wrong" attitude. Or maybe it is the "we are better because we are christians" attitude. Who knows really. But this is truly one of the many reasons why I will not bow before a god who will not hurt those who lie so deeply and behave in such a hypocritical manner.
825255
Well, you don't seem to understand. They took prayer out of schools, which lead to no guilt. Without guilt, most people resort to  ... well you know,  selfishness without remorse.
278933
Ok guys (and girls).   You all know that the reason you don't like Christianity is simple:  It goes against you.  If you were to become Christian, you wouldn't be able to do the sinful things you enjoy doing.  As a Christian, I am called to like a life according to the Bible.  Sure, I mess up, but I'm sorry for what I did, and ask forgivness from the person I offended and from God.  The whole thing of it is this:  Christianity convicts you.  If you accepted it, you would have admit you were wrong.  At least admit this:  You wouldn't want to say "I was wrong, forgive me"  would you?  No.  It would hurt your pride.  Pride is the thing that keeps us from heaven as sinful humans.  Jesus didn't come for the people who think they are perfect, He came for the sinners.  Who do you think would be more thankful, the one who was forgiven much?  Or the one who was forgiven little?
1132442
I wouldn't want anyone else to bear the burden of my own sins.  They are caused by my actions and therefore they can only be my own responsibility, to learn from and try to put right.\n\n\nI can understand why some people would want to pass the responsibility onto another though.  They either cannot handle the responsibility because of their own immaturity or are too self-absorbed to want to take the responsibility, in my honest opinion.
83233
People mean well (though they do harm) when they approach potential converts to Christianity by, abrasively, reminding them of their sinful standard of living.\n\nIn the beginning of witnessing such 'ministering,' my reaction was vexation of spirit because Jesus was never harsh with hurting people. The woman caught in adultery was not condemned by Jesus.\n\nWhen people surrounded her to carry out the brutal punishment of death by stoning, I can only imagine the fear of having a crowd of people on a mission to kill me for bad judgment...for a bad call...for a bad (correctable) choice. \n\nI can also imagine her relief to hear the noise of the crowd diminish as they listened to a lone, quiet voice of hope (gently calling attention to their times of bad judgment) and how they escaped punishment.\n\nTrue believers have to be that lone voice of hope, (that balance) to potential new converts subjected to the noise of those who do not minister in meekness. \n\nPaul stated in I Timothy 2:24 "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, \n\n:25 In meekness instructing those who oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;\n\n:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."\n\nTherefore, as a Christian, when my thoughts lean toward harsh rebuke of those who mean well (but do harm in their zealous ministry), I understand they need more instruction on how to minister in meekness.  \n\nLifting them in prayer and supplication to God (that they become more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit) grants me peace from the torment of a vexed spirit.
258264
I concur.  I feel like adherence to a prescribed moral principle removes personal responsibility.  I've felt that way (only perhaps less eloquent!) since I was eight.  If you are a good person because you adhere to the Bible / church values unquestioningly, you aren't actually a good person.  You are only truly good if you are the person choosing your own behavior.  I think fundamentally it boils down to manners - in greater or lesser dimensions.
788140
As a Christian I would like to answer your question by saying...\n\nThere is not justification.  God alone is judge... as well as Savior\n\nYou just can't judge a person by the category they fall under.  Each interpersonal relationship makes a difference, wouldn't you think?\n\nAnd even though I've been called ignorant, despicable, stupid, and a few other negative things today by some folks here on Yahoo Answers (gosh, could that be considered 'being slandered'), I want you to know that I love you all.  \n\nBy the way, I don't think I've ever met any of the folks who have said those negative things about me and other Christians.  I wonder how it is they stamp those labels on my head without ever having met me.  You really ought to get to know me more before you call me those things.  You know... I'm feeling rather JUDGED right now, and not by any Christians.  :)  That's ok though, because Jesus told me not to take up any offenses.
810150
There is no excuse for any one who will stand in judgment at The End.... There is no way to convey The Salvation Message to one who in unwilling to hear it. And, ultimatly it is from God. So if they read any words expressing The Good News on the internet and still are unwilling to listen to God's call to them and respond, then they have not "known Him". Giving The Good News out on "the net" will save no one...just the same as any face to face interaction a believer may have with the lost... all of our words, our testimonies and witness, will save no one. If they are unwilling to listen and hear Gos's call to them and respond in The Way He proscribesThen they can say they have never "known"...but they have no excuse... because there is no excuse for the lost.
471890
surely it is fear that they themselves are not on the right path and will go to hell;by condeming others for wrongdoing they reinforce the idea that they are right\nthe christian message is basically a message of love and an obsession with rules is condemned by the church as legalism
89065
Not at all. I used to feel wierd about it, but then I met one of my pastors who is a woman. She's also a close personal friend of mine and she inspires me alot. As it is I do teach, but I would love to one day preach God's word. It would be awesome!
438991
When I was a child, my parents partied wildly and fought each other with venom and hatred.  I heard the gospel from my grandmother.  Anyway, when I was about eight years old my five year old sister came to me one night and asked her big brother what she should do about Daddy.  I learned that night that Dad was molesting her.  This was a complicated issue for a five, eight, or fifty-eight year old to deal with.  I told her I didn't know and that I would think about it and get back to her.  My dilemma was that if I told Mom, Mom would use this in her war against Dad.  If I confronted Dad I was sure that he would just reject me for it or at the very least just deny and shuffle me on to other things.\n\nWhat I didn't decide to do was deal with it, basically I sold out my sister for a relationship with a broken Daddy.  At this time the weight of the world settled on my little shoulders.  I had no understanding at the time of my guilt and the weight of my non-action on my sister's behalf.  Three years later we were living in a little town and we kids got involved in a neighborhood church for the cookies and punch in Sunday School.  Some ladies talked Mom into going to church and so it happened the summer of the next year when an evangelical group came to our church to run a crusade.  There was great music and powerful evangelistic messages and one night in the two weeks this went on, I felt God calling me.  I'd listened to the preacher/evangelist and was considering his message but it was God who'd moved in my heart.  I was no longer a child with childish concerns, but the harder issues were upon my mind.  I still didn't have any understanding of my guilt about my sister, but when I went forward, once I'd made the decision to step out, I felt light as a feather, as though walking a foot off the ground.  The release of guilt was so freeing, I was in tears and didn't know why.\n\nIt wasn't until twenty years later that I went over those memories with an adult understanding and realized what my poor sister had had to deal with all by herself that I realized where all that guilt had come from.  We discussed these events and are quite close today, but the years in between were more distant between us.  I know God is real from many other experiences but this was what brought me to faith.
1043944
Yes. I have a very difficult time forgiving myself for many of my shameful actions, even though I've asked the Lord for forgiveness. In fact, some of the things that I regret I still ask forgiveness for, many years later. I know I don't need to, but I just feel so incredibly terrible about those things. I want so badly to be the person that God wants me to be. I want to have Christ-like qualities. It is so hard for me to understand why I can't get there! I struggle almost everyday with self control (especially control over my tongue). I would give pretty much anything to consistently maintain my self control, and yet I can't without God's help. I have found that if I forget to pray before I go to sleep (and thus forget to sincerely ask the Lord to allow His Holy Spirit to be with me every second of the following day to help me with self-control), I have a very hard time the next day. If I do ask, it's so much easier - I mean VASTLY different. I don't know why it seems as though God wants me to request help every night, but I'm sure He has a reason. Probably to get me to rely on Him more. That would be a good reason. When I lose my self-control and yell at my little ones, I feel so much remorse. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so my 4 and 2 year old are the ones who try my patience.  :o)  That is to be expected, and is not their fault (sometimes it is, but not usually)! I want to be a calm and predictable mommy, but it's very hard for me. That's all I have to say, as I am tired now and need sleep.  :o)
1002972
The Word taught us that we are to "go ye out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in." Notice that it said "compel." The word means to ask, or to entice, not to cram it down their throats! While I will agree that there are many Christians who in their zeal to please God do cram it down their throats, I'm becoming rather tired, bored and angry with generalizations made by people like you who then turn around and claim the same Christianity! Have you witnessed to anyone recently? Did you go away feeling like you'd fulfilled you Christian duty? Did the person you witness to ever come to your church or any church for that matter and begin a relationship with God? If so, great! Glory be to God that He'd use you as a tool to lead a soul in. But if you went any futher with that soul without God's influence working a wisdom and cultivating a faith and a relationship with Him, then you're doing the same thing that you claim most other Christians are doing! There is a Scripture that says, "Woe unto those who would offend my little ones (young Christians)! For it would be better for a millstone to be hung around their necks and be cast into the sea and drowned!" Chew on that before you start generalizing the way people witness for Christ! Did you ever stop and think that with the world spinning out of control the way it has that maybe people are beginning to have a greater zeal for serving God and that such a witness is necessary?
301000
If you were going to try and be a good Christian you wouldn't ask people for their excuses so that you can judge them. Being a good Christian does not mean that you have to go to Sunday School or even Church for that fact. God can see if you are faithful and believe in Him and He knows if you live your life accordingly. My excuse would have to be that I don't go to Church, I have never been able to find a Church that truly preaches just what the Bible says, and because of that, I choose not to go. And I am still a good Christian.
925204
You do have a good point, and it is something to take notice of. I haven't thought about it that way, but as a Christian, I will take this constructively and maybe there can be things that I can change that I wasn't doing before in treating people. As for my shortcomings in life, I blame that all on myself.
764919
Many Christians I've known can empathize with those people because they do the same thing, sneak around and commit adultery, steal, cheat, that sort of thing. Seriously, there is an emotional masochism in certain people that makes religion very attractive to them -- heaven knows (pun) there is a load of masochism and guilt in Christianity, which many Christians enthusiastically suffer and rejoice in. \n\nSome masochists are drawn to Christianity because it supports their "me sinner / me saved" emotionally self-punishing psychosis.