Is it Okay for Christians to Display a Hateful, Belligerent Attitude Towards Unsaved Sinners?
This is a very tough issue but I have noticed it's really a common problem for some Christians to end up exploding before unsaved sinners and my answer is obviously no, it is not okay for Christians to display a belligerent attitude towards unsaved people and honestly I have been there before and I am not a bit proud of that fact. It's not because they were false converts- sure I see them really developing the fruits of salvation, they don't trust their works, they desire fellowship and follow it, they help the poor expecting no return, they are devoted to their duties as Christians, Christian values matters to them a lot... I have no doubt about their conversion. However what must be realized is that Christians as saved as they are and will endure to the end, they however will still lapse into sin.
Remember, Christians only sin less, they are not sinless until God calls them home. They are still sinners but they are not definitely saturated in sin and live continuously in sin because they are already saved and change has happened in their lives. Now one thing is certain, another mark of true conversion is a real hatred for sin even if they don't become sinless. However because sin nature still remains in the believer, they might not be habitually degenerate but there is still a sense of self-righteousness but not to the extent they decide to stop trusting Christ as their Lord and Savior. No, once a Christian, always a Christian but there are times Christians can to a certain extent become self-righteous.
Remember, Christians only sin less, they are not sinless until God calls them home. They are still sinners but they are not definitely saturated in sin and live continuously in sin because they are already saved and change has happened in their lives. Now one thing is certain, another mark of true conversion is a real hatred for sin even if they don't become sinless. However because sin nature still remains in the believer, they might not be habitually degenerate but there is still a sense of self-righteousness but not to the extent they decide to stop trusting Christ as their Lord and Savior. No, once a Christian, always a Christian but there are times Christians can to a certain extent become self-righteous.
I would say there are many irritant factors in preaching the Word of God towards sinners after Christians are saved. I have seen various atheist videos that are presenting Ray Comfort as a lunatic and a fool. I have seen bad comments in some videos of John F. Macarthur to the point the account had to disable comments from people. In truth, Christians are looked down as losers. Some of the worst atheist unions have even called Christians as liars and as bearers of false witness. The "liberals" call Christians as an eye-sore because they don't give in towards liberal standards. I've also experienced arrogant people who are snob and say, "Well I don't need God." and "Well I'm good enough for Heaven."
I've had been heckled countless times in different ways. To be honest, I feel like I want to pull my hair and I would be a fool not to admit I have also lost my temper a lot of times against such people who irritate me and I am more than once tempted to inflict physical harm but by God's grace, I haven't done greater harm than my yelling or a punch. But when I did, I lost my testimony when I out of anger slugged a Roman Catholic apologist with my Bible and insulted him severely to the point I wanted to cause him harm after I told him that salvation cannot be earned by man and it is by God's grace through faith in Christ alone that a man is saved. In the process, I've also said rather harsh words and ended up becoming a hate monger. In fact, I could even remember the last time I ended up praying that certain people will die and go to Hell. That is not Biblical mind you.
I've had been heckled countless times in different ways. To be honest, I feel like I want to pull my hair and I would be a fool not to admit I have also lost my temper a lot of times against such people who irritate me and I am more than once tempted to inflict physical harm but by God's grace, I haven't done greater harm than my yelling or a punch. But when I did, I lost my testimony when I out of anger slugged a Roman Catholic apologist with my Bible and insulted him severely to the point I wanted to cause him harm after I told him that salvation cannot be earned by man and it is by God's grace through faith in Christ alone that a man is saved. In the process, I've also said rather harsh words and ended up becoming a hate monger. In fact, I could even remember the last time I ended up praying that certain people will die and go to Hell. That is not Biblical mind you.
But these days, I really just choose to leave people alone when they refuse to listen. As said, arguing brings people nowhere. Proverbs 26:4 warns against answering not a fool according to their folly. In fact, I began to learn to leave them alone. I mean, why should I really keep myself updated with useless slanders? In fact, I used to quarrel and heckle people a lot and I mean a lot but that didn't make me an effective witness for Christ. A quarrelsome Christian is no better than a Christian who may have some sort of compromise like Lot, Samson and Solomon. I mean, people ought to think that some of them even took weeks or months before they got saved. Shouldn't Christians judge sin instead of the sinner? Sin is what should be judged, not the sinner. Christians are only responsible to pray for sinners and to witness to them but when they begin becoming hateful and belligerent, that becomes a real demerit towards their testimony.