I have recently finished another article about letting our acts and voices continue to confess Christ throughout our lives.\u00a0 I was wondering though, what if I end up encouraging someone from a false religion to do more for their denomination?\u00a0 My aim is to encourage Christians, but it’s always possible that this might happen.\u00a0 I don’t think there would be anything wrong with going ahead and putting my article out for others to read, but I was just wondering about this.<\/p>\n
What do you think?<\/p>\n\t
“Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side”<\/em>” (Mark 9:38-40).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Is it a bad thing when people talk more about religion and stir up interest in finding the truth? False teaching is wrong, and we ought to teach against false doctrine, but we should also appreciate it when people are just plain interested in talking about the Bible.<\/p>\n
“Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice<\/em>” (Philippians 1:15-18).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Even when atheists, animal rights activists, and supporters of homosexuality stand up to oppose the gospel, a side effect is that people you might normally never reach hear of the gospel. Most won’t be swayed by the truth, but a handful will sit back and think about what truth really is — and that is not a bad thing either.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I have recently finished another article about letting our acts and voices continue to confess Christ throughout our lives.\u00a0 I was wondering though, what if I end up encouraging someone from a false religion to do more for their denomination?\u00a0 My aim is to encourage Christians, but it’s always possible that this might happen.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[451],"class_list":["post-35403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5950,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-jesus-say-not-to-forbid-the-non-follower-from-casting-out-demons\/","url_meta":{"origin":35403,"position":0},"title":"Why did Jesus say not to forbid the non-follower from casting out demons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering what Jesus meant in Mark 9:38-40 where John told Him of a man who was casting out devils in Jesus' name but forbade the man from doing so because he didn't follow with them. How does the verse \"For he that is not against us is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23900,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-not-forsake-the-assembling-of-ourselves-together-mean-reading-the-bible-and-learning-about-god-and-his-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":35403,"position":1},"title":"Does “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” mean reading the Bible and learning about God and His Kingdom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hebrews 10:23-27 said to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Does this mean going to church, or does it mean not forsaking reading the Bible and learning about God and His Kingdom? Answer: \"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40211,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-found-your-answering-a-muslim-critic-offensive\/","url_meta":{"origin":35403,"position":2},"title":"I found your “Answering a Muslim Critic” offensive","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've noticed in your article 'Answering a Muslim Critic' you have made several attempts to disrespect our Prophet Muhammad SAW. Now I am not a good Muslim, nor am I a sinless human being, but to me that is wrong. You have made the Prophet sound violent and merciless\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42527,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-people-believe-a-text-written-by-uneducated-people-when-science-has-proven-the-bible-to-be-completely-false\/","url_meta":{"origin":35403,"position":3},"title":"Why do people believe a text written by uneducated people when science has proven the Bible to be completely false?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: There are many scientific discoveries and explanations that prove that the teachings of the Bible are completely false. One for example is dinosaurs, which are proven by radiometric dating to be over 60 million years old. How could this be if the world is only 10,000 years old? When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47469,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-say-god-bless-you-to-a-group-that-includes-non-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":35403,"position":4},"title":"Is it wrong to say “God bless you” to a group that includes non-Christians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Thanks very much for your insightful teachings and encouragement through this website. I attended a recent gospel meeting and the preacher ended it with 'God bless you' and 'Godspeed' to the audience. I remember one Bible class teacher mentioned that Christians must use the term 'God bless you'\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37168,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thanks-for-encouraging-me-to-stay-in-the-word-im-trying-to-help-someone-else-who-is-going-through-a-similar-struggle\/","url_meta":{"origin":35403,"position":5},"title":"Thanks for encouraging me to stay in the word. I’m trying to help someone else who is going through a similar struggle","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you, Jeffrey, for the writings that you have shared with me. It is uplifting to know that I still have hope. I frequently get discouraged and I try to stay in the word. It helps me stay firm when I hear someone speak the truth in a sensible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}