At the end, I'll explain why I'm posting this letter. This is not the first time he has written me. I cannot remember why I responded to him in the first place because I normally would not respond to anyone who does not provide their first name. (He only provided an abbreviation.)
NS FROM JAPAN:
I have a question about Christian doctrine that I want to ask you about: What is the Christian ethic when it comes to dealing with businesses? I have probably believed for a very long time that if a Christian buys from a business that does its business legitimately but uses its money to do things like support BLM in creating violence and murdering people, that Christian is basically guilty of murder along with the business that donated and BLM itself. Based on the last email exchange I have with you months ago, you seem to believe otherwise(?) Would you please teach me on what the proper Biblical answer to my question is and point out my errors if I have made any? Please forgive me if I am wasting your time again(like I did months ago, I am at times a foolish person who doesn't see the obvious)
What is the Christian ethic when it comes to dealing with businesses?
I don't know, you tell me.
First of all, you wrote that " When we see Hallmark greeting cards in stores (like the one shown here), the solution to the problem is not to boycott the store because the store doesn't care. Though some businesses do take stands on political/religious matters, most of them don't take any stand one way or another. They only provide what will make them money, and since our nation is getting more wicked every day, these cards, and other paraphernalia, will only become more commonplace " How can you say that you don't know a Christian ethic when it comes to businesses? I don't get it, but you seem to be okay for other doctrines, so perhaps this is just a small oversight.
The Bible says that the entire law is basically 1. Do what God commands you to do, and 2. Treat others the same way you want to be treated.
I found out some time ago that YouTube, for example, has done things such as supporting BLM(who murdered quite a number of Americans and caused a lot of harm to Americans) and censoring non-WHO approved views of COVID-19, which may have killed a lot of people. The people of the world have their consciences defiled and seared with a hot iron, so they will do what's right in their own eyes and they will continue doing what they think is right unless they are born-again - corruption is everywhere. So, if I were to watch some videos on YT, they're almost certainly going to show me some ads, and almost every time I get those YT gets richer and is more able to do evil, not to mention that the Biden admin and DOJ is doing nothing about it. In other words, if I were to use YouTube, I'm basically harming people.
Some people have said that it's YouTube that's the bad guy and consumers are innocent, but isn't that a foolish argument if we compare it to what the Bible says? Some time ago I wrote to you about YouTube videos getting posted openly on the CLE forum and that's basically inviting people to watch the video and cause YT to earn money off it, which harms others and I didn't get a clear reason why no action was taken or something.
So, this is what I have to say, please point out any errors and correct me if I made any.
I'm going to point out the problem with your email, tell you the same thing I told you last time, and then I'm going to block your email address because you're not listening to me.
1. What is the Christian ethic when it comes to dealing with businesses?
The first thing I expect to see when someone writes me a letter entitled "Question about Biblical Doctrine" is... ya know... THE BIBLE. So, for example, someone might say, "Hey, I was reading these verses, and I was not understanding X, what does this mean?" Now that's a question about Biblical doctrine. That is not at all what you were doing. Your question was asking for MY opinion about what YOU should do concerning businesses. My opinion is irrelevant. And I'm pretty sure I told you last time that I am NOT going to tell you what to do in your own household because that is not my job (and that's not what I did in the article), and what you asked me was NOT a question about "Biblical doctrine." (In fact, so far, you haven't asked me a single question about Biblical doctrine since you first wrote to me, but you think they're all "Bible questions.")
2. Concerning my quote, you didn't say where you got it from. The context of the article explains what I meant; when everyone is carrying queer greeting cards (which most places do nowadays), then where are you supposed to go to buy what you need? Some people have choices, others don't. If I tell them to boycott the stores, I could be telling a family to starve, and I'm not going to do that. The solution is to look at the heart of the problem, not at the surface issues, and I certainly did not write that to give you an excuse to treat me like I'm your personal priest, or your dad, or your god. I am none of those, and that is NOT my job.
3. I told you last time (and nothing has changed) that I believe that your way of thinking is different from my way of thinking, and that of our forum and our church. If you want someone to tell you what to do, go find another ministry. There are LOADS of them out there that will tell you exactly what you should do on all the matters you have brought up to me. We focus on liberty in Christ and conviction from the Holy Ghost for each individual Christian according to the context of their situation. As I told you before, it's better that you depart from this ministry and go find what you're looking for because I don't want you to waste your time, and I don't want you to waste mine either. I hope God guides you to the place you can get what you're looking for.
With that, I'm going to block your email address because I just cannot continue conversation with someone who's not going to hear me. I don't want to have to keep writing the same thing over and over to the same person.
END OF DISCUSSION
He titled his letter "Question about Biblical Doctrine," but to summarize (and I'm creating an analogy here), he basically asked me if it was a sin to buy a lamp from IKEA. Folks, let me make this VERY clear: I AM NOT HERE FOR THAT. I do not exist to tell you what to do in your life, household, and buying habits. That is the job of the Holy Spirit within you. There are TONS of ministries out there who have corrupt preachers that are more than willing to overstep the authority of the Holy Ghost to tell you what to do, so go join them if that is what you're looking for.
This guy has previously written me asking me if he should join the Japanese military. I told him that I am not his father or his god. Then, after I told him similar things that I explained to him in this letter, he wrote me again asking me, and I quote: "would you not consider me a murderer if I had a YouTube channel?" After I explained this to him again, he went back to his original question about the Japanese military, and then asked me if the Japanese constitution is Biblical, to which, I ignored his letter, and now, a few months later, he's back.
This is why my wording to him was stronger than my original letters.
The reason my first response to him in the above email was just to say "I don't know, you tell me," was to get him to attempt to explain it on his own, as well as communicate to him that I was not going to answer his questions, even though I had already DIRECTLY said that to him in previous letters, and he ignored me. You can tell by the tone of his response, he did not like my first response to him, and was, at least somewhat, upset with me.
Some of you might have though he was being humble, but humility involves the ability to listen to someone else. He was not listening to me because I was not giving him the answers he wanted. If he expected me to give him a specific answer, then there is no point in asking me the question anyway because he already had in his mind what he wanted me to say.
I am willing to listen and give advice when I'm asked for it, and help to understand Scripture if someone is struggling in their study, but I am not willing to give someone orders (in the name of God's Word) that they should do whatever it is they are asking me about. My job is to help Christians understand the philosophy and doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ while they bring their humble requests to the Lord God, to live in His grace of liberty, and whatever you choose to do in your household is your responsibility, not mine, and you will be judged according to your decisions, not mine.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
-Gal 5:1
