Locke and the Church Today

Wow. Not even two full pages in and John Locke is destroying so many aspects of the faith that people don't talk about. My first thought revolves around the fact that I have never heard any of Locke's work as a warning or learning experience to the church- it's shocking that so much of this could be as valuable as the works of Spurgeon or Piper, but when people talk about John Locke, they talk about Locke the libertarian, the father of small government. Reading his comments on how much "Christians" pass off horrible acts under the guise of "conversion", I thought a lot about the way people today interact and take everything personally. So many Christians walk into social media and culture today with the mindset to take everything negative as persecution, when in reality people are only returning to them the horrible attitude they're receiving. "The zealots claim that they are acting out of love and care for men's souls when they take their estates, maim them with whips, starve and torture them in stinking prisons, and finally kill them." That made me think of John 15:9-17, where Christ is speaking on how His followers should do everything in love. Christianity isn't supposed to be legalistic, wrapped up in a checklist and guidelines.  Christians should love first, and all other actions- everything- flows out of love. That doesn't mean we just hug on people, that means we do what is right, even in tough situations, because we love like Christ loved.


Edit: I commented on Eliza and Jamie's posts.