I'm afraid I've been thinking...
...a dangerous pasttime, I know. :)
Okay, for all who burn CDs/DVDs etc with the burning passion of the sun, please understand that this is not a rant or admonishment. I am not placing blame. I am not pointing fingers because four are pointing back at me. I am the worse offender in swiping, letting people give me burned CDs or burning one for a friend. So, no, I am not accusing. I was just hit with a quandry earlier this year when beginning to teach some middle school kids in Awana at church. There was a lesson that was a study in the grey. Basically that means you can't clearly see the "right" or "wrong" in an action because it is not clearly outlined in the Bible as a do or don't...like sexual immorality is so clearly stated. So one of the greys was copyright infringing by burning free music, movies, and other things off the internet. Totally grey, copyright ink isn't even dry yet. Then I thought, would I burn this if Jesus was sitting right next to me and the answer quickly went from grey to no! Why? Why is it so grey if I won't do something like that in front of my Savior? As a leader of these kids at church, I started scaling back so I could answer them honestly about my music selection.
Well, that was back then and I have consciously made a choice to follow the guidelines of the copyright but I have yet to remove the old music I bootlegged. So, I go to home group after a two week absence and guess what comes up? Copyright infringing. And I pointedly brought it up because some of the guys are deployed and the church wants to send them a copy of the book called "Wild At Heart" a male companion piece to "Captivating the Heart". I am not too much into these kinds of books but if it encourages people, self-help yourself away. The church is going to buy copies of the book when one person offers to give the mp3 of it away. I thought I was the only one in the church whose tummy rolled at the open invitation to give away a bootleg in the service of the Lord. So I did my usual, kept quiet. Well, the guy that offers runs our home group (and no making judgement calls, he is an excellent leader and truly calls you on the bricks to make sure you follow God. His teaching is the reason I switched from my old home group in the first place, he is on fire for God but he has flaws like all of us. I can tell you about my battle with lust if that will even the playing field between me and him. I am truly a confessed sinner in many things I do. Not better.) I am listening to the guys before home group starts talking back and forth about recent burned CDs and before I knew it, my mouth beat my brain to the punch and I asked about the "Wild at Heart" mp3 offer and if he was going to buy copies for the guys that need it.
The regular defenses came up:
1. it is only for one guy.
2. they are going to make a profit somewhere else. (do they have a right to make a profit off of God's work?)
3. if it turns one man to Christ, what is wrong with it.
4. he ignored everything I said.
And I left the conversation alone after a few weak replies still feeling really unsettled about this. How can I be so unsettled if I still have stolen material on my PC. What is so wrong with this idea of giving a person God's word for free. "Go forth and all...."
Then I sat down to begin my study on I John today since I have to teach the sunday school for the youth tomorrow. NO! I am not a Sunday School Teacher and I feel really scared about this...ask bubblesbrnaid But there the answer was: "Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." I John 2:6. "If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." I John 1:5b-6. "Sin is lawlessness" I John 3:4b.
The feeling I have is really a look at my lack of trust. If I trusted God as I shared Christ with others, then I would trust that he would also provide me a way to spread his message that keeps me from the path to darkness. Darkness when I did a keyword search was not truly defined but was associated with descriptions like "deepest gloom, suffering, bitterness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, cast away." from Isaiah, Matthew and Psalms. So the defenses for burning CDs to save another's soul is really about a lack of trust. Do you not trust a fellow brother or sister in Christ not to purchase that copy and donate and still help turn one man to Christ? Do you not trust that God will provide you a way to reach that man on a clear path? Do you not trust God enough to part with your legal copy and God later bless you for such selflessness? Plus there are workarounds, I found out through copyrights that there are many Christian CDs that are free for the taking online from popular groups like FFH, Steven Curtis Chapman, Supertones, KJ-52, Kirk Franklin. Why? Because these songs are praises and teachings about God's word and the people singing them know and love the commandment to "Go Forth..." so they make some of their work available for free downloads. No breaking of the world's law to get at such cool music. And as far as profit goes, "render to Caesar and all that." And someone else said something that stuck with me, I am not the one that convinces someone to believe in God, it is God's work. I am just to spread the news and God will do a mighty work in that person's heart...with or without the bootleg.
And I also remember one of my remarks, what are we teaching the guy that is the recipient of the bootleg. Do it in God's name? Oops, now we created a monster and stumbling block and the Bible clearly has something to say about being a stumbling block. In includes things like, "would be better to not have been born", "tying a millstone around one's neck". You get the picture. That guy gets a bootleg, thinks he is following God and burns three more for other friends. In the book of Acts, the people sold all that was theirs and gave it to the church. Not to make the church wealthy but moreso to care for all in need so that no one went hungry or without shelter. They helped each other out and grew in brotherly love and kindness and fellowship. The guy with the free bootleg missed the brotherly love and fellowship so he doesn't go back to the Church to get some copies for the guys he wants to read "captivate", instead he does it the illegal way.
I hope I can speak to this guy again and I beat myself up for falling away from study and reading for the last two months. I would have been better prepared to encourage a brother to walk the path of righteousness. I guess God was kidding when he said "wide is the road that leads to destruction" and to "enter along the narrow path". That path is so narrow, everyone misses it if you aren't careful. I hope I can trust God to help me see the way, the truth and the life.
Okay, for all who burn CDs/DVDs etc with the burning passion of the sun, please understand that this is not a rant or admonishment. I am not placing blame. I am not pointing fingers because four are pointing back at me. I am the worse offender in swiping, letting people give me burned CDs or burning one for a friend. So, no, I am not accusing. I was just hit with a quandry earlier this year when beginning to teach some middle school kids in Awana at church. There was a lesson that was a study in the grey. Basically that means you can't clearly see the "right" or "wrong" in an action because it is not clearly outlined in the Bible as a do or don't...like sexual immorality is so clearly stated. So one of the greys was copyright infringing by burning free music, movies, and other things off the internet. Totally grey, copyright ink isn't even dry yet. Then I thought, would I burn this if Jesus was sitting right next to me and the answer quickly went from grey to no! Why? Why is it so grey if I won't do something like that in front of my Savior? As a leader of these kids at church, I started scaling back so I could answer them honestly about my music selection.
Well, that was back then and I have consciously made a choice to follow the guidelines of the copyright but I have yet to remove the old music I bootlegged. So, I go to home group after a two week absence and guess what comes up? Copyright infringing. And I pointedly brought it up because some of the guys are deployed and the church wants to send them a copy of the book called "Wild At Heart" a male companion piece to "Captivating the Heart". I am not too much into these kinds of books but if it encourages people, self-help yourself away. The church is going to buy copies of the book when one person offers to give the mp3 of it away. I thought I was the only one in the church whose tummy rolled at the open invitation to give away a bootleg in the service of the Lord. So I did my usual, kept quiet. Well, the guy that offers runs our home group (and no making judgement calls, he is an excellent leader and truly calls you on the bricks to make sure you follow God. His teaching is the reason I switched from my old home group in the first place, he is on fire for God but he has flaws like all of us. I can tell you about my battle with lust if that will even the playing field between me and him. I am truly a confessed sinner in many things I do. Not better.) I am listening to the guys before home group starts talking back and forth about recent burned CDs and before I knew it, my mouth beat my brain to the punch and I asked about the "Wild at Heart" mp3 offer and if he was going to buy copies for the guys that need it.
The regular defenses came up:
1. it is only for one guy.
2. they are going to make a profit somewhere else. (do they have a right to make a profit off of God's work?)
3. if it turns one man to Christ, what is wrong with it.
4. he ignored everything I said.
And I left the conversation alone after a few weak replies still feeling really unsettled about this. How can I be so unsettled if I still have stolen material on my PC. What is so wrong with this idea of giving a person God's word for free. "Go forth and all...."
Then I sat down to begin my study on I John today since I have to teach the sunday school for the youth tomorrow. NO! I am not a Sunday School Teacher and I feel really scared about this...ask bubblesbrnaid But there the answer was: "Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." I John 2:6. "If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." I John 1:5b-6. "Sin is lawlessness" I John 3:4b.
The feeling I have is really a look at my lack of trust. If I trusted God as I shared Christ with others, then I would trust that he would also provide me a way to spread his message that keeps me from the path to darkness. Darkness when I did a keyword search was not truly defined but was associated with descriptions like "deepest gloom, suffering, bitterness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, cast away." from Isaiah, Matthew and Psalms. So the defenses for burning CDs to save another's soul is really about a lack of trust. Do you not trust a fellow brother or sister in Christ not to purchase that copy and donate and still help turn one man to Christ? Do you not trust that God will provide you a way to reach that man on a clear path? Do you not trust God enough to part with your legal copy and God later bless you for such selflessness? Plus there are workarounds, I found out through copyrights that there are many Christian CDs that are free for the taking online from popular groups like FFH, Steven Curtis Chapman, Supertones, KJ-52, Kirk Franklin. Why? Because these songs are praises and teachings about God's word and the people singing them know and love the commandment to "Go Forth..." so they make some of their work available for free downloads. No breaking of the world's law to get at such cool music. And as far as profit goes, "render to Caesar and all that." And someone else said something that stuck with me, I am not the one that convinces someone to believe in God, it is God's work. I am just to spread the news and God will do a mighty work in that person's heart...with or without the bootleg.
And I also remember one of my remarks, what are we teaching the guy that is the recipient of the bootleg. Do it in God's name? Oops, now we created a monster and stumbling block and the Bible clearly has something to say about being a stumbling block. In includes things like, "would be better to not have been born", "tying a millstone around one's neck". You get the picture. That guy gets a bootleg, thinks he is following God and burns three more for other friends. In the book of Acts, the people sold all that was theirs and gave it to the church. Not to make the church wealthy but moreso to care for all in need so that no one went hungry or without shelter. They helped each other out and grew in brotherly love and kindness and fellowship. The guy with the free bootleg missed the brotherly love and fellowship so he doesn't go back to the Church to get some copies for the guys he wants to read "captivate", instead he does it the illegal way.
I hope I can speak to this guy again and I beat myself up for falling away from study and reading for the last two months. I would have been better prepared to encourage a brother to walk the path of righteousness. I guess God was kidding when he said "wide is the road that leads to destruction" and to "enter along the narrow path". That path is so narrow, everyone misses it if you aren't careful. I hope I can trust God to help me see the way, the truth and the life.