Katie Beth Adkins

I would like to start by informing you that I am a Christian. I have grown up in the church with two ordained Baptist ministers as my parents. Needless to say, I have grown up talking about God, Abraham, Moses and Jesus my whole life. Although I feel that I have a strong and deep faith, I recognize the fact that I have a lot more growing to do on my “faith journey.” I admit that I have sinned in my life, and I know that I will sin many more times before I die because I am not perfect and I am not Jesus. But you know what? I’m at peace with this fact because I worship a God of GRACE, LOVE AND MERCY.

On Nov. 15, a fellow student wrote an article in The Daily Campus in which she informed the SMU campus that we have all been warned, and we “are now without excuse.” In the article, the writer stated that she serves “the God of the Bible. The One who said exactly what He meant.” The article also calls Christians to “take the Word of God AS IS,” and to “stop reading less into what is said.” It encourages us to read our Bibles so that we can know scripture such as James 2:13.

Well I would encourage those students who read their Bibles to read the ENTIRE verse in order to actually understand what the scripture is saying. The previous article misinterprets James 2:13. The article correctly quoted the first part of the verse which states, “For judgment will be without mercy . . . .” However, it omits the most important part of the verse. Fully read, James 2:13 says, “For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” (Italics are my emphasis.)

What does this verse convey? To me, it shows that God will grant mercy to His people. This is the mercy that we as Christians find through Jesus, and where our faith in God is so important. Forgiveness anyone?

On another note, according to the article, the men who came to campus are “brave.” Brave? How brave does someone have to be to stand up and tell everyone else what they’re doing wrong in life? Doesn’t the Bible also say in Matthew 7:3, “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?… You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.”

I am not suggesting that the men who came to campus are not wonderful people. I do not know them, just as they do not know me or any of the other students on this campus to whom they were speaking. All I know is that as Christians, we share the common belief that Jesus is the only person who has ever lived that was perfect. Knowing this, I have an issue with the way they seemed to attack SMU students for the way we live our lives. Who are we to judge one another? Luke 6:36-37 says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.'” According to these verses, instead of condemning one another, we need to be merciful and forgiving to one another.

Not only do we need to be merciful to one another, the New Testament also calls us to love one another. 1 John 4:19-20 says, “We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” Therefore, once again, we are not called to condemn one another, but we are called to love one another.

The truth of the matter is that everyone on this campus could write opposing articles with substantial support from the Bible. When it comes down to it, faith is a personal thing. We as faithful people, Christians and other religions alike, need to support each other in our faith journeys. Instead of calling each other out on the things of this earthly world, we should be encouraging one another to strive to be the best people we can be in order to serve God. We do not need to do this through fear, but through the love and support that God shows us through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Katie Beth Adkins is a sophomore management major. She may be contacted at [email protected].

Krysta Patterson

The very fact that the Bible even mentions hell is a sign that it needs to be taken into consideration. Many people misunderstand me when it comes to this discussion. I am not saying that God is without mercy, but I want people to realize that there is still another side to God. Indeed, he is very loving and very merciful, but we still have to take into account that God is a consuming fire.

He executes judgment, and He is bound by His Word. Hell is real, and several people have had the misfortune of attesting to this. The question is not whether or not God gives us mercy and grace or how many times it appears in the Bible. The question is whether or not we really believe God will keep His Word when it comes to those who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. We have the wrong concept of what grace and mercy is. If grace and mercy is what we expect it to be, then NOBODY is or ever should be in hell. But to believe this is highly erroneous.

God loved us so much that He outlined His requirements of us. But we AS A WHOLE have ignored it, and basically said, “I don’t see it that way.” Or, the most popular, “That’s your interpretation.” You can choose the “effeminate” word out of my article and make a huge generalization about it, and it could very well be true. But, how many different ways can you take, “Man shall not lie with mankind as he does womankind”? How many different ways can you take Romans 1:27. All I am saying is that we have attempted to make God conform to what we want, but that is not the way it works.

My previous argument was not one to bash homosexuals or the “effeminate,” it was, however, my attempt to encourage the SMU students to stop focusing on grace and mercy so much to we ignore the fact that God still has to hold true to His word.

And if He says, “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God,” then they are simply not going to Heaven.

Allow me to pose a question to you. For those who are in hell right now, provided that you believe in hell, what happened to their grace and mercy? This is in no way to insinuate that the two don’t exist, but instead, I would like for you to get an understanding of grace and mercy. If it is what many people think it is, then there should be absolutely no one in hell. Who goes to hell and who doesn’t? Who gets mercy and who doesn’t? What I want people to do is examine themselves. We either think one of two things. “There is no hell” or “there is a hell and people are there, but it will never be me.” It is to those who think the latter, that I address my following question. What is so wonderful about us as INDIVIDUALS that we believe that we are exempt from hell.

Grace and mercy is the same for one person as it is for the next. You can’t take John 3:16, 17 and ignore I Corinthians 6:9. Why do we think that a child molester is worthy of hell, but liars shouldn’t? You can’t pick and choose the parts you like. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

In conclusion, I want to reiterate, that I am in NO way saying that grace and mercy does not exist. I want, instead, for us to realize that if God said that they who do thus and so shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven, then guess what. They are not going to heaven, and there is only one other place. I welcome all who feel the need to respond to e-mail at my e-mail address listed below.

Krysta Patterson is a senior English major. She may be contacted at [email protected].