Fotos: Pixabay
Luís Alberto Alves
There are two types of people in this world: those who are eagles and those who are vultures. You can't escape the way these two birds act. The vulture is attracted to decomposing animals and likes to consume rotten and spoiled meat. Its natural habitat is garbage dumps. The bad smell is the strong point to attract this bird. When there is a corpse abandoned in the woods, vultures fly over the place in flocks to consume it.
In the spiritual world there are people who behave in a similar way to vultures. Their thoughts are full of tragedies. They can't visualize anything good. The pleasure is to comment on what is bad. They are attracted to programs that highlight bad news, such as couples fighting, physical degradation of drug users, prostitutes, police violence, torture, etc.
When you meet someone whose marriage was destroyed because of drugs, drinks, betrayal and even physical and verbal aggression, you feel pleasure in passing on the end of this marriage. You can't be happy with other people's happiness. When a brother testifies that Jesus Christ has given him a great victory, he is not happy. Hope that blessing is temporary and everything goes back to the past of failure.
Environment
It is possible to identify Christians who behave like vultures. They don't take care of personal hygiene. Both men and women neglect their appearance. They rarely wash their hair. Men don't shave often and refuse to comb their hair. They wear the same clothes for several days, even though they give off a bad smell. The shoes are dirty. Signs of filth are visible on the nails, as they are rarely cut or put on any type of nail polish.
At home, it is not advisable to drink even a glass of water. Dirt is visible in every room. In the sink, dishes pile up. In the bathroom, both the shower stall and the toilet are rarely washed with bleach to kill bacteria. In fact, the bad smell inside this place is very strong. Bath towels are rarely hung on the line to remove moisture. Because of this, the smell of mold permeates the environment.
The Christian vulture's companies are made up of pessimistic people. They criticize all preaching. No one within the church, in the view of this type of evangelical, deserves praise. They are uncomfortable with happy families, who are clean and behave ethically. The success of others bothers them. They say this type of Christian is stuck up. They don't like poor people, as if poverty were synonymous with dirt.
Vision
The Christian vulture got used to eating crumbs. He refuses to think big. In the company where he works he doesn't fight to be promoted. He is not supportive of others. Selfish, he never extends his hands to help anyone. In his view, the thing is to think about yourself, others who are consumed by darkness. Don't pray for others. He does not participate in any type of campaign. Reading the Bible is something that tires you. He spends a lot of time on social media just sharing nonsense. Everything rotten that the world offers you, you accept easily. He sits in the circle of scoffers, he is still tied to the world and criticizes those who pray a lot. In his view, this type of evangelical is a fanatic. Praises bother you, even if they are not noisy.
The Christian Eagle, on the other hand, has a different lifestyle. He is a fighter. He knows no difficulty in serving Jesus Christ. He likes to read the Bible and share quality Christian content. He is happy to see his brothers achieving blessings. Pray for others, without advertising. He does this in the silence of his room. He is not attracted to the lentil dishes offered by the darkness. He flees from the appearance of evil. He does not participate in worldly parties. Secular, biased music doesn't reach his ears. He is not a fan of television programs where the main dish is tragedies and prostitution.
Even when he doesn't have much purchasing power, he likes to be clean. Your clothes give off a good smell. Both men and women take care of personal hygiene. When approaching them, you can smell the essence of perfume or deodorant. In their homes, cleanliness is the watchword. Dishes don't stay in the sink for long. It is then washed. Household rubbish is soon collected and taken out. The children are clean. When they have animals, they are also cleaned frequently.
Path
The eagle Christian always envisions a better future. At work, you never take a promotion out of your mind. He is a good employee. It performs its functions well. He is rarely late. He maintains excellent contact with his manager. He doesn't fall into the trap of speaking badly about the place where he earns his daily bread. He always tithes and offers in the church where he congregates. He is supportive. He thinks out loud. He tries, as far as possible, to take professional retraining courses, aiming to obtain a higher salary to benefit his family.
The Eagle Christian's friends are hard-working people, warriors for the gospel. He likes to pray a lot, fast, cry out to God, climb the mountains and participate in vigils. He is attracted by preaching with excellent content. They seek to deeply understand the history of the Gospel, of the heroes of faith. Even in times of difficulty, he always tries to keep his eyes on Jesus Christ. They don't keep whispering. They try to take advantage of the opportunities that come their way.
In these two examples I tried to show, in accordance with the Lord's Mercy, the differences between those who like to live in dirt and disrespecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and those who are truly in tune with Heaven, a place where there is no type of imperfection. It is up to you, brother or sister, to meditate on this text, to understand which context you are in. And, of course, look for the best in Christ. The Lord does not want anyone to get lost and plunge into the abyss. His interest is to lead you to Glory, but you have to pay the price of being an excellent witness for Christ. Are you a vulture or an eagle????
Luís Alberto Alves is a pastor.
