bold in faith

My mom said something very profound yesterday, she said "in this country there are people with different beliefs, and they have a right to that (God gave us freewill) and while some of those people will kill people who disagree, being bold as a christian is not about going around forcing people to believe the way we do, being bold for us means that even if someone were to put a gun to our head and tell us to give up our faith, we are to die for our faith"

That is very true, while the world's way is to try and force their beliefs, religions or opinions on others, christians are supposed to stand out. Other's kill, literally (or figuratively by bullying) for what they think or believe, christians are different, we are supposed to die for ours. That doesn't mean agreeing with others or keeping quiet about the truth, but this attitude that we are supposed to go around telling people what they are doing that's a sin before they've ever even been in church, it's not really what we should be doing. If our goal is to help them so that we can win them over for God, we can NOT act like the pharisees did in Jesus' time.

If you look at Jesus' time on earth, he did tell people to stop sinning, but all the times I can remember, He FIRST would offer healing and forgiveness, and then tell them to "sin no more" and usually it was when people would come up and ask Him things, that He would tell them right from wrong. He defended God's house with bullwhips, because that was supposed to be a place of holiness and it was "God's area" this is why christians defend marriage between a man and a woman. It's not about things not being equal for other people by the law of that land.  I can't change what people do, and I can't force them to change. But marriage is God's "area" it's something that is God's. Look I've been drunk and smoked cigarettes and had sex before marriage, and not one of my sins were less sinful than being gay. But I've never tried to make it legal or acceptable to get drunk in a church building. That's God's "place" (the whole earth is) but it's still a place set aside for God, for His purpose and it's a Holy place, and it's the same with marriage/ But at the same time, I can't go around telling people that what they are doing is a sin out of nowhere. Because I know that most of them already know that, or they don't think it is and know that I do. Either way they aren't going to be hearing something from me that is shocking to them, Most likely they will just get defensive. We are God's children and we are supposed to be a light in this world but we can't be the one that stops people from sinning. We couldn't even stop ourselves from sinning, that's the Holy Spirit's job, even the greatest apostles failed after being with Jesus for four years, look at Peter, he denied Jesus three times after spending four years with Him almost all day, everyday. But after the indwelling of the Holy Spirit came to help them and us, peter (the method used I've heard, not in the Bible that I'm aware of, we don't get to see what happened although it is likely, and Jesus did tell Peter that it would) but Peter was killed for his faith and he wouldn't deny Jesus again, Peter needed God's help to stop sinning, John the beloved couldn't just go up and tell him it was wrong to do that and then he could change. It had to be Peter's own heart being convicted by God Himself that, Peter wept bitterly after He'd done that. Jesus forgave Peter as soon as He saw him, and He knew Peter would be bold with the Holy Spirit's help, not with the other apostles telling him right and wrong, It is not our job to clean people up, we went to God dirty and everyone else has to do the same.