I am no preacher, no theologian, and certainly not the world's best christian.... However, after watching this week's episode of Glee I felt inspired to write a little about a pet peeve of mine. I don't even really know what you would call this pet peeve, but it is what it is. Here 'goes...
I think it is REALLY sad when someone has rejected Christ because of the way that person has been treated by Christians. It is sad on lots of different levels. I aim to address a couple of those levels here. First, shame on "Christians" for the way so many of us look down the long end of our snouts towards those we deem "sinners"... As if we are so much better, or so much more important. As if our hearts aren't marred by the blackness of pride and arrogance, and our shit don't stink. I really struggle with actually feeling embarrassed to call myself a Christian and be identified as "one of those", and I am not talking about Jesus. Let's just clear that up right now before I go further... I believe Jesus is the Way, He is Truth, He is Everything. I am NOT ashamed of Jesus... I am ashamed of the large majority of people who claim to follow Him but really have their heads so far up their own hinders they couldn't really see the Light if He was shining in their faces. Anyway. So many people claiming to be of the Christian faith have done little more than hurt others, make rules to cause other people to feel bad about themselves, and turn people off to Jesus. Shame on us. Christ dined with tax collectors (gasp!). He spent time with a prostitute to show her love and forgiveness when she was brought before Him for condemnation (double gasp!). He offered grace to one of His closest friends knowing full well that friend would deny having even known Him 3 times (triple gasp!). He healed the wounds of sinners. He washed the feet of the unworthy. He made wine from water when people were already abusing the drink, just to show His mom some respect. He interceded for forgiveness on behalf of those that beat Him, mocked Him, spit on Him, and nailed Him to a tree until He died. That's the Jesus I know anyway. The Jesus I know isn't afraid of people who come from hard lifestyles, or different sexual persuasions, or beliefs, or seriously messed up lives. He loves those people. He offers grace to us and love to us to cover a multitude of sins. Sins are still sins, and Jesus never excused them. He, being Truth, always sees us for what we are, loves us still, and offers us help. I don't claim to know what it is like to struggle with things like so many do... I only know my own life. But I do know that I am not going to treat someone poorly because they believe differently than me, live differently than me. Christ never did that. As a matter of fact, the only people in the bible Jesus ever treated negatively were the "religious" people that thought they were so much better than everyone else. He is our example, so maybe we should really take it to heart when He said to examine and remove the plank in our eye so we can see clearly before we try to remove the splinter from someone else's.
The other side of this that drives me nuts is this: People who do reject Christ based solely on the way other people choose to behave who claim to know Him. If people could just look to the gospels themselves and read about the true Jesus... I believe those people would see Someone very different from the self proclaimed "examples" who are themselves little more than modern day pharisees. God is Love. No He does not condone sin... But He is not afraid of your questions. He is not looking to point the finger and send people to Hell. He is looking to love, to help, to free, to answer, to save.
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