This will be a blog which is not derived from a sermon, but may very well one day become something I preach. Consider it more of a soap box.
Recent events have helped me to realize why many people reject Jeuss because of what has become of the message of many churches. We have taken the simple doctrine of Christ and gone all Pharisee on it.
In more intelligent terms: The past few centuries we have devoted our efforts to finding the "perfect" doctrine. In the place of disciple and the true ministry of bringing the love of Christ to the masses we have taken to arguing over who is more "right."
But wait: the ripple effect gets worse.
Not only have we wasted a great deal of time which could have used loving people squabbling over low priority items, we have taken it another step too far. We now call shaming people "evangelism." We think we can scare them into the arms of God. We use every verse we can to twist our message to make it sound like truth.
The fact of the matter is that we find it more important to point out the wrongs of people than to tell them that God loves them. We are afraid to admit the truth that God loves them so deeply that His love is unaffected by our actions.
When I first became a Christian, the kind of doctrine which I was initially introduced to was very conservative and dogmatic. Please do not misunderstand me, these were beautiful, loving people. To this day I adore them. As a result of this being the circumstance I found myself in as a young Christian, I held to these doctrines.
As I grew closer to God however questions began to rise that I did not dare voice to anyone except God in prayer. (Even then they were often never spoken, only thought in passing.)
Does God really hate gay people? If so, is that ok?
How does God feel about guns? (I live in the south.)
The cuss words today were not the cuss words of Christ's time, so what makes them so bad? I mean you call someone a cookie in the right tone of voice and it can sound like a curse.
To be clear: this is NOT an us and them issue. Every single one of us is guilty of getting our rocks off by pointing out the wrong in others. After all, so long as they are more wrong than us we are justified and right.
The sad truth is that this heresy most certainly began because someone felt the need to be righteous and holy so deeply that they made it their personal campaign to spread that message. So now it is more important to "seem" righteous than to actually be righteous. It is more valued to be justified that to actually be free from the bondage of sin. Righteousness has trumped love.
We have forgotten that if we do not have love, then we have nothing.
To bring all of this down to a more personal space.
During college I worked at a local sports bar called Buffalo Wild Wings. At this place I found so many people I fell in love with. Beautiful souls. Many of them did not hold to my beliefs. But I loved them regardless.
Some were gay, all drank (many to excess), some did drugs and I loved them dearly.
Before being saved I was bisexual. To this day I cuss. I drink regularly. My bread cabinet is full of prescription drugs.
For the first time all these questions I had came to have faces. I found my answers in those faces. It's very simple:
Regardless of your social status, opinion on drinking/drugs, and sexuality: God love us. Nothing we ever do will change that. He will always love us as much as He ever has. We are the apple of His eye and His treasure.
It's not up to the Church to decide what anyone's sexuality/amount they drink/if pot is ok, or not. The Church is meant to let everyone know that Gof loves them and Christ came to prove it and changed the world for it.
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