I know - start off the blog with religion, politics and grilling methods...three topics not brought up in polite conversation. Fortunately, polite conversations are not my goal. They are normally much more boring than what we really think.
Disclaimers first: This post is mainly directed at those of us who call ourselves "Christians"; I am far from perfect, this applies to me as much as it does to anyone calling themselves a Christian; I am not a theologian nor do I intend this to be preachy (I'm sure I will miss the mark on that goal); I could easily fit a large portion of the stereotype mentioned below... with that said....
If you read through the New Testament, Jesus - Son of God, perfect, etc, gets very mad on a number of occasions. Look through those episodes and you will notices a trend; he gets ticked at the religious - not the sinners. He doesn't let the sinners off the hook nor does he tread lightly so as not to hurt their feelings (but that is another post). Time and again Jesus lashes out at the "Religious Right" (there is that stereotype I was mentioning above). Turning over the tables in the temple, his most sarcastic and biting parables, his most hard condemnations are all for those that say "how good are we, look how horrible everyone else is". And yet we have "Christians"today protesting any number of issues, holding signs saying that "God Hates ____s (fill in group of "sinners" here).
I believe my mother has the best paraphrase for how Jesus looked at sin - hate the sin, love the sinner. I truly believe that God hates abortion - I DO NOT believe he hates anyone who has had one or performs them. Jesus showed compassion to the woman at the well - she was a class A sinner then or now. Jesus didn't skirt the issue that she was sinning but He also didn't degrade her because of it. Jesus didn't shy away from Zacchaeus (tax collector back then - would look more like a mafia thug shaking down businesses for protection money today); He had dinner with him. Zacchaeus didn't have to "turn from his evil ways" before Jesus would associate with him.
To truncate an argument that could take 200 pages...If we call ourselves "Christian", we should really work on showing everyone we come across that Jesus' love applies to them. Christians, the Religious Right, etc have rightly earned a reputation for being hateful, exclusionary, elitist, and even "not at all like what I think Jesus was like" (paraphrased quote from a friend of mine). So next time you are protesting...add something to your sign..."God hates ___ (insert sin), God loves you - no matter what!". We might just break through much of the animosity that has rightly built up against religion, churches etc.
I will follow up at some point with my thoughts on goats vs sheep (without the reference point it could sound like a really inappropriate posting topic... for those of you who may not be big Bible readers that is a reference to God separating out actual followers of Christ from those who call themselves Christians but didn't get it).
As an epilogue...for those of you who know and interact with me in real life...I more than realize that I'm not there yet, I have words not always backed up by my actions, there have been a number of times I have not kept the standard espoused above. First, I am a sinner. Second, hold me to it - it will help me get better. Third, (if you call yourself a Christian) look in the mirror.
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