Church people

I overheard an interesting conversation with one of my managers at work today. She was telling some story that I caught the tail end of, the only part I heard being "And I hope his only son turns out to be gay! That would be hilarious."

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, my girlfriend's dad is a church-person--not that there's anything wrong with that! I like church people!" she replied. She said "not that there's anything wrong with that" because she knows I'm a Christian and therefore a "church person". She didn't want to offend me, I guess.

She continued, "You know, everytime my girlfried is around him now, he makes everyone keep their distance from her. 'Shun the lesbians' he says... or at least it seems like he must say that."

What followed was my favorite part:

"I mean, he goes to church every Sunday, never misses a sermon. Except for the ones on 'not judging lest you be judged'."

"The ones on acceptance," I said.

"Exactly!" she said.

"The ones on love," I said.

"Love! Yes!"

"Thats sad," I said. And it is sad.

It makes me sad that the Christian stereotype is now associated with something negative, something hateful and judgemental. What used be the "salt" and the "light" now is the gavel and the sounding block.

We've screwed something up.

When did the Christianity become something negative? When did God become a justification and a motive for hate? When did the church become a tool to be used to swing votes for political campaigns? I don't know. But it makes me very sad. I can't imagine how sad it makes Jesus.

The worst part about this whole thing is that, at times, I'm that guy. I'm the guy that uses God as a motive for hate (whether I realize it or not). I'm the guy that uses scripture to condemn others when only God has that right. Etc., etc., etc.

The fact is, there is a law. There is an absolute right and wrong. But it is not my job to make anyone obey that law. Someone who doesn't love Christ has no reason to obey his commands, so we need to stop acting as if they do.

Jesus didn't use "gay" as a derogatory term. He didn't walk up to adulteresses and tell them they were dirty whores (and, for that matter, he didn't call them dirty whores behind their backs). He loved them and invited them to his dinner table. He told others to quit judging them. He befriended these downtrodden people. Then, later, in love, he told them to repent and sin no more. JESUS did.

Jesus was awesome.
--Heger