I rarely write a serious blog, let alone a blog about something that upsets me. There aren't many things in this world that bother me enough to cause me to react. Usually I just accept what happened and Google pictures of cute animals and go on living my life in blissful ignorance and pretending bad things don't happen. BUT, there is one thing I take seriously enough to defend at all costs, and that's my faith in Jesus.
For some reason there are modern Christians who have forgotten that they, too, aren't perfect and struggle with their own sins. How they ignore that, I have no idea, but they do. Not only do they ignore their own faults, but they use this self-righteous entitlement to attack everyone who doesn't agree with their points. Sadly I've thought many times that I wish there was a different term to use about my faith besides "Christian" because these psychopaths have ruined what that name means. "Christian" literally means "Christ like", and these people couldn't be farther from that.
While Jesus was on earth, there were homosexuals and people having abortions, but Jesus didn't waste His limited time here trying to protest those acts. He spent his time here LOVING PEOPLE and teaching His followers how to love. The point of the "Prodigal Son" parable was to lay aside your hate and stereotypes for people and love them sacrificially. When people asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, He said “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" -Matthew 22:37-39. I don't know how people look over this, but Jesus came here to SAVE people and show them how much better life is following Him. He didn't come here trying to "battle" sinners, He came to show them an unconditional love unlike anything they've ever seen.
Let's be clear, the Bible NEVER says that God hates gay people. (The Bible actually says "God hates divorce", and the divorce rate is higher in the church than outside of it, but again people would rather ignore that because it's more fun to cast judgment then actually try to fix ourselves.) Yes, the Bible does condemn the act of homosexuality, but it also condemns lying, cheating, lusting, and a ton of other sins that I do far more than I should. God also doesn't hate you if you have an abortion. He would not stand on the side of the road with pictures of aborted fetuses trying to prevent you from having an abortion. He would invite you to His house, love you like you've never been loved before, care for you like you've never been cared for, and as you became closer to Him, his power and presence in your life would start to change your bad habits, not stupid signs, posters, and commercials.
Let me be clear to any Christians who think I'm being some kind of universalist and saying everyone's ok. I am not. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. No one is ok. We all suck. Bad. I sin every day and I claim to follow God, so how on earth can I judge people who don't claim to follow Him? It boggles my mind. I don't get how people can do it.
For the record, I am a Christian (again, for lack of a better term) and I love Jesus with all my heart. My faith in Him is the number one priority in my life. I'm trying every day to better myself as a man and as a Christian and with that comes changing my environment, my habits, and where I spend my time. But with that being said, I'm humbled daily by how far from perfection I am, and the closer I get to God, the more I realize how far from Him I really am.
I don't care where you're at in your faith, what bad habits you have, or what sins you struggle with, I promise to be here to love you and support you and be there for you as a fellow person struggling with his spiritual journey. I refuse to judge people who do things that I struggled with not long ago because I know what it's like to be there and I understand why people do what they do. I want to be the man who showed Christ-like love to people that other "Christians" wanted nothing to do with.
Love is louder than hate will ever be, I promise you that.
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