Whaaaat? I know. Basically, my love of people offends the Pharisees. Yes, the "Set apart" are angered because I am trying to include everyone into faith that welcomes everyone. Whoa. I am such a jerk.
So far, I have been called "evil," a "false prophet," and "worker of iniquity." All because I am loving a group of people the church loves to hate.
Don't get me wrong: I don't take these accusations lightly. As a matter of fact I have been spending the past few nights (not cleaning and sewing like I need to do), but on my face, before a most holy God. No, really. If you could have peeked into my world the past few nights you would have seen what probably looks like crazy. I prayed. I cried. I danced. I sang. I prayed some more. I read the Bible. I prayed. I prayed the scripture, "Search me, O God, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way of the everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24.) Then I read some more, prayed some more and finally I just listened.
And you know what I heard from God? I did not hear anything these well meaning believers are shouting. No, I heard God say, "Go to the margins they never had the grace to go."
Wow.
So friends, yes, I will go. I will love. I will try my darnedest to include. Yes, I love me some sinners. Yes, I'll gladly kick it with the people who don't have all the answers. I will cheerfully give my time, my love, my life to show others the love that changed my life...Even to people the church has never accepted before. I believe that is exactly what Christ did. And, darlin', if it was good enough for my Savior - it's good enough for me.
Let's remember here that Jesus did not come to pat pretty people in Polo's on the back. He came here for the sick. And I don't know about you, friends, but I am real sick. Real sick. I am the most depressing person I know. I am the biggest sinner I know. I need Jesus. I need that hope, that mercy, that love that He so graciously gives everyone. And, call me a "false prophet," but I want everyone to experience that freedom, that joy, that peace that can only come from knowing Jesus.
Everyone.
Even the people who sin differently than me.
Even the people who do stuff that creep me out.
Even the saints that went marching in and all over everyone's freewill and feelings.
Everyone.
And no, I don't go into the community with sandwich board a blazing. The party might end in hell, friend, but this life - it certainly isn't a party. Yes, life is beautiful, but lets not forget that life is also painful and sad. It's not fair and it's not easy. Life only feels like a "party" if you are an agoraphobic introvert, and then the "party" is no longer fun. It's panic filled and worrisome.
Also, the ludicrous idea that life is all sunshine and rainbows because you have Jesus is asinine. Jesus doesn't make life easy, He makes it important. And He gives love and peace freely, and sure that makes things feel a bit easier, but just because you came to Jesus does not exclude you from sin, hurts, falls and fails. You are still a human. We are all sinners. No one is exempt from having issues -even if you are a Christian. We all have our own funk and I don't want to point out what anyone is doing wrong, because I'd smack everyone in the face with the massive plank protruding from my own eye.
Sugar, let's be reminded that we are in the midwest, during an election year. Everyone knows what the Bible says here. The point is: Why would anyone want to change if all we offer is simply an elitist country club with a dress code? "Yes, come to Jesus. Oh, but first you have to change dramatically. I can't help you there, but when you are done changing, and when you have it all figured it out, you can put on nicely pressed Dockers and this cheery Polo and then, and only then, you can run our gauntlet of judgement and condemnation and we might let you join our country club. Jesus will love you and we might accept you." Gross, but you get out of your comfort zone an ask anyone in the community and that's how we have sounded for years, church. Who would want that kind of faith? I tried that brand of believing. I was raised in a church like. I joined a cult during my college years that was EXACTLY like that and it was totally bogus. I left even more hurt and broken, but my story doesn't end there. God started something new and exciting in me and I will gladly receive flak from my own camp for that honor.
Now, when I look at the field, I know it's not ripe. It's toxic. It has been poisoned by all our years of excluding, humiliating, judging, and hate. The world is ugly and mean, but we never supposed to act like that. We should be a place of kindness and love. We are the salt and the light of the earth. Illuminate and add some frickin' flavor, believers!
And no, right now, I am not looking to the skies asking for the Lord to return; not when there is so much work to do. I am praying for more time, more love, more grace and more chances to show people those very things. Acting like I can just march in, point out others sins, and lead thousands to Jesus is just silly. I can't do that. I can't save anyone. That type of thinking is madness. It's like asking someone to plant tomatoes in Chernobly. Sure, we could try, but the soil has been poisoned years. What fruit can come from it? We can not reap a harvest from these fields, because the soil has been ruined by our hate.
Believers: We have to clean up the toxic spill, before we can ever really expect to see a harvest. We need people to bring in new soil. We need people to till. We need people to plow. We need people to plant. We need people to eventually reap and most importantly: We need people that will love. We need people who will climb down from their self righteous towers and get honest and get real with others. We need people that will include. We need people more worried about people and less worried about the crap we all carry around.
Go read Romans. Our faith and our love does not exclude. We are all sinners. And Jesus loves us anyway.
Friends, I don't want to be a pretty picture of accomplishments, setting neatly on a mantel. I want to be a 3D person. I want to live. I want to love. And I want to know that even when I make mistakes, I serve a God that forgives, encourages and loves. I am not saying you are broken and sad. What I am saying is that I am. I need Jesus. His grace works for me. And I want, more than anything, to invite, welcome and include anyone who is ready to taste and see that the Lord is good.
