Many Christians Have It Backwards
I am reading "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller right now. About 10 different people have recommended the book to me over the last year. I have liked what I have read so far. Sometimes I don't know where Miller is going but his point is always clear at the end of the chapter. Blue Like Jazz is basicially a collection of non-religious thoughts on religion and God. Interesting and entertaining. Relevant. All Christians would do well to read it.
Last Sunday night I proped myself up in bed and opened to my bookmark. As I read, one thought in particular jumped off page 132 and punched me in the face about ten times. Talk about a "paper-back-beat-down"! Here's the quote, "...I want my spirituality to rid me of hate, not give me reason for it." OUCH!
Miller was referencing a conversations he overheard where church going Christians were professing their hate for former President Clinton. How many of us are guilty of the same or a similar thing. How many times have we flipantly threw the powerful word "hate" around like a pair of dirty socks. Here's a tougher question, how many times has our religion been our reasoning behind that hate? Some may say, "I hate homosexuals because my religion says they are wrong." Some may say, "I hate Muslims because they don't believe the same as I do." Others may say, "I hate liberals because they support abortion and it's wrong." You get the idea... I have made statements like this before, maybe you have too.
Here's the deal though...as believers in Christ, we should very serriously consider if those statements reflect the life, actions and message of the One we say that we follow. Did Christ ever get mad or angry? Yes. Sadly enough He was usually mad at the "religious". Did Christ ever get emotional? Ofcourse. He called people "snakes" and flipped tables over. Sounds like a WWF match. Did Christ ever hate or profess to hate anyone? No. Never. Not a chance.
Christ came to heal the sick, seek the lost, save the injured and accept the rejected. You see?
So why do we as His followers deal hate out so often? Do we think that it is possible to hate someone into faith in Christ? Do we think that making a "stand" against things we don't believe in gives us the right to hate others? Are we afraid of different people so we mask our fear with hate? Are we told, directly or indirectly, as kids to hate those who aren't like us? I don't have a clue why we do it, but we do.
I agree with Miller, our spirituality should rid us of anger. We should become like Christ. He was a dealer of love and acceptance and forgiveness and healing. We should strive to be that too. Living like that is possible. I am trying. You should too. I think this kind of life change would make a huge impact on our families, churches, friends and more importantly, the Kingdom of God and Its influence on todays world.
Thanks to Donald Miller for the eye-opening book and the slapping around I got on page 132.