Catching flies for Jesus...

So I read this cause Jeannette posted it and I always read the crap that Jeannette posts, no matter how many times I've come to regret it. And it was a nice story about a guy who has a brother and loves his brother. And his brother is gay and married another gay dude. And he posted pictures on Facebook. And one of his FB friends defriended him because of 'all the gay stuff'. And, it was pointed out that said defriending FB friend is now a 'Baptist minister'. So, of course, I bristled about the anti-Christian inference, though I do not think the author had any malice in his heart. It's like when Jay says I'm not really black because I make intelligent observations and speak clearly. You learn to resist the urge to pummel...

You see, I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe that the Bible contains the Lord's teachings (though it is much the same way that FoxNews contains factual occurances of the day. It's there, but it's filtered, man, seriously filtered.) Why do I believe this? Because I do. Do I have proof? Nope. I just know that, if you hooked me up to a lie detector and asked me, "Does God exist?" I would immediately and without hesitation answer, "Yep." and the needle wouldn't move at all. That means I believe it.

I was raised Southern Baptist. Not just Southern Baptist, but SOUTHERN BAPTIST. I attended a church that was 30 miles out "in the country" of rural Mississippi. A church made of wood with holes in the floors and holes in the wall but was still as well kept as those who cared could make it. A church with no air conditioning but with cardboard and pasteboard fans next to the hymnals on the back of the pew. A church where my ancestors were buried out back, going back as far as anyone traces these things for African Americans. I mean, SOUTHERN BAPTIST. Additionally, my grandmother hosted bible study from 3 pm to 6 pm EVERY SATURDAY. Attendance at this was mandatory for us grandkids. 3 hours of bible study is a lot when you're eight, trust me on this. So, I learned a bit about Jesus and this is probably why I believe it unequivocally.

Now, long ago, I abandoned a lot of those teachings. You'll notice, if you pay attention, that I do not attend a church. I decided that my relationship with God didn't really need to involve anyone else. I made the decision that it would just be me and him and we'd work together towards the true goal, the thing that he really wants from me, based on my own beliefs, deductions, musings and realizations. I believe that he wants me to be a good person. So, i'll try my best to muddle through towards that goal and we'd (He and I) would keep up along the way. I'm not perfect (or even reasonably good) at it...but I try the best I can and He does what He does in the way of guidance, rewarding, punishing and generally supporting along the way.

Anyway, back to my point. Well, one more thing...don't defriend people on Facebook. I believe this is a terrible way to use the wonderful tool that is Facebook. If you are sick of the noise that that one dude makes, or the way he asks for Farmville support, or the way he posts endless funny pictures from the interwebs (*cough*Josh*cough*), then teach yourself about the privacy settings and shut him/her off. You can still be his/her friend without ever having to be subject to any of their content. When you defriend someone in Facebook, you are saying, to my mind, "I no longer wish any contact or association with you. I believe that you are a detriment to my existence and I view my life to be better without you than with you." THAT is a pretty harsh (fucked up) statement to make. You save that shit for the bitch who slept with your husband or the guy down the street who got drunk and drove over your dog. There's hate there and we all should try to keep the hate to a minimum (Nickelback, excluded, of course.) So, just don't do it...ok?

My point? Yeah...There's a lot of Christian hate out there right now. People talk about 'religious nuts' and jump down your thought if you might suggest having a discussion about Jesus. It's almost a joke. Political conservatives are automatically judged to be, not only Christian, but Christian extremists. It's ridiculous. Why? I think it's our fault...our fault as Christians. I think we, not all of us but a select vocal view, have forgotten some key points. I think we need to take some time for review.

#1. Love. Jesus' first, biggest and most major point was for us to love each other. If we asked what one point of his we could retain, he'd choose this one. We need to love each other. Now, I know you're thinking...Love is a strong word. Gotta remember to boil it down. He was Jesus, the Son of God. Of course, He LOVED us. But, for each other, I think we can reduce that down to "Don't be a douchebag to..." You don't have to LOVE the random bum on the street, though, if you could, that'd be great and Jesus would sure appreciate it. But, you can, at the very minimum, set a standard of not being a douchebag to him. That's not too much to ask. Do that to everyone. As noted atheist Wil Wheaton often suggests, "Don't be a dick."

#2. Forgiveness. Jesus forgave. Jesus forgives. Everything. No matter how bad. This is not to say that you can knowingly be horrible and then count on a last minute reprieve. God sees into your heart and he'll see right through that shit. But you can, go through life, doing the best you can, slip a bit on occasion and recover from it, moving forward. No one is beyond redemption.

Now, what this means is that, you can never use "You're going to hell" as a point. Of course, there is that chance but that is not for us to say. What we can offer is the belief and advice that a certain action or course of actions is not really in keeping with the positive direction the Lord wants for us. Which brings me to the main point I wanted to make 12 paragraphs ago.

#3. Teaching. The Lord will ultimately judge us, as beings, and decide if we go to Heaven or not. As such, we want to be the best we can be. We want our friends and family to be the best they can be. Indeed, we want EVERYONE to be the best we can be. So that we can ALL go to Heaven. This is a good, positive sentiment. So, when we see someone slipping, someone who is taking a path away from being a good person, we want to help them. We care about them, as people, and we want to see them correct their path and become good. We want to tell them, "Hey, you're fucking up here..." and this comes from a good place in our hearts.

This is where the problems starts. You see, not everyone believes like we believe. Not everyone wants to follow the way of the Lord. Not necessarily because they are bad people, though I think some are. But because they haven't found that way or learned that lesson. Because they do not believe. Here's where I'm going to get rebellious: That's ok. It's ok for them not to believe. It's ok for them not to follow God. It's ok for them to go to Hell. Further, if they are going down that road, towards Hell, and they seem happy, that's ok, too. That doesn't impact you. And if they are happy, while you are righteous and not happy, that HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM. There is a reason that you are unhappy. Find it. Ask God for help, he will help you. Seek and discover your own happiness. Worry NOT about those who appear to be bound for  hell and are happy about it.

So we've come to the root of it. The reputation of Christians in today's society and the anti-Christian sentiment seems, to me, to be rooted in this impression by the general populace, that there is some drive in the Christian populace to convert everyone. To make everyone else Christian. To impose upon them the beliefs, morals and daily life practices that the Christians embrace. To not only use Christian values to form our laws and political policies but the private practices of each free citizen of America. And this comes from zealous Christians who act as though that is exactly what they are doing, unapologetically.

They are doing this because they are taking the responsibility to teach others about the Lord too far or because they are secretly jealous of those who live/act "in sin" because they haven't come to terms with their own beliefs. God never intended to lock you in a closet, so if you are in a closet where you cannot act, think or be in a way that makes you happy, you locked yourself in there, via some misinterpretation of the Lord. And, you need to stop and think.

Who are those two married dudes hurting? Anyone? Are they bad people? And, if they are, is that because they are two married dudes or is it because they are bad people? What is really the problem here? Is it because you are married and unhappy? Is it because they can't have kids? Is it because it's icky? Further, why are you doing this? to help them? Do you think you will get very far towards the goal of helping them see the 'error' of their ways buy spitting vitrol or outlawing their existence? Do you think they will look at your attempts to block their happiness as coming from a place of caring? What do you think they see when you stand before them, representing the Lord, and being a miserable prick toward them? Do you think they can feel Jesus' Love from you being an asshole? Whose work are you really doing? God's? or someone else's...?

So, takeaways. Action items. Practical applications from the lessons learned here. It's like this...we, as Christians, have a responsibility to help those around us learn and follow the Lord's teachings. I won't ask us to agree on what the Lord teaches. What I will ask is for you to be smart about it. I will ask you to recognize that you are ministering to people. People with feelings and the need to seek happiness, wherever it may be found. People who will hear a message of Love, offered in the right context and with the right presentation. And I want you to ask God how He wants you to be. How He wants you to help. And if He says that he wants you to scare people or try to prevent them from finding happiness or block them from living peaceful, happy, law abiding lives...I want you to ask yourself if, at that moment, you are really talking to God.

Cause God has taught me a lot of lessons in a lot of ways. And one lesson he taught, through the miracle of nature, is this...You catch a whole lot more flies with honey, than you ever do with vinegar.