itisjustmyopinion

So, here it is, the last day of January already..man, this time is just flying by so fast anymore.  it is such a weird phenomenon.  i first want to thank all of my friends (and those of you who happen to stumble on this blog) for reading it.  i know i have no comments here, but to the friends i have that do read this, i really have enjoyed your absolute honesty with the comments that you leave me, or that we talk about.  it really has been enjoyable and enlightening for me to hear different view points, and thanks again for keeping me in check.

i decided to write about a very simple, or at least what should be a very simple, topic this time around, although i really wanna delve deeper than just hit the surface of it.  So here we go..

i was watching the Oprah show when she had Ted Haggard on.  For those who have not as yet, heard about Mr. Haggard, he is the preacher, who founded the New Life Church, and he was the ousted pastor of that church.  He was ousted for buying drugs and allegedly having sexual relations with this man who sold him the drugs.  Obviously, this was a very big problem.  So he was exiled from the church, and on the outside, understandably so.  You cannot, as the pastor, leader, and founder of a church, be on the pulpit demonizing drug usage and homosexual sex, and be participating in those very behaviors.  That is the very definition of hypocrisy if i have ever heard one.

Now i will get back to Mr. Haggard in a minute, but first i want to say this.  i honestly believe, being a born-again Christian myself, that there is a whole bunch of people that do NOT buy into this Christian ideal for a whole lot of reasons.  But i think that the main reason is because of the sheer hypocrisy they themselves have experienced.  it is so very sad as far as i am concerned.

One of the most important responsibilities i have as a Christian is to be evangelical.  This, in a nutshell, simply means that when the opportunities present themselves, i have a responsibility and a duty to tell people, who generally are not saved, about salvation and how that is obtained. By the way, i DO NOT save them, that job is for someone else; i just inform them the best way i can.  Now, if you haven’t read my previous blogs, i am a very non-judgmental, bible thumping over your head, scripture shoving down your throat kind of Christian.  i take a whole different approach.  What i meant by ‘when opportunities present themselves’ is to me, when unsaved people start asking questions and being curious about theology on whatever level they feel comfortable talking about.  That, i believe, is my perfect opportunity to: #1 find out what level they are on, and #2 talk to them on their level, not on my level.  By conveying to them what i believe the Scripture says from my level would be a self-defeating.  So i have to find out where they are, pray for the vocabulary that i need to speak to them and then, and only then, listen and then speak to them on their level, so they DO understand me; and hopefully keep asking more questions.  Now, i am no where near an expert on theology.  But i do understand certain things, and what i don’t understand, i can look it up (i have plenty of reference books, etc., to look up things i don’t know).

Going deeper into this, i have noticed over many years the pure hypocrisy that is involved in being Christian.  Now don’t get me wrong, i have lived all of my life with a now hopefully ‘reformed’ relative, who was, in the past, constantly sitting on her moral high horse, pointing that hypocritical finger at me, telling me what i believed and didn’t believe.  She would also take it a step further, by going to her church, to tell the members there, what heathens all of her family were and that they needed to pray for us because we were all going to hell.  Okay, whatever.  These people that participate in this kind of behavior are going to self implode the Christian life.  There are many things that enrage me, but nothing more than this kind of thing happening all the time, and not only are they not drawing people to Christ, they are driving them farther away. Now i am just a simple person, but this seems counterproductive to me.

Let me give you a few examples of what i mean.  When Sandi Patty, a Christian singer/songwriter, got divorced, there was an uproar from certain groups of people who claimed to be Christian as well.  Unbelievable to me. i mean seriously, how ridiculous is this.  Believe it or not, in the New Testament (which most Christians live and die by), divorce is allowed by God in certain circumstances.  He does not want you to stay in an unhappy, abusive relationship.  That is NOT what God ever wants for ANYONE, saved or not.  He wants us to be happy and content.  So this whole idea of ousting Ms. Patty for getting divorced is insane to me.

Then there was Michael English.  He is another contemporary Christian singer.  At the 25th Anniversary of the Dove Award Show (a gospel music award show), he won, count them, SEVEN Dove Awards.  For one person to win one is awesome..to win SEVEN, is incredible.  And they were very well deserved.  He has a very powerful voice and is so very talented.  Some time later, he gave all the awards back.  He said he did not deserve them.  Why?  The reason was because he was married, and was having an affair with one of his background singers, and she was pregnant with his child.  Shocking?  Yes, but worth the out and out criticism from the Christian world was not necessary.  This affected me so much, that i actually wrote to Mr. English.  in a nutshell, i told him that i was sorry to hear that he was giving up music and singing totally.  i told him that i understood that what he had done was wrong and i knew that he knew that all to well, also.  BUT, God gave him a gift that he was just throwing away.  i do not have a God given talent to sing, like Mariah or Whitney; but Mr. English does, and God gave him that gift, and i found it very sad that he was just going to toss it away forever.  i begged and pleaded with him not to do this.  it would be a huge mistake, for not only the people that were so positively affected by his music, but he would especially being doing a disservice to those that had not heard his message…yet.  And he caved because all of this was done, by the actions of other Christians, who are pointing their finger at him, criticizing him, all the while, they themselves are living PERFECT lives, don’t ya know? Sure they are..NOT!

And then there is Mr. Haggard.  He stated in the interview, that he was not being punished for doing what he is accused of doing, but instead he was being punished for LYING about it.  Big difference.

There are plenty of Christians who make mistakes, because, (in case you did not know this), these people are HUMAN BEINGS.  We are the most wretched, disgusting, vile beings EVER.  We do NOT deserve God’s love.  But ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16).  Simply amazing.

if you have children, and you know without a doubt how much you love and cherish them, multiply that love exponentially, and you will know how much God loves us.

Anyway, getting back on track, people who tout being a Christian, regardless of the branch you are on, have to, and i do mean HAVE TO, stop treating people this way, and being SO judgmental.  Being the judge and jury is above all of our pay grades, and it isn’t part of our job description.  That job belongs to someone else, and HE will take care of it when it is time.  in the meantime, we, as Christians, do not have the privileged of exiling anyone who had done wrong, whether those wrong doers are Christians or not.

Our living example; the One we look to on how to deal with life on Earth and all that arises from that; is Jesus Christ, Himself.  Did he not sleep with lepers?  Did he not break bread with the Pharisees and the tax collectors (which, by definition) were some of the most hated people in their society at the time?  Did he not forgive Mary Magdalene, who, by the way, if you don’t know that name, she was a prostitute?

i understand the judgments all too well, being one of the many who have been judged by other humans, especially Christians, for most of my life.  After all, i do have a child and he was conceived out of wedlock (oh my); and to be quite honest, have judged others unfairly in the past.  But i also understand how powerful compassion can be and how it can affect others in a positive way, not negative.

if you are one of these people, who judge others, and are so critical of the things that YOU think are so vile, i want you to think this.  #1- Those who live in glass houses, should not throw stones..or more theologically put: Matthew 7:1~ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” As stated before, it is NOT, nor will it EVER be, our job, Christian or not, to judge others. That is not part of our job description as humans and is well above our pay grade.

We truly need to get over ourselves already.  Can you imagine how much of a better place we can make this life on Earth?  i can imagine it, but it starts with you.  You are the only one in control of you.  You cannot change others; but if we make an honest effort to make this conscience change in our lives, who knows, maybe others will follow our lead?  You just never know until you try.

But after all, that is just my opinion…..

Remember this:

God loves you not because of who you are, but because of who HE is.

i say Thank God and Amen to that.  How about you?

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