On a quite Saturday last night here at farm we watched “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.” Yes we two adults love our kids movies. The basic gist of the movie is that Van Helsing descendants are trying to kill Dracula and all of the other monsters once and for all – using techno music to summon a monster-eating sea creature no less. Having been defeated by “The Macarena”, the bad guy is falling to his death and Dracula goes to save him. His actions are challenged and one of the other monsters says “You gotta be greater than hate.”
This phrase was perfect considering things that have been on my mind today. Last Sunday our pastor mentioned that he struggles some labeling himself a “Christian” because it carries so many negative connotations today. People not emulating Jesus have corrupted the description “Christian” to mean a person who hates; who condemns others different than themselves; who cannot or will not see see the image of God in people of every color, every religious tradition, or sexual orientation.
It makes you wonder just how “Christian” and “hate” have become synonymous to so many people. Some would point to organizations like Westboro Baptist Church and say that the hate they spew has tainted many. I don’t buy that, though. They are so extreme that I think people generally understand that they don’t represent Jesus. No I think it hits people on a much more personal level. They see the hateful things their neighbors do while proudly stating they are at church every Wednesday and Sunday. They hear the hateful things family members say while driving around with a “Proud member of XYZ Church” bumper sticker on their car. I have been shocked to read the Facebook comments of people I thought were Christian, but there is nothing resembling Jesus in the things they say.
I have read rants of Christians demanding as that abortion must be stopped, but in the next breath absolving themselves of any responsibility for these children, claiming that extending services to help raise these children is “socialism” and must not be tolerated. Interesting considering Jesus has very specific instruction regarding care for the fatherless and orphans.
- “Learn to do what is right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” Isaiah 1:17
- “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.” Psalm 82:3
- “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” Deuteronomy 10:18
And then there are the Christians full of judgement of and condemnation for the LGBTQ community. “Their lifestyle is an abomination.” “They don’t deserve equal treatment.” It seems so easy for them to see the sins of others, and apparently ignore the logs in their own eyes. “‘Teacher”, they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What to you say?’ ‘All right, but let the one who has never sinned cast the first stone!'” John 8:4-5, 7 Since none of us are sinless, there should be no stones thrown just because someone loves differently than I do. I appreciated the recent comments of a friend whom I do believe genuinely seeks Jesus when she stated she recognized God doesn’t designate any sin bigger than another and her holding a grudge is as sinful as anything else.
I find myself frustrated when I see people claiming to be Christian, but truly devoid of the character of Jesus – his humility, his gentleness, his compassion, his love and attention to the marginalized. If we treated the world with the two simplest, but most profound instructions Jesus gave, hate would have no place in this world. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Matthew 22:37-39
How are we who truly seek to live like Jesus to ever mend to damage done by others allegedly in the name of Jesus?
Earlier this year I read a blog post by author John Pavlovitz about the kind of Christian he refused to be. Among the thing he included was refusing to be a Christian “unless it means I live as a person of hospitality, of healing, of redemption, of justice, of expectation-defying Grace, of counter-intuitive love. These are non negotiable. I am still a Christian, but I refuse to be one without Jesus.” What a great outline for to follow:
- Hospitality: Welcome everyone
- Healing: Help others heal and do no harm
- Redemption: We are not the judge, but the messengers of Jesus’ salvation to others.
- Justice: Be the voice for those who can’t speak for themselves
- Expectation-defyng Grace: We can never deserve the Grace bestowed upon us by Jesus’ death on the cross. Nor should we ever impede anyone’s access to this grace.
- Counter-intuitive love: I think this one is my favorite. LOVE people when you don’t want to love them. LOVE people when it doesn’t make sense. Just LOVE. When you love, there is no room for hate.
Love – Just love.
But also challenge those who say they are Christian, but their hateful words and actions are not of Jesus. Silence in the face of such corruption is complicity. This statement is convicting to me, truthfully, because I tend to avoid confrontation. My silence in some circumstances has allowed a falsehood about Jesus to exist in the world, or at least in the mind of another. No more. No longer will I silently sit on the sidelines while others portray Jesus and anything less than the perfect example of God’s love for ALL the world.
Discovering Grace 