Christian Living

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Someone I know, someone who is very dear to me, made this comment to me last week. "I spent my whole life growing up in the church, learning religion, and all it taught me was that I am a worthless, no good human being. I don't want any part of it. Apparently, I'm doomed to hell anyway so why bother?'

I am pretty certain that all of you have heard words like these at some point in your lives. I can't speak for you, but words like this make me indescribably sad.

While I feel that our churches and our pastors have a responsibility to warn us against things that might cause us trouble on our Christian walk, I also feel that they are responsible for turning people away. It pains me. I don't want to point fingers but some of you are playing out your own agendas more than God's.

Christians talk of salvation as a gift, a thing that is there for the taking if we accept Jesus. Then we throw out a bunch of rules to go with it. Grace saves us, but somehow we send the message that grace isn't enough. We have to DO something, or not do something, in order to keep it. While it is true that once your life has been touched by God you do view things differently, and you WANT to do certain things in different ways, I don't believe we have to do a single thing other than accept and believe. Jesus is the entree--the things that usually happen in our lives after are the gravy. Somehow the entire meal is completed.

We're getting things confused. We're muddying the waters. We're turning people away. There's a reason for the song "Just As I Am'. The song doesn't say, just as you are after you're finished jumping through all the hoops we've set up. People don't feel they're good enough to meet with a King, so they reject Him. They reject Him because of all the 'good' people who love to tell them how bad they are, how they must do this and that, get rid of this and that, and learn how to be 'Christian'. We say, come just as you are, and then when they do, we tell them they don't look right, act right, and set about changing them. They don't feel worthy because we told them they weren't. Guess what? I'm not worthy. But Jesus accepted me anyway. He lives in me, with me, anyway. JUST AS I AM!

I love the person who said this to me. We talk about God often. But I feel her fear where 'religion' is concerned. She's gotten the message, but not the real one. The real message would fill her up with warmth, not ice. It would say to her that she's okay as is, she doesn't have to meet some invisible standard. It would assure her of her place in the Kingdom. But how to undo years of damage? In small bites, little bits and pieces of truth and love and caring. In small words that tell her, "I'm sorry you were made to feel that way. Here's how I feel and this is why." It's showing her how special she is, often without saying anything. It's showing her who Jesus is without beating her over the head. It's trying to make her see the truth without feeling all the pressure of conformity that usually follows.

Jesus is here for all of us. All we have to do is believe Him, and let Him lead us. His grace is more than sufficient. If you're living by some sort of rulebook, throw it out, and find out what true living is. Find out what freedom feels like. Find out what the word LOVE means.

And pray for those who got the wrong message. We have a duty to tell them the things God is teaching us.

At least then they'll be properly informed.

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