Catherine, Richard and I went out for a nice dinner; it was too hot to cook. At the table next to us was a young couple enjoying a nice, romantic dinner together. About half way through their meal a young woman showed up and sat with them. She was a friend of the female's and made it clear she wasn't eating or drinking, just hanging out. Over the next 15 minutes she made an abundant of things clear to everyone in the dinning room--even Catherine said she was really loud! One of the things she made clear was that she liked Jesus, but hated Christians.
I have an oxymoron alarm and it went off at full blast! Now I get the whole follower of Jesus (read: dissociate with the term "Christian") movement, hell, I even subscribe to it! But how can you say you like Jesus, but hate other people who say they like him? What do you like about him? Do you like that he hated, oops, I mean showed compassion and love to the dregs of his society? Do you like that he hated the, er, I mean showed patience to those who weren't getting his message of love? Do you like that he hated the Ph...wait, I mean that he took time out of his busy schedule to show kindness and consideration to the Pharisees? For the love of God, maybe you just liked his long hair and beard.
What came dangerously close to happening was me "liking" Jesus and hating people who claimed to like Jesus and hate Christians. I was on the precipice of committing the same offense as her! I can't say I really showed her love, but in my heart I wondered who or what had wounded her so much to cause her to make such a statement. What person claimed to follow Jesus and "judged" her right into hating Christians? Whoever it was, I have to remember, I am also called to love.
Loving everyone with a reckless abandon is hard, tough work! Yes, it is work! But that is what Jesus calls us to do, to love even those who hate us without even knowing us.
Wow, she makes no sense! I am not sure what I would have done, but I am not sure I could have held my tongue. I hope she was generalizing. I have known many people who claim to be Christians, but aren't even attempting, remotely, to be Christ- like. Not even trying one bit. I don't hate them...but they do make it difficult to like them.
ReplyDeleteBSavage, I've been really working hard to understand why people hate the way they do. What or who led them to hate...I guess as Dave Gerber (and Jesus) would say, I'm trying to walk a mile in their shoes.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was her commentary on the apparent intolerance of many fanatical devotees of any number of religious groups (including atheism). "if you don't think and believe like me, you are evil and un salvageable!". If Christian, Muslims, atheist, etc. would just let everyone worship (or not) as they see fit, and appreciate other reasonable points of view, it would be a much more harmonious world. As a geologist, i've made many concessions in my opinions on creation since learned in childhood, but don't feel it nullifies my Christian beliefs. More Christians could learn to walk the mile or turn the cheek.
ReplyDeleteI don't like Christians when they make my gay friends feel like they're abominations and basically have no right to exist as who they are, I don't like Christians when they make me feel like because I'm a single woman I'm supposed to have no sexuality I dare to express, I don't like Christians when they act like they know Jesus better than I do because they're conservatives I don't like Christians when they continually wound, look down at, and hurt everyone and everything they don't care to understand. I don't like Christians....but then I snap out of it and remember that I'm one of them,with glaring flaws of my own,so I focus on the beauty of Christ, pray for the Holy Spirit to cover, penetrate, envelope my spirit and empower me to love ..... it's a constant struggle, I hear people who say they don't like Christians, saying they've been hurt and judged by them, I get it, I can relate, the difference between them and me I guess is I know not loving them isn't an option, you can't have the Christ, without the family.
ReplyDeleteagreed on the point that if you are a follower of christ, why are you hating anyONE, but i do hate what christians have done, because they have done it in the name of christ while not having much of anything to do with the teachings of christ, and by doing this they have driven a large portion of society away from christ, even as he would gather them unto him.
ReplyDeleteAs a Christian, it makes me sad and angry when Christians do things that make other people hate all of us...like being so horrible to gay people when we're called to love everyone. But all you can really do is try to live your own life in love to make up for their lack of it...and resist the urge to bitch-slap those people.
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