I’m outing myself.
I am a Christian.
This is ‘Old News’ to a lot of you.
Some of you now automatically hate me, thinking that I am a hateful person. Those who know me from work, please remember
how I interacted with you. I am flawed. But am I hateful?
I believe that Christ died for my (and your) sin, and
conferred to each of us (who are willing to accept it) His righteousness.
As a Christian, I do my best to show you the love you
deserve as a person. However, I cannot say that all choices are good choices
and I may advise changes. You, of course, are allowed (in fact, expected)
to give me feedback as well.
If you do choose Jesus’ salvation, He will start a
conversation with you, personally, about what needs to change for you to become a
healthier person, spiritually and physically.
As it is written: “There is now no condemnation for those who
follow Christ.” If you are a follower, you know you are a sinner, but not
condemned. You are free to heal and grow.
The above is the first Bible reference that I’ve used here;
most people have been beaten about the head with other Bible verses, and I want
to avoid that.
God loves you.
That, in a nutshell, is my manifesto.
As best as I can, as an imperfect person, I love you, too.
God hates sin. God will ask you to give up sin.
That doesn’t mean you have to toe the mark, first, to be accepted, because He already
loves you. What it does mean is, if you accept this love, you are also allowing
yourself to accept His help in getting you clean. He wants the best for you.
The best comparison I can come up with is this: say you have
a friend or family member who is hooked on heroin or meth, and this addiction
has seriously messed up their life. You, with the help of others, want to do an
intervention. Your friend can still walk away and let themselves continue to
spiral downward, even to the point of death. Or they can accept the assistance,
and then get on with the program of getting clean and healthy.
That is what coming to Jesus is all about: being welcomed
into the family, then getting healthy. He gives us the choice; He does not
force us to choose the way He thinks is best. After all, a choice coerced is
not a choice.
Another story: this from Jesus, paraphrased by yours truly:
A man had two sons. The older did everything right (you
might know an older brother or sister like this), and stood to inherit his
share. The younger had stars in his eyes and asked to have his share of his
father’s inheritance now, so he could live life on his own terms.
You get the picture? Dad, know-it-all perfect Big Brother,
and Little Brother who wants to be out from under Big Brother’s disapproving
eye.
Well, Little Brother converts his cattle to cash, spends
like a sailor on shore leave, buying drinks for his bar buddies, and such. Predictably,
he runs out of cash, and since he has not properly learned a high-paying trade, he has to take the lowest of the low poor-paying jobs out there in order
to get even a bit of something to eat (all of his bar-buddy friends having
dropped him, since he’s not buying drinks for them anymore, y’see).
One day, while throwing out the trash and picking through it
to find something remotely edible, he has a thought: “My dad’s hired hands live far better than this. I’ll
go home and ask to be a hired hand. At least I’ll have three hots and a cot. What’s
the worst that can happen?”
Little Brother hitches a ride with a trucker headed the
right way (Eddie Rabbit’s “Drivin’ My Life Away!” pouring out of the truck’s
radio), and gets dropped off in town. He starts the long walk toward home, and
says to himself, “I’ll tell my dad that I’ve sinned against him and God both,
and I’ll throw myself on his mercy and ask to be allowed to be, not a son, but
a hired hand.”
But when he turns in at the lane to the ranch, his dad, who
has been watching in the evenings for his son’s return, jumps out of the rocker and hoofs it
down to where his second son is walking, and grabs him in a big daddy hug.
Younger Son kind of pushes him away and says his bit: “Dad,
I’ve sinned against you and God. I don’t deserve to be your son, but can I, may I, be a hired hand?”
“None of that talk! Let’s get you cleaned up!" replies Dad, "Looks like you
have more road on you that anything else! What you been doin', sloppin' hogs?” And his father walks him up to the
house and the cook (who used to dote on him when he was a boy) exclaims, “You’re
back! But, my goodness! Let’s clean you up! I want to see your handsome face
without all that dirt on it! When you’re done I’m gonna make you your favorite
meal!”
And Dad says, “Think bigger than that, Gertie! We’re gonna
have us a barbecue! Have Lonnie find us a prime beeve to kill and prep for ribs
and steaks and such, and get that pit hot for the roastin’! Can you make up a
gallon or so of that sauce I like?” “Goodness, yes!" Gertie replies, "I’ll have it ready before
that pit is hot and Lonnie is done with that beeve!”
So Little Brother gets a steaming hot bath (the first in many
weeks), and when he’s toweled down a bit and shaved and other whatnot, his dad
takes him into his own room, and pulls out HIS best shirt, HIS best suit, HIS best
bolo tie, HIS best watch on a chain with the family signet on the other end, and
the finest set of boots He has in HIS closet.
The Little Brother looks into the mirror, and sees a changed
man, and doesn’t quite believe that it’s himself.
Dad asks, “Feeling better now, Son?”
The young man stands there speechless, but with a puzzled
smile on his face.
“Is this how you see me, Dad?”
“This is how I’ve always seen you, Son.”
Side by side they leave the Father’s rooms and head back to
the kitchen, and out to the back yard to a trestle table full of good things,
including tea, lemonade, coleslaw, Texas potato salad, and sourdough bread,
with space left over for the hot food take up station when it’s ready. Those
not directly helping with setting up the party are saying things to the Little Brother
like, “We’ve missed you! We’re so glad you’re back!”
About sundown the Dutch oven full of baked beans, a platter
of short ribs, another of steaks, and another of shredded brisket (and of
course Gert’s barbecue sauce) are brought out to the table. Father says the
blessing and people line up to load up their plates. Somewhere there’s a
fiddler playing ‘Saturday Waltz’ from Copeland’s ‘Rodeo’.
Just as the party is hitting its stride, Big Brother comes
in, dusty from working the back forty.
“What’s all this?” he asks. Father answers, “Your brother’s
back! We’re celebrating! Get yourself cleaned up and join us!”
“What do you mean, ‘my brother’s back!’? The son that took
his inheritance and spent it on a riotous life? YOUR money?! And you’re
throwing a party for HIM?! I’ve done EVERYTHING you’ve asked of me. You’ve
never even let me take a goat from the herd so I could party with MY friends! This
makes NO sense!”
His father replied, “My Son, you have been good and faithful,
it’s true. Everything I have will be yours when you inherit. But your Little Brother!
He was lost to the world, but now he is back home! Join me, join us, in the
celebration of the fact your Little Brother was lost, but now has been found!”
But Big Brother, dignity insulted, would not join in.
The fiddler moved on to “Hoedown!” and those who’d finished
their strawberry-rhubarb pie moved to the dancing area and started polka-ing and two-stepping.
And a great time was had by (almost!) all.
There’s the story.
So many of us are the Little Brother in the story above, and
so many ‘Proper Christians’ are the Big Brother, missing the point of love and
forgiveness that the Father extended to his lost son. Remember, please, the Lost
Son didn’t get cleaned up before he went back home; that happened afterward. Remember,
also, that when the Father saw him coming home, he met his son half-way, and
they walked in together.
Doubtless we Younger Brothers have faults and habits that
need to be fixed. They will be fixed in time. The big thing, the important thing, is that our homecoming happened. And there was MUCH rejoicing!
And doubtless the unforgiving self-righteous Older Brother
will continue to self-righteously proclaim their view from their moral
high-ground. They will cut off their nose to spite their face, and stand in the
path to block those who see the need to come home by saying: “You’re not clean
enough!” forgetting that NO ONE is clean enough.
We all have sin in our lives, sin that makes us sick, sin
that insists the best way to care for ourselves is to act a certain way, do
certain things, live a certain life in order to be accepted by someone. Let me
personalize this: I have sin in my
life; I act in a certain way to be
accepted, do some things, avoid other things, all to be able to fit into my
community, my workplace, or even my church. Ultimately, instead of getting the
help I need to be better, I cover up my sin in order to fit in.
Or, I cover up my affiliation with an institution that has
gotten (some of it well-deserved, but not all of it) criticism as being
unfriendly at best, hateful at worst.
For better or worse, I am uncovering that affiliation.
If you wish to unfriend me, I understand. For as long as I
am alive, I’ll still be here. My door will always be open.
In any case have a good life.
God has done all the truly hard stuff, all we need to do,
all I needed to do, is decide to walk
through the door He has opened into a richer life.
Come home, be forgiven, and get cleaned up. The party is starting soon! :)
Yes, You CAN!
