Love one another....

I just heard about the "Hate Church" in Topeka, Kansas for the first time.  Where have I been?  I don't read the news because I don't like to hear all of the bad stuff and this is what I get, I suppose.  I was left, mouth agape, when reading about them.  I simply can't believe what I'm seeing, so I Google them.  Wikipedia, then their own website.  Oh my gosh.  It's all true.  Suddenly, I'm so angry!  How can any church that claims to love Jesus, spew such hate?  Don't they know that sometimes, even if your stance is on the right side, your reaction to the situation can make you the one in the wrong?  And they are so, so wrong.  I'm still shocked and appalled.  I am nearly speechless.  Can they not see how they are contributing to the spread of darkness in an already dark world?  How can they not see their role?

I don't know why I'm so shocked about this.  Whether in society or in our own personal lives, no one likes to be responsible for their own actions.  We love to have our attention focused like a laser-beam on what wrongs are coming our way, and place ourselves on a self-righteous pedestal declaring, "But look what they did to ME!"  Yes, okay, so the other person might be wrong in some areas too, but what was your part in the situation?  What role did you play to initiate it, escalate it or perpetuate it?  We (and by we, I mean me too) need to dissect each of these situations and take our share of the blame for things that have happened.  They need to take responsibility for their actions, because that's on their shoulders, and you need to be held responsible for yours.

Aren't we all sinners?  Every one of us?  Oh, it's easy to point out and judge the big sins.  Adultery, murder, etc etc.  But to Jesus, isn't a sin a sin?  And doesn't the Bible mention a whole lot of other sins that many people commit every day?  Kids that sass their parents, people who aren't virgins when they get married, on and on and on.  Heck, it's a good thing I'm saved or I'd be going to Hell for just those two alone! 

What about that person who stands in the church parking lot and smokes a cigarette after service?  Yes, we all would all look at that and frown, but would you scream hateful things at that person and tell them they're going to Hell if they don't repent and they're not welcome to bring their wicked ways around your church or your children?  No, that's a little much, isn't it?  Yet, that's exactly how many Christians I know would treat a gay person because they believe it's wrong.

Have you ever stopped to think, that if that gay person dies and has never known Christ, what was your role in that?  Oh sure, free will, yada yada....but what if you were the only person they had ever met that was a Christian?  And you only directed hate at them.  AND, do you realized how long it takes some gay people to trust Christians when they meet them because of all the hatred that has been directed at them?  They are so closed off to anything you have to say and sometimes it's not even your fault!  Sometimes it has to do with decades of hatred that has been spewed before you ever came into the picture! If someone is committing what you think is a sin, even if the Bible says you should point it out to them and tell them what the Bible says, it really boils down to this.... it's God's business and not yours.  You job is to L-O-V-E them.  Not hate them.  It's not your place to try them, convict them, label them, yell at them....Love.  It's all about love people.  Love and handling your own business before you start pointing your fingers at other people.

lurve you, xoxo v.

 (I don't agree with all of this, but I do agree with a lot of it.)