My former Pastor was constantly trying to teach me about God's grace and mercy, but me being me I was having a hard time embracing the truth about it. I think maybe I wanted to please God with how "good" of a Christian I really could be, and in order to do that I had to be "perfect" --DO THINGS JUST RIGHT--. During this time (I call it spiritual puberty) I became somewhat religious--critical--and self-righteous! This is not the easiest thing to admit, but it is the truth.
I believe that most Christians get "caught up" in religion completely by accident. I remember when I first met God, He was everything that I had been searching for! I was overwhelmed by His love and I wanted to serve Him with everything in me; that is where it all started. I wanted to do everything RIGHT.... I wanted to follow His Word to the T..... I just wanted to SERVE HIM with everything and I wanted to do it RIGHT! In my passionate pursuit I TOTALLY missed the point--if I want to serve Him I have to love PEOPLE!! ALL PEOPLE!!
What must it look like from the world's perspective? We are fighting silly battles over silly things, all the while the lost are watching and perceiving us as fools. I am grieved at how religion is destroying the Body of Christ...it's like a cancer!How is it that we expect the broken and the sick to come when we ourselves are pale, shriveled up and sickly from the symptoms of religion?
If we (the Church) can't love one another, overcome and even celebrate our diversity how can we embrace the broken and the lost? If I love and serve people (ALL PEOPLE saved or not) then I love and serve Christ... If I judge and criticize people then I judge and criticize Christ--PERIOD
God has shown me such a magnificent picture of grace...and I just wish I could paint it as clearly to the Church--If WE could just get it so would everyone else!
We are called to love as Christ loves--not criticize like the Pharisee
Agape is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love
Just Bb
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