Holding Signs on a Street Corner
I wrote a post recently on Jason Clark's blog about being intolerant of the intolerant. I mentioned that it is important to confront those people and love them just the same. Well, I've realized over the past few days that there is a certain group of people I actually have a very hard time finding the capacity to love. If you've read my blog, you know that loving others is a big deal to me. But I have found my weak-spot. At church on Sunday, they showed a short clip of pictures from rallies (mostly to do with anti-homosexuality), church signs, etc. about repentance, and any sort of hateful agenda. Looking at those pictures made me sick to my stomach. There was a picture of a little girl-- she couldn't have been more that 10-- holding a sign that said "Got AIDS yet?" I just about threw up. It outraged me! And the thought struck me-- I'm feeling hateful towards the hateful. I will say that the tactics of some of the churches-- like putting those clear letters up to make a statement on their church's sign-- are just ineffective and useless. But what about the people standing on the street corner with a sign full of lists of people who they think are condemned and going to hell? And then turning around and telling them that God loves them and wants to save them... I'm missing the connection. How would throwing hate towards someone want to make them convert or even consider repenting for whatever sins they have? I wouldn't want to be part of that religion, that's for sure.
My mom said a very interesting thing about the clip and the whole idea of people (meaning Christians) acting that way-- it's embarrassing and humiliating as a Christian to see others do that under the label of "Christianity." Being a "Christ follower" is a much better label for myself and others that I know. When non-Christians hear that someone is a Christian, they put them into the group with the sign-holders and hate-throwers. Our faith and religion are supposed to be about love, and yet has become labeled with hate. There is something drastically wrong with that. We have gotten so far away from what Jesus originally called us to do. But really, how do we respond to the "Christians" who do nothing but show hate and contempt towards others? I can understand not agreeing with others' lifestyles or choices, but when hate comes into the picture, what are we supposed to do? Stand on the opposing corner with signs saying "I love you"? I'm at a loss and my heart is broken for those people. I recently watched a documentary where one of the men in it said, "They're so full of hate, they don't even realize how hateful they are." What are we, as Christ followers, supposed to do? Because just saying we need to love can only go so far... what can we do?
Posts
1 comment:
i guess the people who stand on the streets with such signs reveal in public what so many of us have in private - our fears, our insecurities, our struggle to understand the other and see the friend there rather than the enemy.
I wrote this in a recent post...
So often I miss the friend in my enemy: I struggle to listen to anyone else who is different from me. I do this with the people I am closest too, not that Debs is an enemy but I really struggle to listen and understand where she is coming from, so often we seem to be looking at exactly the same issue and seeing it in 2 completely different ways.
The same is true with my faith – i move in a broad clique of mutually reinforcing blogs, books, personalities and struggle with any form of critique/criticism of that which I hold dear. I have deliberately kept the challenges small and the challengers few to my own faith. Rather than welcoming the critique of an view the opposite of mine or the struggle to love in a way that costs – that makes me lay down my right – i instead get cranky, frustrated, afraid.
I miss the friend in my enemy and instead emphasise what makes us different rather than what we have in common. In doing so I miss the wonderful opportunity for my character to grow, for my faith to grow and for true community to grow – and that frustrates me!
It also scares me! I think the answer is not merely believe harder, pray more often, be more missional even but to follow Jesus. Following Jesus in his radical mission to include those that I would exclude from God's love. If that wasn't hard enough the scary part is that Jesus was even being prepared to die for their right to be included - am I?
Post a Comment