John 11:35 is the shortest verse in all of Scripture. “Then Jesus wept,” it reads. It stands within the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. We see Mary come to Jesus weeping and mourning the loss of Lazarus. How does Jesus respond? It says, “a deep anger welled up within him and he was deeply troubled.” He then weeps. Jesus, the Son of God, is angry and weeping with those who lost their loved one. I find myself empathizing with him in a new way today as recent news stories have come to light, and I know, without a doubt, that Jesus is in heaven weeping with us.
Full disclosure- if I get ranty or go off on tangents in this post it’s because I’m pissed. And not just ordinary, “oh I’m mad, pissed.” No. I’m pissed to the point of being unable to even think about these things without crying. I’m pissed to the point of heartbreak. I’m so beyond appalled and disgusted in the actions of so-called Christ followers that I just can’t help myself from bursting into tears.
I hadn’t planned on posting this. Most of my posts are planned out ahead of time with careful thought and consideration. My plan for today was to work on some music before work, but that has been put on hold. There have been two major developments in the last few days that I feel must be addressed.
Indian Religious Freedom Restoration Act
I will admit, this one is rather nuanced. Technically the bill simply gives businesses the right to run how they wish without being pressured from the government to go against their religions. That sounds like a good thing. Nobody, of any religion, should be pressured by anyone to go against it.
The problem lies in what many fear will happen. Christian business will use their hate and political agenda to systematically discriminate against homosexuals or anyone else they see as against their beliefs. But that’s not what Christianity is about.
It breaks my heart that Jesus, the same Jesus Christians who do discriminate against gays claim to follow, would never, in a million years, have done such a thing. This Jesus, the one we see constantly eating with and interacting with the lepers, tax collectors, unclean, poor, women (a Samaritan woman, alone at a well, who had a reputation for being promiscuous, I might add) is the same Jesus they cling to when they cry they can’t serve certain people because of their religious beliefs.
NO. NO. NO. NO. That is not Jesus guys. Jesus, on multiple occasions, tells us to be more concerned with ourselves than with others. He wants us to be right with him in our own lives and help others find him. But we can’t do that if we’re pushing them away from him. Jesus never once told someone to go away. He told his disciples that his message was for the Jews and even when a non-Jew came and confronted him, he admired her faith. JESUS WELCOMED, EMBRACED, and CELEBRATED every. single. person. he ever came in contact with.
Wait, that’s not entirely true. There were many people he rebuked. But they weren’t the sinners or the degenerates. They were the Pharisees. The very people who were pushing others aside in their piety were the ones Christ condemned. Let that sink in for a second.
Jesus rebuked those who discriminated.
Let’s be honest, the vocal majority of Christians today have become modern Pharisees. They tout their religious beliefs as if it makes them better than everyone else; they brag about their religious achievements; they condemn and shun those who disagree with them. And yet, just like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, they miss the point God has been saying all along- “I want you to show love (mercy, kindness, grace), not sacrifice. I want you to know me more than I want you to offer burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6). There is nothing more important to Christ than mercy (grace, kindness, love) and yet, so many Christians are so quick to show their hate and disapproval rather than these things. It pisses me off.
The World Vision Fiasco
I’ll be honest, I haven’t had as long of a time to stew over this as other people. Apparently, it went down a year ago and I’m just now finding out about it. But, the truth is, we’re all just now finding out the true ramifications of what happened.
For those of you who may be out of the loop (as I was) here’s the breakdown of events:
-World Vision is a Christian organization that allows individuals to sponsor children worldwide. They pay for needs of them and even write letters. It’s a great thing. Truly is.
-Last year World Vision decided to allow Christian who were in same-sex marriages to have jobs within their organization. Again, another truly great thing.
-“Christ”ians didn’t like that and began to pull their sponsorship of children.
At first, it didn’t seem like much, but not we’re learning that as many as 19,000. NINETEEN FREAKING THOUSAND CHILDREN are without sponsors because Christians in the US cannot stomach the fact that people may be in same-sex marriages. I can’t even describe how furious this makes me. 19,000 children are being told that they’re not important; 19,000 children are being cast off (like the dolls in the photo) as inferior; 19,000 children were told, in no uncertain terms, that they were less important than our political agenda.
How can anyone, Christian or otherwise, condone such behavior? It’s absolutely abhorrent. Same-sex marriage should be the least important thing on the minds of Christians. And yet, they’ve made it their biggest battleground. “Oh, you want to show same-sex kisses on TV? Let’s boycott your channel.” “Oh, you want to allow same-sex people to have jobs? Let’s not sponsor children anymore.”
19,000 children are paying the cost for you having issues with same-sex marriage.
How does that not bother those who pulled their sponsorship? How can you justify their suffering? You literally get nothing out of the deal, except the satisfaction that you kept people from having jobs.
Like those of us who recognize the ramifications of this pointless culture war, Jesus is in heaven crying. Crying for the children who are now paying the cost for our attitudes; crying for the Christians who have gotten his message so backward; and crying because the voices of reason are being shut up and written off as too “progressive and liberal.”
Let’s take a look, briefly and some words from Jesus, the man whom all Christians claim to follow.
“On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” (Matthew 7:22-23)
What are God’s laws?
Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
And one last one to really drive the point home:
“I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.”- Jesus (Matthew 25:45)
Jesus is weeping right now, no doubt about it, because we’ve forgotten his message of grace, love, mercy, and kindness. Why aren’t more of us?
