Of Church Pews and Motel Beds

Here it is, post # 1, hope you hate it.

So here it is, openness. It's hard, and it's humiliating, but by the grace of God someone will learn from it. Like everyone else who grew up in the church, I spent a lot of time isolated from the "real world." I was given a sort of sub-culture in hopes that I would get so wrapped up in it that I would never even have to be tempted to do drugs or vote Democrat. I am extremely grateful that I never did drugs, but I worry sometimes that this had a completely disastrous effect on us.

See within this Christian sub-culture, there were a few unspoken rules. For example, sex and drugs are sins that you must distance yourself from at all costs, even if it's your best friend who falls into a trap of that sort. I'm not proud of it, but I've abandoned more than a few comrades over the years because they started to slip into a different sin.

Thing is, while I was making such a strong effort to stay pure of those terrible influences, I was still listening to and occasionally telling gossip. I was still judging people, and I was still falling short of the prize. I'm not proud of those things, but I know that God's grace is more than enough to cover my petty sins. But that's just it; God's grace is enough. The people who fell into the trap of sex? No worse than me and my petty little judgements. We still sinned, and we still needed Christ.

Now here's what's terrible about this whole scenario. I'm 21 years old, and it's not stopping. I'm still guilty of the same things. I still judge people and try to distance myself. Oh sure, I've gotten much better about coming off as a forgiving person, but the reality is that I don't treat 'sinners' the same way I treat 'saved.' Donald Miller calls it like it is: I'm treating Love like it's a commodity, something that needs to be earned from me.

I can't speak for you, but I know I need to fix this problem. How about you? One of the best things about our Jesus is that he gives us a fresh start every day. He forgives murderers and rapists, and he can even forgive us Pharisees. So I for one choose to make a fresh start. Love is undeserved by all, needed by everyone, and will be given freely by me. Try it yourself, if you've got the guts to humble yourself.

(jake)