I started out my blogging days sharing my own personal trials and struggles… as I have blogged further my blog has transformed more into a teaching blog with an occasional “here’s where I am today” post. It’s not that I have become less insecure in myself, or have felt the need to become private… it’s just that it’s the turn this ride has taken.
I have realized that the world knowing my opinion on all things is not really relevant to anyone’s spiritual growth… if anything it can be the cause of someone’s stunted growth. I just want to teach the Word… most of my blog posts high word count is due to quoted Scripture… unfortunately this means they usually don’t go viral… most people had rather spread one person condemning another… like the mother posting the pictures of her half-naked sons while she condemns the girls who post themselves half naked… or the woman who is giving marital advice after only being married for a year… spreading like wildfire I tell ya!
However I do have my own opinions about things, and well also, I have learned that there are just a few things in this world that I could just care less about… and so after my disclosure about how I rarely post stuff like this anymore… here I go posting it. Here’s my letter to “the world”.
Dear World,
I am a Christian. I understand that you have been given some crazy examples of me throughout the years. I doubt I can clear them all up in this letter, but let me just try to clarify a few things. First of all, I loved you. I mean I really loved you. I craved everything you had to offer me. The fame, the money, the success. I desired your ocean views, your mountain tops, your white sand of the deserts, even your jungles… I mean welcome to the jungle, you got fun and games…
You see I liked the idea of having someone do everything for me, however I still didn’t want anyone telling me what to do. That’s what it meant to conquer you. I had to be on top of you, looking down on everyone and everything else. Everyone would wait on me and I would treat people however I liked and no one would say a word. They would watch me spiral down into the depths of depravity and addiction before anyone every tried to tell me what to do, think, or feel… as long as I was helping them on their pursuit to conquer you too. Then the kicker would be to smile down on all the little people below me, the ones worshipping me, screaming my name, with my best “oh you guys just make my life complete” smile and wave from your stage. I might have to deny my dignity, but it would be okay because you would give me power.
I had no problem with your Playboy, strip joints, or porn shows. I had no concern about the sacredness of anything, no problems with homosexuality, divorce, shacking-up, I mean really what was the big deal. I had no qualms against abortion, after all its better to be dead than unwanted… right?
Right?
Yes, that’s what I thought. It was better to be dead… than unwanted. So today as a Christian, I realize it was never really about you World. It was about being wanted. I thought you would provide that for me, but you always left me… well… wanting. The problem wasn’t you, it was me… and no, I am sorry, we can’t be friends.
You see I have learned that you are one big pot stirrer. I also have learned that you bear false witness a lot. I mean the only Christians I remember ever learning about from you were the Crusaders who killed people, those mass leaders who made people drink poisoned kool-aid, and those weird acting men on tv shows who got caught cheating on their wives.
But one day this crazy thing happened. I decided that I would stop listening to what you had to say… and I would find out what was in this book called the Holy Bible for myself. You would not believe the stuff that is in that book! I found out that those Crusaders, and mass leaders, and weird acting tv show guys didn’t line up with what this book said a Christian was… I was perplexed to say the least.
Then one day it happened… I was wanted. Wanted in a way that I had never known before. Wanted by Someone who was able to call out to me from, and in a place, that I didn’t even know existed. It was wild. It was the most real thing that I have ever experienced. I died right there. Everything about you in me died. My eyes were opened to who you really were… and that’s why I am telling you we just can’t be friends.
However I still live here for now… and please don’t think I have not noticed you trying to flirt with me. I see it, I really do. You do not go unnoticed by me. Please know that it is really hard to not flirt back, but you see I just love my Jesus to much to hurt Him like that.
The truth is sometimes your flirting, just flat out makes me furious. Sometimes its easier to fight your beckoning in anger… so I lash out and tell everyone how you and everyone in you are going to hell… and well, although that’s kind of true, your actually going to just be obliterated and replaced, but it’s not really very kind of me to get all fired up and mean about it. It doesn’t really help me to reach others in you who have been just as blinded by your sirens song as I was once.
So here are a few things…
I really don’t care whether you wish me a Happy Holidays or a Merry Christmas. I don’t really care if you offer big sales on Thanksgiving. These are your holidays after all. God didn’t give them to me. Jesus never asked me to remember Him in this way… so go ahead make my day. Sale away! I mean I won’t be there for the sales, because people generally are just not at their best after overeating and no sleeping… I kind of see the worst of you on those days… and it just makes me sad.
Oh and by the way, I really find it funny when you try to tell me how I should talk to you and what I should never say to you… it really makes me, l-o-l. Although I find it very hard to not get defensive when you write books and make “documentaries” about my Jesus that are so fabricated that it is on the verge of insanity. However I have watched my Jesus, and He never defended Himself… so I am learning to only speak when it benefits Him, not me… and the truth always rises to the top.
I really do despise the way you have sexualized everything. I mean what does a cheeseburger have to do with a female’s behind. I find this to be the most accurate picture of modern day whoredom.. and I have the hardest time maintaining any speck of respect for any female who does these commercials or any person who says they are a Christian and still gives God’s money to buy these cheeseburgers which in turn is used to make these ads
The truth is World… I understand where you are at. I get it. I get that all those who are of you are blinded by you… well you are going to do what you are going to do because it’s your nature. I get that. The thing is I really just get the most ticked… at those who use my name… but crawl into bed with you. Here is where I have to bite my tongue almost off. I mean I can roll my eyes at you…. but them I want to choke.
I really struggle with the ones who claim to love Jesus one day, but then on the next day they are boasting on social media about how they are forsaking their family to meet their own selfish desires… and then to read all the “you go girl” comments about it… I am sorry that you have to see things like that. I am sorry that it is people who use my name that gives you the most ammunition against my Jesus. I also really struggle with the people who lie about their pastors and use the Word of my God as their reason to walk out of their marriages and then all of a sudden portray to have some awesome insightful relationship with God… it’s quite misconstruing to you, I get that, I really do.
I understand that when you see us join in with those forsaking their children and leaving their raising and learning completely up to you so that we can accumulate more and more and more of your goods… I mean storage building are popping up like wildflowers all over the sides of the roads, because we just can’t hold all our stuff in these little 1000+ square feet houses. I can see how that could be a little confusing to you.
Oh and yes I know… you have given it to us… and we love it… but college football. I know, I know, I know… yes I am writing to you from Alabama. Yes I see how all day Saturday, you sit and scroll down the newsfeed as people tear each other apart, accusing, ridiculing, cussing, slandering, exaggerating, getting flat out spitting mad at each other over a game. I mean they have stats memorized from 50 years back… but if you were to ask them how to be saved… they couldn’t quote you one Scripture. Yes, I do see you shaking your head in agreement, but they do usually always disclose by the end of the night after they have said their piece that God is #1. They do have to see these people in “Big Church” the next day, you know.
I mean I watch these commentators act so serious as they talk about how many yards so and so stretched out… now don’t get me wrong, I really like football… I used to be the hugest fan… I still cheer my favorite team on, when I get a chance to watch the game, but for me I found it was hard to follow Jesus and be a good wife and a good mother and still try to keep up with who was number 10. There is only so much room in my brain, and knowing the line up on this years team was not going to help me teach the doctrine of salvation to a dead soul.
I know what you are thinking… if they could just take this same passion and use it in ways that actually matter we would so kick your butt. I mean if we poured that money, time, and effort into helping orphans and widows and reaching real hurting people… you would be out of business because people would be so in love with the REAL Jesus… they could no longer be satisfied with the glitter of your fake reality… my goodness… a Christian can only dream.
I could go on, I really could, but I think I will close it up… once again I am way over the current word number for the recommended attention span of todays readers and there is no commercial break… oops, there’s another one. It just kind of slipped on out there. Forgive me.
Well, World, in closing, just let me say that it had been fun, I mean really parts of you were an absolute blast… but the more I got to know you, the less I liked you and the deeper in you I went the less I liked me… and well now that I see you through the eyes of a Christian, you break my heart. You see, my God so loved those in you that He sent His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him might have eternal life. That is something you can never offer anyone. Your pleasures are short and fleeting and they will never satisfy.
I truly am sorry for the way so many have misrepresented my name. Some of them were just ignorant, some just needed to spend more time getting to know Jesus and probably after they did have felt rotten about how they spoke or acted in their ignorance (I know I can say that about myself). However the truth is, not everyone who says they are me… are really me.
If you really want to get to know me… you have to read about my Namesake. You have to learn about Him and you have to learn about His Father and His Holy Spirit… and you really need to just go ahead and start at the beginning. Let Him know that you are interested in finding out the truth about Him. You have to put away all of us who say that we are Christians, because the truth is, we simply do not always represent Him very well at all. You will understand all this much better if you ever get to really know Him yourself. The struggle of being called by His name when you really are of Him will all of a sudden make perfect sense to you. You will learn to depend on and to often extend to others this thing called grace.
Sincerely,
A Christian