Dear Joseph

Dear Joseph,

You don't know me.  We've never met.  We became aquatinted through my cousin.
You don't know her either.

You were trolling Facebook for a fight when you noticed her post.
My cousin was very eloquently, humbly, and respectfully trying to start a conversation.
A conversation.  That is all.

Do I have your attention now, Joseph?

Here's the deal...
The topic of my cousin's post is not the issue.
Your hatred is.

See...
I've seen my cousin be Jesus' hands and feet.
Give shelter to the homeless.
Food to the hungry.
Comfort to the cold and lonely.

I've benefitted first hand from my cousin's love and compassion.

Do I agree with all of her politics?
Or theology?

No.

Do I love, value, and treasure her?

Well, that's why we're here.

You said some vile things in your your response.
Things I wouldn't let my children read.
You insinuated violence against a member of my family
You questioned her call and her heart.
You challenged her knowledge of Scripture (please reference Ephesians 4:29.  Thanks.)

You spewed hate.
You shouted, 'Raca'.
You dragged my family and my Savior into your ugly.

And I've had enough.

I am done with Christian 'love'.

The kind of love that...
has attacked and hurt my family
that protests at the funerals of 12 year olds and fallen soldiers
that says "God hates..."

How did we get to the point where we'd have Christians condemning one group of people to hell while the guy at the men's ministry breakfast with 6 pancakes, covered in maple syrup and sausage gravy, topped with 2 fried eggs and 4 strips of bacon, all chased down with a 72oz mug of soda, is given a free pass on gluttony?

Everybody's a Biblical purist - until you bring up gluttony.
(I so wish I had thought of that line...)

Now...
I've read Leviticus and Romans 1.
I admit, as a victim of adult onset shellfish allergies, I take comfort in knowing that my affliction prevents my condemnation.
(I do miss scallops, though)

I also take the Bible as God's Word.  All of it.

I know some will say that I'm making light of sin.
Quite the contrary.
I'm just saying we all sin.  And we all seem to grade sin on a sliding scale.
And how in our attempts to point out the sins of others we expose the ugliness of our sin.
So I'm not addressing the issue that got you all riled up.
I'm not smart or angry enough.

I'm talking about how you hate in the name of love.

That same 'love' that has made 'conservative' and 'evangelical' (of which I'd consider myself to be) associated with hate.
The same 'love' that makes some in my own family unsure if I still love them because of the way I vote or the church I attend.
Breaks my heart.

I read Matthew 9 today.  Still blows me away.
I am the despised tax collector.
The beggar.
The thief.
The lowly whore.
The least deserving of an invite to the party.
I am a sinner.

And yet...
Jesus loves me.

And when that sinks in, I turn to Him, I want to be like Him, walk with Him, to love Him.
And the amazing thing is, when that happens, my first response is to love others like He loves me.

I'm done loving like 'Christians' or the 'church' does.

But loving like Jesus...
That's a whole other story.

So Joseph, where does that leave us?
Here.

I need to ask your forgiveness.
I have hated you in my heart.
I have judged and condemned you.
I became the very thing I was critical of you about.

Will you forgive me?
I want to love you like Jesus loves me.
Even if you don't deserve it.
I don't either.

I can't guarantee that you, or others, won't hurt my family and friends ever again.

But I can promise you this...
I will no longer stand idle.
I will respond with love...like a lamb or a lion.

Hate roars because love chooses to whisper.
Time for love to roar.

To some, this only confirms that I'm "one of those kinda Christians."
Here's the thing...
I've always been "one of those kind of Christians", I've just been so busy chasing after your approval I've forgotten who I am because of how Jesus loves me.

I would much rather be hated for who I am then loved for who I'm not.

Joseph, I want you to know the fullness of the love of Christ.  
The love that saved me from my past and saves me from myself.

The kind of love that heals you of the hate that consumes you and replaces it with grace and mercy and hope.

Knowing my cousin...
She's prayed the same thing for you as well.

Be well, Joseph.
Be loved.