I don’t care if you own a gun and like to do target practice or hunt or keep it in a safe place to protect yourself. I also don’t care if you don’t. And I don’t care if you attend a tiny country church or a big box church; as long as you aren’t promoting a gospel of hate, you are okay with me. What I do care about is if you are misrepresenting Jesus by conflating guns with God. There are actually churches around America that do gun blessings and have guns in their buildings. And if they do this with safety in mind, that is up to them. Just stop telling the world that Jesus approves. I think He would tell you that you can’t serve two masters.
I use guns as an example, but there are plenty of other ways we misrepresent Jesus to the world. While every culture likes to see a God who looks like them, to make that the only way God can be seen is blasphemy. Some churches have split over whether Jesus was white or not (He wasn’t). Or churches that deny some followers of Jesus the Sacraments because they don’t have the same idea about church or the meaning of the elements. Jesus gave bread and wine to the guy who had already decided to betray Him; are you telling me I am less worthy than Judas? I think that decision belongs to Jesus, not you.
Arguments about abortion that say the Bible disapproves (the word isn’t in either the Hebrew or Christian Scriptures); holding signs that say Jesus hates LGBTQ people (He never even mentions them, so that’s a lie). Too often, we form our faith perspective around our personal opinions, whether they be cultural or political, rather than the other way around. Some clergyperson tells us that God said this or that and, instead of finding out for ourselves, we believe them. It isn’t surprising; this is how we do the news now. Very few of us read different sides of stories, and when we do, we are chastised by people on both sides. I say this from personal experience.
So when I say “misrepresenting”, what I really mean is lying. Stop lying about Jesus. Stop lying about the Bible. Stop lying about your faith if your faith is focused on hating some people based on your own ignorance (which, I think, is the definition of bearing false witness – against yourself). If the Bible is silent on some subject, then live with the mystery. If the Bible contradicts something you do or believe (I’m not talking about biblical approval of things like genocide), then either change or take the risk that God will give you a pass. Just stop lying, period. That seems to be something God would approve of.
Prayer – Holy God, inspire us to really read Your words instead of taking someone else’s word for them. Teach us to tell, embody, and live the truth of Your love for all of us. Amen.
Today’s art is from David Hayward (The Naked Pastor). I got to meet him recently (thank you Sharon and Gary) and he is a delightful person – and his cartoons preach the Gospel.