Tolerance Delusion

I am at the end of my rope with my Christian brothers and sisters. Last night at work, I was tuning into some FM Christian talk station and they were talking about their rally against Proposition 8 aka the right for homosexuals to get married. In this rant, they said "We know people are going to think we are bigots, but we are just standing firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ.". Do these false prophets not realize what gospel even means? Nay, do they even understand what Jesus Christ means?

The gospel means "the good news". And Jesus Christ's good news was that of compassion for your fellow man. Universal acceptance and care, no matter who you are and what you believe.

Yes, the Old Testament does reference "no man shall lie in bed with another man" and that the sanctity of marriage should be between "man and woman". Is this the gospel of Jesus Christ Himself? No. The Old Testament is all but irrelevant since the times of Christ. Don't get me wrong, some of my favorite prayers and meditations have been in the Old Testament. But that's just it! I didn't just look into the word by word, I looked into the SPIRIT OF GOD whilst reading. These "fundamentalists" and their followers are creating this lukewarm and frankly CONDEMNING depiction of our Lord to the world.

That's another thing; people were calling in with their full support. They are having rallies. They are setting up websites. They have legions of followers for a message of hate masked as the gospel.

But you know what? I'm not just targeting them. I'm targeting even those Christians who DO support gay marriage. Who are "progressive" in their faith and are thought to be "very radical and liberal".

You say these things about yourself and you say you are tolerant. You support gay marriage, but yet you get offended when a Mosque is built in your town? You're a "radical thinker", but yet you scoff at the Mormon church?

Now ask yourself, is that really tolerance at all?

I say these things because my dear friends, I was one of them. But Jesus Himself said "A house divided against itself cannot stand". And lately, I have not been standing. I've been crushed by my own tolerance delusion. I've been crushed by my lukewarm depiction of faith.

This is why it is so easy to shit on Christianity. This is why we are such a joke. Because we are so damn FOOLISH!

We can turn back all of this, though. Really root yourself and get back to the core of the real living Christ. If someone asks you to walk one mile, walk two. If you owe someone ten bucks, give them twenty. If you see a veteran in a wheelchair outside wal-mart, greet him with a smile and a God bless you. If you see a stranger struggling, offer yourself for prayer or just a hug.

Yes, there are serial killers. Yes, there are rapists. Yes, there are corrupted government officials. Yes, this world is very very VERY messed up. But don't hate the people. Don't condemn the people. Hate the evil that has a hold of them. Evil holds no one form; hate its ambiguity. Pray for deliverance. Pray for movement. Intercession and all consuming Fire.

Realize who Jesus is, make Him your core desire, and go from there. The cobblestones will be laid down one by one, and your faith will strengthen. And someday, Christianity WILL reflect the teachings and the heart of God Himself.

We just need to wake up out of our delusion.