A Rant by a Ragamuffin

I'm sorry, gang, but I need to rant... Yesterday I was once again confronted with the fact that lots of people who call themselves Christians have very little in common with Jesus. They know Jesus, I am just not sure they get Jesus!  Jesus commanded us to "judge not at all" (Matthew 7:1).  These people find great pleasure in judging others.  Jesus told us that "he without sin should cast the first stone" (John 8) and these folks are rolling boulders! Jesus told us to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44) and this gang of church goers is just praying that we all mess up so they will have something else to gloat about.  Paul tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and they can quote that.  But in their tiny minds any sin that THEY don't commit is a greater sin than the ones they do. They paraphrase Paul; "All have sinned and fall short; but YOU are a true sinner!"  And the worst part is that their attitude starts to pull me in. I get angry, and I sit here knowing I should be praying for those who persecute me...but what I really want is for God to warm up the lightning strikes and straighten a few people out! I judge them...I throw stones...and I cease to follow the example of Jesus.


The Lord knows I sin.  He also knows that you do too.  My prayer today is that I would let the grace of Jesus Christ flow in my life, that I would treat people better than they treat me, and that God would move in my life and theirs to show the world that we truly understand that the church is here to be a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.  Because if sinners are not welcome in our lives and at our churches...start printing the going out of business signs now!


Thanks, I feel better now! Come back tomorrow and I promise you a good story- the origins of the infamous Sand, Water, Sand, Water, Crab, Crab, Crab....


Because of Jesus,