"Death...NOOOO..." (A Rant)

My son Will and I are huge movie buffs, and over the years we have developed our own "short hand" language, using lines from movies to make specific points to one another. One of our favorites comes from Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, the mostly forgettable sequel to the most excellent Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. In the plot of Bogus Journey (and I use the term "plot" extremely loosely here!) Bill & Ted are battling the Grim Reaper for the right to not be dead. Yeah, you read that right. In one scene that are playing charades with some aliens (again, I cannot make this stuff up) and the aliens are making some wild gestures and hand signals, seeming to indicate it is a movie. Suddenly the Grim Reaper blurts out a guess- "Butch and Sundance, the Early Years!" Bill & Ted look at their teammate, shake their heads in disbelief and utter this immortal line- "Death...NOOOO..."

Anytime Will or I see or hear something that seems so completely moronic, out of place or inappropriate that we cannot believe it just happened, we will look at each other and repeat that line. It happens more often than you might think. It is our way of saying "I can't believe you just went there!" 

So what does this have to do with anything? I read a blog a while back from a guy I will call Kevin- because that is his name. I refuse to tell you more than that because I do not want to send traffic to his blog. (As a side rant, are there any other 3-2-1 Penguins fans out there who have trouble saying the name "Kev-innn" with a straight face?) In a post about the current state of the Christian church in USAmerica, he made the following statement:  

"The Jesus found in scripture would act differently and teach differently if he were in 21st century America. He would be much more conservative, much more restrained. He would focus more on sin and less on loving one another. The church needs to realize that just as Jesus would have a different focus, so must we. We need to preach hell fire and damnation. People need to understand that an angry Jesus is waiting to judge us.  Talk about grace all you want to, but trust me- we will all be judged."

"Death...NOOOO..."

We cannot re-write the teachings of Jesus (GOD!) just because they seem out of step with the church of today. Instead we must change our churches to be more in step with the radical, ridiculous love and grace of Jesus Christ. We are promised in scripture that he is the same yesterday, today and forever. I try really hard not be judgmental of others, but in this case, I believe Kevin has earned the coveted Green Weenie Award for representing the WORST the church has to offer our world. In fact, I would suggest to Kev that he check out the urban translation of Proverbs 10:19- "Speak not at all, because you are gonna' say something stupid!"

My prayer today is that God will grant me the wisdom and the strength to follow and represent the REAL Jesus. The one who came to save us, not condemn us. The one who taught us that whatever the question, love is the answer. The one who gave birth to the Church so that we might follow him, not so we can mold him to our beliefs. Thank you for loving me, Jesus.  And forgive me for my judgment of Kevin.

Because of Jesus,