I'm irrationally excited about this.

Tomorrow, I get to relive my childhood through

A HARRY POTTER COSTUME PARTY.

Feel free to be thoroughly impressed with all of these wands Laina and I made

[Ingredients: chopsticks, hot glue, paper, twigs, wire, beads, paint, and love]

They all have their own little personalities, and it makes me ever so happy.

The entire collection:

Favorites:

I think that one on the left is the best, but that gnarly black one is mine.

[I'm going as Bellatrix Lestrange, I know you were wondering]

There's also going to be a horcrux scavenger hunt. JUST SAYIN.

#pleased

Forgive me for asking.

[by Propaganda]

Question:

(And this is embarrassing)

———You ever been scared you had no idea what you were talking about?

Yeah, me too.

Honesty perplexed.

I've lied and so have you, Christians.

Lying.

Like you never had questions?

Like you never had a moment

when your inner dialogues

were all of a sudden in third person like,

"Are you really buying this?"

You're lying.

Like your eyes are 100% always satisfied by your spouse and you don't need accountability

—neither of which is biblical, by the way.

YOUR EYES ARE NEVER SATISFIED.

Us, overgrown primates with egos, lying.

You quote the devil when you declare yourself okay!

You get it but you don't get it.

Like you've never planted your Chuck Taylors firmly in the sinking sand…

You're lying.

We for centuries sing hymns of grace,

and THIS IS WHY IT'S AMAZING!

And if it's not, you don't understand…

Or you're lying.

Which is why your friends don't believe you. 

There is just as much Jesus' blood on your hand as there is his.

You sure you understand the cross?

Forgive me for asking.

Forgive me for asking.

And Muslims— excuse my boldness— but what if you're lying, too?

Like you don't ever have questions?

As if you've never wondered why Allah's ears only hear directionally,

and if you accidentally point it slightly north easterly then you've blasphemed?

As if the thought has never crossed your mind

that the Jihad has interpreted the Quran correctly

and you are what we Christians would call 'lukewarm'?

Which makes you much more like my evanjellyfish churchianity would allow me to admit. 

And you call me on it; I'll deny it, just don't believe me

because I'm lying.

I strain at gnats; I focus on silliness; I act like God has joined a political party— just like you.

As if you've never thought,

"What if I was paralyzed and I can't make my pilgrimage to Mecca—

yet I follow the text better than my whole family? Is there enough mercy for me?" 

Forgive me for asking.

Forgive me for asking.

I know it's wrong for me to front like I understand your theology

as well as I think I understand mine,

but I know we can agree on this: 

Something is deathly wrong with us. 

And you, smarty pants— don't front—

Like the little you know about our universe, you ready to draw conclusions about it's origins?

Maybe we don't know as much as we think we do…

———Science still can't explain yawning.

Like you never took your world view to its furthest conclusions?

>>>>> That if human behavior is just what protoplasm does at this temperature,

then there is no need for humanitarian effort,

because these atrocities weren't wrong,

IT'S JUST THE UNIVERSE WEEDING OUT BAD GENES.

Them is fingernail-on-chalkboard words, ain't 'em?

You're lying.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you're right.

Maybe we'll find out the day after the world ends.

Yeah, I guess we're all a little inconsistent,

SO MAYBE WE CAN JUST SHOW EACH OTHER SOME GRACE.

Forgive me for asking.

Forgive me for asking.

Forgive me for asking.

You ever bury yourself in self-righteous guilt?

[Huh, me too.]

Are there fresh tally marks on the walls of your brain's prison,

[Mine, too]

hoping that the count of good deeds outnumber the bad ones?

Are your miserable failures your badges of honor?

And when you count those tallies, 

and the day the good outnumber the bad,

pat yourself on the back:

YOU HAVE JOINED THE REST OF HUMANITY.

You, too, are lying.

Like you never thought, "Someone might catch me in my contradiction."

Yeah, me too.

You ever think to yourself, "I have no idea what I'm talking about"?

Yeah, me too.

Forgive me for asking.

Forgive me for asking.

[Free, legal download of this album here.]

I NEED YOU TO HEAR THIS

Because I need to hear it every single day.

   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —   —

"Do you know Jesus?" the woman asked me.

"Yes, I do."

"Do you sin?"

"Yeah. Every day... Probably more than I realize."

"THEN YOU'RE A CHILD OF THE DEVIL AND YOU DON'T KNOW JESUS."

Well.

If you are anything like me—and I know I am—

then there are two things you should know about this woman.

The first thing
                is that she is affiliated with a man who calls himself Brother Jed.

"I don't know how the whorehouses in this town stay open—

all of you sorority girls are giving it away for free!"

His voice echoed through the courtyard in front of Maucker Union, met with mocking laughter and jeers, declaring that feminists, liberals, homosexuals, alcoholics, fornicators, and those who smoke weed and/or listen to rock and roll are destined for Hell.

I'll concede to three points:
        1. His message was a call to repentance.
        2. His words were full of hatred, judgment, bigotry, and condemnation.
        3. His delivery was classless, tactless, graceless, and, most importantly, Christ-less.

The second thing
                         is that she believes her own lie.

On Monday afternoon, this warped view of the gospel manifested itself in condemnations shouted at each passing college student:

"You are all going to hell!"

"You are living sinful, wicked lifestyles!"

"You have to stop sinning in order to be with God!"

And I'm standing there, like:

"That's not necessarily true..."

"That's a pretty bold generalization..."

"That's... wait—

—what?"

LISTEN UP:
        If you are someone who thinks you have to get your shenanigans together before God wants anything to do with you, you need to ask yourself two very important questions:


FIRST:
              WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
                                [that you could ever get your shenanigans together on your own]

SECOND:
              WHO DO YOU THINK GOD IS?
                                [that He couldn't handle your shenanigans at its worst]

I want you to think about something for a moment;

I want you to think about how wonderful it would be if there were not hateful, judgmental, hypocritical words being spoken every day by people who claim to follow Jesus Christ.

And I want you to think about precisely how you would feel if every church worldwide was calling out to you in a loud, resounding voice, saying,

"COME AS YOU ARE."

I mean, COME ON.

We are CHRISTIANS.

Followers of that man called JESUS.

AND THIS IS HOW HE DID CHURCH:

                Jesus was chilling in his house, hanging out with thugs and mafia members and prostitutes. And some really arrogant religious guys were like, "What the what? Why is he eating supper with all those sketchy people?" And Jesus was like, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

[Mark 2:15-17, almost entirely paraphrased. Except for that part where Jesus talks... that part is legit.]

Okay, listen...

Listen.
LISTEN.
LISTEN TO ME:
THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS!

AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE, 
BUT I KNOW YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS.

I KNOW YOU NEED TO HEAR IT BECAUSE ALL OF US NEED TO.

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU'VE BEEN, OR WHAT YOU'VE DONE—
THIS IS FOR YOU.

T H I S   I S   T H E   G O O D   N E W S :

*

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

and are justified by his grace as a gift,  through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

[Romans 3:23-24]

*

For the wages of sin is death,

but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[Romans 6:23]

*

God shows his love for us in that

while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

[Romans 5:8]

*

For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

[Ephesians 2:8]

*

If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works;

otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

[Romans 11:6]

*

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

[Romans 10:9]

*

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus

from the law of sin and death.

[Romans 8:1-2]

*

Chicken Sandwiches and Whitewashed Tombs.

I have seen exactly one episode of Glee in my life, and all I can remember is each person receiving a t-shirt with their major insecurity written on it in large, bold letters. T-shirts reading, "FOUR-EYES" or "GINGER" or "CAN'T DANCE", and then there was some sort of happy message about how we should all own our flaws because they make us beautiful.

Put on your stretchy thinking caps, everyone:
A fast food chain recently threw two groups of people into the spotlight— homosexuals and Christians— sparking a hateful, viral battle of opinions. And I gotta be honest, all I see are t-shirts donning either "GAY" or "CHICK-FIL-A".

Gadzooks, it's Glee in real life!
                      [Allow me, for a moment, to explain myself.]

Homosexuality is a lifestyle sin.
It forces gays to wear their sin like t-shirts for the world to see.
And, hey, this is also often true for prostitutes, thieves, and murderers.
Theirs is a brokenness that shows on the outside.
Like a t-shirt. Get it?

Here's where it all falls down:

In my interactions with people whose sin is evident to me, I work very hard to show love and kindness and grace. I strive to withhold judgement and look past imperfections.

Every once and a while, despite my efforts to act impartially, I catch myself harboring arrogance that makes me feel sick to my stomach; I realize that even if I don't act like it, I'm positively filled with pride.

When I read through the records of Jesus's life, it becomes very apparent to me that the sin for which he had the greatest distaste was pridefulness. Jesus ate dinner with sinners. He spent time with them and showed them real love. It was the Pharisees— those who thought they knew everything and followed all the rules— whom Jesus would not tollerate.

Does it strike anybody else as cruelly unfair that, because of the different natures of our sins, I'm allowed to hide mine while others must parade theirs around on display, open to public ridicule? I let people see the 'good' things that I do and coast by on the assumption that no one can see my sin because it's internal. Who do I think I am?

—1 Samuel 16:7—

"For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

My t-shirt is pearly white.
Which is great, except that it's covering up my rotting flesh.
So who do I think I am? In hindsight, I think I'm a moron.

— — — — —— — — — — — —

I saw a post on twitter a while back that said,

I LOVE GAY PEOPLE. Or as I sometimes like to call them, "people"

And I don't know if that makes you laugh or shocks you, causes you to smile or to promptly close this window...... But I think that's beautiful.

Every person who has ever lived

—apart from one—

has lived with sin that had the power to destroy their soul.

And the One who lived without sin?

He became sin for us
—all of us—
that we might be free from it.

FREE.

"Because Jesus was strong for me, I was free to be weak;
Because Jesus won for me, I was free to lose;
Because Jesus was Someone, I was free to be no one;
Because Jesus was extraordinary, I was free to be ordinary;
Because Jesus succeeded for me, I was free to fail."
(-Tullian Tchividjian)

And I love this freedom.
I love not being condemned for my sin.
I love that I am free from failure because of what Christ did for me.

If I'm so in raptures at this freedom, shouldn't I extend the same freedom to absolutely everyone I encounter?
Uh, YES.
This starts with openness regarding my own sin, and real love in spite of theirs.

I'm not owning my flaws because they make me beautiful;

I'm owning my flaws because they show that He truly is.

†