“Why are you even still a Christian.” my friend Kyle said to me.
It’s because I understand two things to be true.
First, people are meant to be representations, and reflections of God, but they are not meant to be God. This means that they are not perfect and they get things wrong. I myself have transformed in my own realization of what it means to be a follower of Christ, as opposed to a follower of a "religion". People get it wrong and if I would like grace when I fail then I need to give it when others fail too, even if they haven't apologized or changed their way and thinking. I know that a person is the result of everything in their life that made them into who they are. So maybe Josh, the pastor who kicked me out of church because of my sexuality, was brought up with certain types of thoughts and beliefs that facilitated his prejudice. Who is to blame for a person being brought up like this? The person who “should know better” and “be more understanding of other sexualities”? Or the person who raised him to reject and feel danger from those who have a different sexuality than himself? I myself have had to go through my own evolution of what I believe about human sexuality and theological teachings. And if I had to go through that process and would appreciate it if someone else could be understanding of that fact, then I need to lend that same amount of understanding to others who themselves are on their own path to higher understandings of who God is and what to believe.
Second, I know God! He speaks to me and through me. He works through me and uses me to further His master plan in this universe. I also know myself! And I know that I can be very far from perfect and very far from who God is. I never ever want people to put their understanding of who God is, by watching who I am. But this is the fact of our Earthly existence. We can not physically see God so what we do is look for him through our environment and everything and everyone who is a part of it. And it is inevitable that some people might judge God by looking at my actions and listening to my words. Please! Oh, please! Make the distinction. Please never judge who God is by judging who a person is. Because no one can be God. But when we know God. When we understand who He really is. Then we can judge God, not only by our environment, but also through our everyday conversations with Him and by studying who His Word.
It’s all apart of the incredible journey. And we all need to be understanding of others, no matter what part of that journey they may be on. We all need to show others the same amount of grace that we would like to receive ourselves.
This video is about how to hear God. And because hearing God is the best way to get to know Him, it's a great place to start from.
