Goin' Mercer…ramblings and rants!

A Rant for Christians

Why does everyone get so upset about churches and their imperfections? I have yet to meet an individual that is perfect and that is what the church is made up of; many imperfect individuals. In whose mind does it make sense that hundreds or thousands or even tens of imperfect people create a perfect organism? Really…it’s nonsense. Christians aren’t following Christ because they are perfect. If they were perfect, they would be Christ. They are following Christ because they are trying to make sense of such a broken world through the lens of the perfect light.

Look everyone! We aren’t perfect and we never will be! In fact, it’s not even the point of following Jesus: to be perfect that is. The point is to follow close enough to get a sense of what He is calling us to be in this world until we reach the ultimate Kingdom. And even when you follow closely there are still those times when you stumble or get off track. We sin! We fall short! But then again, “It’s not the well who need a doctor, but the sick.” Thanks Jesus!

And Christians! Let’s stop playing the role of the martyr in a country where we are able to meet for worship whenever, wherever, and with whomever. We are in a nation that fights for our freedom to assemble peacefully. It should not be our expectation that the nation bow to our belief system. If we truly believe in a Trinitarian power, then let’s quit our fundamentalist whining when the government of this country (not one of the Trinity) fails to meet our religious expectations or provide policies to protect our values. We can rise up by being the people God has called us to be regardless if it matches up with the Nation’s bureaucracy.

If we are going to fight for something, fight for social justices. Let’s fight for peace and when I say peace I mean reconciliation. Let’s fight for an end to genocide, molestation of children, healthcare for the poor, and food to feed the hungry. Let’s fight for the unity of the family and for people, whether living a Cruciformed life or not, to be released from oppression, judgment, and freedom. Let’s fight sin, starting with our own log-in-the-eye and then with gentle love and care fight sin in those with a small speck of sawdust. In fact, let’s change the language from how to fight, to how to love. Let’s love people whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, man or woman, gay or straight, atheist or Christian, fully capable or challenged, old or young.

Maybe when we pull our eyes more upward we will see God, Jesus, Spirit in a way we never intended nor envisioned. Maybe we will love recklessly. Maybe we will judge less and accept more. Maybe we will teach less and exemplify more. Maybe we will boast less and humble ourselves before God more. Maybe we will speak less and listen more. Maybe we will be less interested in the country becoming the church and more interested in the church embodying itself in the cross.

When we’ve embodied the cross, then we will die to ourselves and rise up in His glory. And then we won’t have to fight so much for our stance and defend so much our right and denounce so much our competitors, but we will look so much like Christ that those who don’t know Him will be more intrigued in who He really is and less what we have mis-portrayed Him to be.

However, I will end as I begun. We are imperfect individuals, following the footsteps of a perfect savior, for the purpose of finding our calling in order to work in His Kingdom here on earth so that we will understand better the Ultimate Kingdom of Heaven.

-Mercer