Bludgeon

Riding my yummeh bike (which still needs its seat raised, I’ll do that today) back from Discrete, I rode down the South Oval. There were four people with enormous (probably 10- to 12-foot tall signs) that said things like “YOU ARE BORN A SINNER DESTINED TO BURN IN HELL” and “REPENT AND BE SAVED OR SUFFER IN TORMENT FOREVER”. Meh kids, that’s not the way to do it…

I always like to say, Christianity isn’t about the rules, it’s about the relationship. A big, big God that wants to be friends with little, insignificant you… and that’s cool. It’s not about following the letter of the law; Christ died that we might be freed from the law.

But by shifting our focus from what we do to what God does, don’t we cancel out all our careful keeping of the rules and ways God commanded? Not at all. What happens, in fact, is that by putting that entire way of life in its proper place, we confirm it. (Romans 3:31)

Trying to keep the law and put it in our own hands just means we’re trying to do something impossible on our own; everybody messes up. But the important part is not what we can try to do to please God. What’s important is that Jesus died for me and for you, and that the grace which is extended as a result is given freely. You don’t have to “earn” grace. You just accept it.

And trying to bludgeon people over the head by waving big signs around and screaming “TURN OR BURN” really just doesn’t help. My whole hall is making fun of not only the people out there, but Christianity in general. And those are the sort of things that give Christian(s|ity) such a stereotype. I won’t hit you over the head with a Bible… but I’ll always talk if you want to listen.

Dewdles by Sam