Who We Are
All people are the same deep down. Celebrity doesn't exclude anyone from feelings or temptations. The only importance or status anyone has is what other people assign them, not because they are somehow more than human. Why do we assume that a ruler is any greater than those being ruled? Are they not just in the position to rule that we give them?
If we believe that everyone is equal, including people of high status, we must also believe the same about those we view as socially inadequate to us. True, some people are more easy or glamorous to love, but I don't believe God discriminates.
In my short experience I have noticed that it is common for Christians to shy away from or excuse people that don't live similar lives or share the same values. Maybe they drink or smoke or, heaven forbid, do something "worse." We allow these to become barriers in our minds, believing that they are so worldly that they wouldn't care about what we offer.
We religiously allow ourselves to believe that we would never do such things and that we are therefore superior (because we are "above" the things that "they" do). How excluding and elitist that view is! Truth is, we are all susceptible to the same temptations and Christians don't seem to be sinning any less than unbelievers. As much as I hate to say, it doesn't seem as though we accept that we're all broken people.
When we preach a message of elite religion rather than humble love we absolutely set ourselves up for an "I knew you didn't believe what you preached" mentality. I've always been fascinated that unbelievers smell fake religion better than we do, coming to the same conclusion that we should: we aren't made for religion, and we can't keep it up.
The relieving part of this is that we don't have to be religious and put off a certain holy vibe; it just naturally happens (in an inviting rather than intrusive way) when we truly seek the love and life that Jesus offers us. And I argue that this is the only thing that separates us from people who are not Christians, not an egocentric man-made pedestal.
All people are the same deep down. Celebrity doesn't exclude anyone from feelings or temptations. The only importance or status anyone has is what other people assign them, not because they are somehow more than human. Why do we assume that a ruler is any greater than those being ruled? Are they not just in the position to rule that we give them?
If we believe that everyone is equal, including people of high status, we must also believe the same about those we view as socially inadequate to us. True, some people are more easy or glamorous to love, but I don't believe God discriminates.
In my short experience I have noticed that it is common for Christians to shy away from or excuse people that don't live similar lives or share the same values. Maybe they drink or smoke or, heaven forbid, do something "worse." We allow these to become barriers in our minds, believing that they are so worldly that they wouldn't care about what we offer.
We religiously allow ourselves to believe that we would never do such things and that we are therefore superior (because we are "above" the things that "they" do). How excluding and elitist that view is! Truth is, we are all susceptible to the same temptations and Christians don't seem to be sinning any less than unbelievers. As much as I hate to say, it doesn't seem as though we accept that we're all broken people.
When we preach a message of elite religion rather than humble love we absolutely set ourselves up for an "I knew you didn't believe what you preached" mentality. I've always been fascinated that unbelievers smell fake religion better than we do, coming to the same conclusion that we should: we aren't made for religion, and we can't keep it up.
The relieving part of this is that we don't have to be religious and put off a certain holy vibe; it just naturally happens (in an inviting rather than intrusive way) when we truly seek the love and life that Jesus offers us. And I argue that this is the only thing that separates us from people who are not Christians, not an egocentric man-made pedestal.
posted by bencooper at 1:18 AM
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