A series of gunshots end
a peaceful prayer study. A stranger to
the group that was welcomed with open arms pulls the gun that will kill 9 Christians. The community struggles to understand how
this could have happened. The country
recognizes that there has to be changes made.
Government officials do their best to change the way things are.
Yet, I propose that this
is a time for all Christens to unite. This
is not the story of one man that took action against a group of people who were
opening their lives for others to see God.
This story is about the division that has happened in the “church.” It is quite ironic how many people call
themselves Christian yet alienate others.
The Christian community
must become united. We have to realize
that we have influential power. We have
to understand that we may have not pulled the gun. Yet, we as a community have created
individuals that believe that must hurt others.
I had a friend say that
this event would not make the impact that it has if it had happened in another
environment. Because it happened at a
church, a place of safety and peace, people around the world have become
angry. It gave us all a common experience. This weekend was a rough one for many
churches. They had to become vigilant
about those that entered their church for the first time. Yet, we have to ask ourselves if this is the
right response to take.
I have heard several
pastors in the last few weeks talk hate from their pulpit. Announcing that gays have to be killed
because what they are doing to our community.
Yet, so many of their fears are not based on reality instead it’s based
on their own belief that they are self-righteous. Instead their fears are based on
misconceptions.
I have gone to several
different churches and it surprises me how the racial lines are drawn. People tend to worship with people of their
own race. Yet, the best churches that I
have been to are the ones where race, economic status, physical ability, sexual
identity or gender identity. At these
churches no one stands out. They are
able to unite their voices and hearts to serve the Most High.
We need to look at these
churches and understand that we must unite.
We must take away the barriers that separate our churches. We must open our doors to those we have
marginalized. We have to stop teaching
hate and begin teaching the love of God to all.
We had our pride
festival in my hometown this week and the protestors were there. The sad part is that they were spreading hate
because they believed that GLBTIQ individuals were living in sin. The sad part is that one of the men was put
our local paper. He wasn’t there to
support us instead he was there to demean us. He talked about the love of God but then condemned
because we in his opinion were living in sin.
How many people has he influenced? He was turning people away from the love of
God that needed to hear God loved them. Yet,
at the same time how many of his church members have he taught to hate GLBTIQ. How many people do we have to see die in the
name of religion before we do something.
We as Christians are
called to show the love of God to all.
We are not taught to turn people away from God. How many people have to feel isolated from
the God of peace before we do something?
How many churches have
to face violence before we stand up and say enough is enough? Is it time that we link our arms together and
say that God loves all people. Is it
time to make those accountable for hurting people in the name of religion? God is not about hate. Is it time to break down the walls that we
have built and unite to show peace to the world.
This blog is not just
for Christians this is for all religious individuals. There has to be an end to the hate that is
taught in our churches. We have to force
those that believe God hates people to leave the pulpit. We can only accomplish this if we as
religious individuals unite and show love.
Those that love God realize that God is about love not hate. Why are we so willing to allow hate to be
taught for our pulpits.
This is not what
religion is about. When do our church
leaders stand up and say that this is not what they believe. When do we as religious individuals stand up
and say that we love all people but God has created us. It is amazing that in this time when we
should stand unite that there are still people that are spreading hateful
messages.
We have to become
united. Today is the day. Show the love of God to all you come in
contact with. Do not allow those that
are spreading hate be the only voices that people hear. We need to become the new voice of
religion. We need to become the ones that
show that we are all the same. We all
have faults yet, God loves us. That alone
should be enough of a reason to stand up and say that the real religious front
is about compassion and love.
