God IS love.
God forgives.
Great!
But what are we going to do about the creeps among us?
Not to mention how am I going to deal with my own propensity for creepiness?
I’ve been wrestling with this “God loves you, but…” business for a long time. It’s a dangerous attitude that opens the door to hate and all the destructive behaviors that come with it. It’s what makes religion poisonous and religious people self-righteous jerks.
We need to get rid of “God loves you, but…” and replace it with “God loves you, period!”
Unconditional love. First Corinthians 13 love. Love that will not let you go love.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
But what about the creeps out there?
Does “God loves you, period!” mean we just give a pass to people who do rotten things? Do we just pretend that sin does not exist?
Absolutely not.
Wherever people inflict harm on others there must be protective societal structures. Laws, enforcement agencies, courts, prisons, even military forces are necessary to defend citizens from the wrongful actions of others. Evil is real and people do some really shitty things. I believe we have a God-given responsibility to protect each other and – most especially – our children – from those who perpetrate evil.
And people of faith should never think they have to suffer injustice or violence because Jesus said to “not judge others,” “forgive”, or “turn the other cheek.” These teachings are not – let me repeat that – these teachings are NOT – a calling to self-sacrificially tolerate or give in to the people who bring you harm. (I especially want to say here that no woman is obligated by her faith to remain in an abusive relationship. This seems to be a very difficult issue for many religious women, and preachers need to publicly name it and speak out against domestic violence and the myth that there is something redemptive in accepting it self-sacrificially).
No, all these teachings of Jesus are about something altogether different from just lying down in weak resignation to evil. His teachings about not judging others, forgiving and turning the cheek are actually non-violent responses to evil, designed to hold creeps accountable for their creepiness and to inject some anti-creepiness vaccine into the world!
Maybe I’d better explain that.
Why do you suppose Jesus tells us to not judge others? (Judging others is not about discerning the presence of sin. We NEED to be able to do that. Judging others is looking down on others and rejecting them because of the sin we see.)
Why do you suppose we should forgive the one who sins against us?
And why should we “turn the other cheek?”
That’s the Final Jeopardy question for today.
(Final Jeopardy music comes up)
Alex Trebec: Okay, contestants, why should we forgive, turn the other cheek, and not judge others? Marty?
Marty: Because we’re stupid?
(Loser buzzer)
Alex: No, I’m sorry, Marty. You the Reader, why should we forgive, turn the other cheek, and not judge others?
You the Reader: Because the Bible tells me so!
(Loser buzzer)
Alex: Oh, I’m sorry, You the Reader. That’s not correct either. Jesus, how about you? Why should we forgive, turn the other cheek, and not judge others?
Jesus: Um, BECAUSE THEY’RE WORTH IT!
(Winner music)
__________
I don’t have any magic pills or easy answers for solving the problem of human sin. And I know this little essay doesn’t even scratch the surface of how to deal with it.
But I have come to believe that the creepiness within us flows out of what seems to be a deep soul-centered sickness called self-hate. When you hate yourself you doubt yourself. When you doubt yourself you fear others. When you fear others you hurt them. Or worse.
Creepy, huh?
So one of the most important ways of mitigating creepiness is to discover something amazing about yourself.
That you are a good person.
And God loves you not only because God IS love, but because you are WORTH it!
You really are!
The “good news” of the Bible is that you don’t have to hate yourself anymore – and if you don’t hate yourself you don’t have to doubt your worth – and if you don’t doubt your worth you don’t have to fear others – and if you don’t fear others you don’t have to hurt them (or worse) – and if you don’t have to hurt people you don’t have to be a creep anymore.
I believe one way to address creepiness in ourselves and others is to offer the gift of “You are better than that! You are a beautiful, worthy person created in God’s image and capable of great good!”
This is the gift of the Gospel. This should be the message of the Church to every person – no matter who, no matter what.
What might happen if we people of faith devoted ourselves to building people UP rather than tearing them DOWN?
Do you think it could make some sliver of a difference?
Resist ye not evil! (not even creepy evil?)
I wonder if devoting ones self to the uplift option
is precisely part of that. You don’t resist the creeps you lift up!
…. also, lifting up gets us closer to people than we would otherwise get.
Love is an up close kind of thing, after all.
very, very good!! looking forward to the next chapter 🙂 plp
Thank you Marty! I am enjoying the series .i think I am conflicted at times. As a nurse I have been “trained ” to judge no one and care for all regardless of race creed Color manner of injury , lack of self care , etc. But being raised Baptist , often feel I am too “accepting ” of all , even though we are to hate the sin but love the sinner . I agree with you . God Is Love , so we are to love . Works for me
Thanks for that comment, Lena. You point out a valuable truth – that sometimes our life experience clashes with our religious upbringing. As a nurse you see people in the real-life setting of the hospital or doctor’s office. As a Baptist (or any other religious identity) you are indoctrinated into seeing people through the stereotypical filters of someone else’s theology. I think this is what Jesus battled every day of his life. The religious crowd labeled those he ate with “sinners.” He knew them as “friends.” The lesson in all this is “sit down and eat with others.” In your case it may mean “take their blood pressure.” Meeting people and getting to know them in real life is way better than seeing them from a distance and through the lens of stereotype.