sandpaper

Y0u know what Christians are ironically great at? Feeling guilty. On the one hand it makes sense because our religion makes us terribly aware of just how far we've fallen. It's kinda the point of the law. But at the same time it's odd because we firmly believe that we are the only people in the entire world that are forgiven, and going to Heaven. Yet we spend a lot of time feeling guilty.

Guilt isn't all bad. People will not undergo the pain of change unless the pain of staying the same is greater. So guilt is a motivation for change in our Christian lives. But I think it's overused.

The reason this comes to mind is that I was frustrated with the fact that I'm a "bad Christian." I don't care about other people as much as I should, I'm not as humble as other people, I'm not as nice as other people, I don't get into the Bible as much as some other guys that I know and I'm certainly not as enthusiastic for anything that involves "volunteering." The words "Service project" makes me suddenly find reasons to be very busy, and I generally leave church services immediately upon being dismissed.

It's so easy to compare myself to others who do better than me at aspects of their Christian walk. And I guess that's where guilt as a change agent can be useful. But honestly I think it's overdone. It's true that we SHOULD all improve as much as possible to be the best we can be, but to be honest I think the process is more important than the product.

To say that God doesn't care how much we sin is to take this idea too far and put words in my mouth (which is already full of Frito's, so don't try). As Paul would say "[mae ganoita]" (which translates roughly to "may it never be."*) No, I think God cares very much when we sin. But since trying to earn you way into his grace is like trying to cut down a red-wood with a piece of sand-paper I'm thinking that instead of being upset with the DEGREE of our failure he might be more interested in how earnestly we sought him and how we discovered him while we were failing.

So while I spend all day being sad that my sand-paper isn't course enough, God cuts down the tree with a chainsaw and invites everyone to come inside and have dinner with him. And if this makes you view God as a huge lumberjack...we'll that's kinda funny.



*It REALLY translates to "Hell no" but you know...Paul was a bit of a potty mouth