If I get lost will you meet me where I’m at and guide me to the promised land?
Faith is a difficult journey, even for Christians
As time changes its important to keep moving forward. The places we go and meet God look different then it did 50 or 60 years ago. The law was so strictly set that over time we stopped paying attention to the different ways someone can stray. 50 years ago we may have strayed by not obeying our husbands and have dinner out by the time he was back from work. There was a time that was frowned upon because as a women your main job was to take care of home. Times have really changed, not only are women working, they are going to college and getting the same degrees as men. Women and men are facing different challenges that stretch their faith in new ways everyday. The cost of living is rising, child care is almost unmanageable if you don’t have family support and everyone is literally working just to survive. We need God more than ever but in order to bring God forward we have to meet struggle half way so that we don't turn folks away in the midst of the most challenging walk.
My personal stumble with faith
When I was in middle elementary the singer Sammie just came out with a new CD. He was hot at the time because he was a young preteen and his lyrics “I like the way you look at me” made every girl for a second believe he was talking about her at that moment. One of my classmates pulled out his new CD to "gaw" over the cover with everyone. I being the high brown naive kid that I was wanted to see what everyone was looking at but was quickly told I’m too ugly for Sammie to ever sing that song to me
My mom did her best to do my hair even though it was usually coming out of a pony tale holder that it could fit in with a little help from a brush and gel and my clothes usually had stains but I never felt unworthy or as ugly as I did then.
I was changed after that. My mom was white and my father whom I never met, was black. In middle elementary school I was surrounded by majority Black people but I didn’t think to identify as black until my family of six, two sisters and two brothers moved to Maine where I was immediately labeled as black. When I moved to Maine my surrounding changed but the bullying stayed the same. Only this time it was a little more disguised by my peers as categorizing. I was often called the “N” word because my skin was darker than everyone else. But it was said so nicely I really believed that was my side identity. When I tried to fit in I would start listening to the music everyone else was listening to so I stopped listening to Sammie and started listening to Lincoln Park and Sum 41, because, like, everyone was doing it. Years went by of people telling me Im not black enough or they are blacker than me just placing me into a stereotype. So, started listening to rap and telling everyone that I can cornrow and do all the black things you see on TV, heck I can even Rap and dance if you think that would make me blacker. Eventually I couldn't keep up with my worldly identity and I started to lose faith in ever finding myself. This lost in faith ultimately challenged my faith in God’s identity.
From my own personal experience nearly walking away from a faith I thought was too far out of reach, I realized you can not restore faith when you condemn, exclude or pass judgement on someone. I constantly felted judged for being biracial, black, poor, ugly. I stopped seeing God in my corner because I was always made to believe you had to be perfect in order to face God.
Later in life I started noticing different scenarios, same struggle of being pushed away from God while they were fighting to find their identity in this multidimensional world.
I believed in God but I felt that I didn't believe in the conservative way of getting to God
After stumbling on my path to God I eventually
Lost all faith
What I learned along the way
Low
Displaced
Lost
Those are the ones God uses the most
When you already feel like you will never get back up again
Anything other than extending grace, favor, and mercy is the devil at work.
Every sin... started from some form of ignorance
And as Christians we should be recognizing when someone needs their faith awakened
Not deeper in to regret and shame
Just think, how would you feel if every time you fall short, every time you sinned and went against God’s will
And lets be real as humans that's often, because we all find it easy at times to listen to the Devil more than God
But what if every time you disobeyed the word, Someone condemned your grace period
Remember God paid the price so that we all can be saved
Faith Belongs to Everyone
If everyone stumbles every now and then how do you expect them to have faith to get up if the ones that are supposed to show them love push them even lower
How you come to be saved will look totally different than how the next person will be saved
Believe that God has the power to reach ANYONE where they are
That is the power of the mighty God we serve
We are here for the purpose of bringing believers and non believers to Christ
Conservative Christianity is pushing people away from faith when they need to be lifted the most
Because when you close your scope of how far God can pull you up
You lose sight of what those people can look like when they are in the dark
God uses everyone and that means everyone's journey to Jesus isn’t going to look the same.
You can not have a conservative view on faith
Because I had to walk a unique path to get to God
I needed Jesus to speak to my identity
Everyone needs to build their testimony
We need to show people how to have faith
How to praise when they don’t know how
Only God can determine who is a lost cause
Every child, every soul is a favored child of God
As They Are
Even when they sin different
Even when they are living different
Everyone deserves the restoring power of God
To be lifted out of their pain, suffering and shame
That’s when you desperately need the word
Jesus came to non believers, sinners, corruptness, hopeless situations with COMPASSION
He never turned his back on someone he didn’t believe deserve a second chance at hope
He forgave them and it changed their life forever
You never know how close someone who is divorced, pro choice, homeless, gay is to either walking toward God or the other way
And one wrong shake in faith could send them to hell
Let me say it twice
Conservative Christianity is stomping on faith
It almost crushed mine
When you are told you don’t deserve love it cuts deep
Some people have only experienced rejection, persecution and shame
That can cause almost anyone to aimlessly seek acceptance in hollow places
You end up spending your whole life in search of a deeper meaning
And then when you come to God
It’s different than any love you ever known so you reject it
And then you continue to feel as though
You don’t deserve love because your shame outweighs your faith
God cannot restore you
Even though we read in the bible that God loves all
Jesus forgave all
The Faith of a mustard seed
Can Still Change lives
And we somehow interpret it as a place to
judge
Reject
Turn away the ones who need love the most
Because it unconventional, we
Instinctively are doing the complete opposite of the words we read
Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)
Do as Jesus did and always, ALWAYS show compassion to the ones who
NEED IT THE MOST
Therefore as Christians our only purpose is to meet everyone with love and the same favor, grace, and mercy that Jesus gave when he restored us when we fall short in faith
We all are sinners and you need to check yourself first before you wreck someone else
What would love look like from another perspective?
What would forgiveness look like in a different context?
What would compassion look like if we were asking for the same favor?
Practice what you preach:
Humility
Love
Empathy
All start with love
No Exceptions
If plugging into God makes you light up and come alive
Be God’s glow
Amen
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