The Way of Jesus

Rachel Held Evans, a woman with great spiritual authority, responded to the Indiana "Religious Freedom" law as a guest writer on CNN. Her piece is compelling and convicting, and pretty much sums up how I feel about this legislation and so many other ways some members of the Christian Church continue to perpetuate hatred. Check it out here: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/30/living/culture-war-casualties.

For a quick overview, here are some of my favorite quotes:

"This is the tragic irony of the culture wars: The casualties tend to be the very people Jesus went out of his way to serve: the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the outcasts, the people ostracized and deemed 'sinners' by the religious elite. 

And when the world sees Christians hurting rather than helping such people, in the name of political gain, our testimony is profoundly diminished. 

We have lost the way of Jesus when we are more committed to self-preservation than service, more occupied with waging war than washing feet."

"Remember that the fruit of the Spirit is not power or might, influence or entitlement. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, and 'against such things, there is no law' (Galatians 5:23).

And to the wounded, I offer only this: You are not alone. Please know there are field medics -- pastors and priests, artists and activists, poets and parents and healers and dreamers -- ready to welcome you back to faith and to church whenever you're ready.

We can walk the long road to healing together, even if it's with a limp."

...

My response to Indiana's law?

1) Remember that one time when Jesus said, "No, I'm not going to build a wagon for you because you're gay"? Or how about when he refused to give fish and bread to one of the five thousand because she was transgender? Nope. Me neither.

2) So this law is not only discriminatory and bigoted, but also entirely un-Christ-like. 

3) Which leads me to the question: What religion are proponents of the law exerting freedom for? I adhere to the religion of Christ, continually trying (and often failing) to conform my actions to those of Jesus, who spent 30 years on earth healing, feeding, loving people, and telling his disciples to do the same (Acts of Mercy, Matthew 25:34-46). I want to be part of a Christian Church that washes the feet of those it had once oppressed.

Clearly, I've been experiencing a lot of anger about all this, and I only become more frustrated when I see another post about it on Facebook or hear about it in the news. But Evans' response put me at peace, and I'll continue to pray that things will only get better as we remember Jesus, his actions on earth, and his presence among us today.