Margins.

Jesus's life and ministry, while He physically walked on the Earth, was to reach out to the poor, the marginalized and those who were considered the "litter" of society. He dined with prostitutes, He reclined with tax collectors and He loved the lame, the blind and the lepers. He reestablished and affirmed the worth of a woman in the midst of an oppressive and chauvinistic society. His message of salvation was meant to uproot and overthrow the stronghold of those who considered themselves religious; who saw themselves as holy and righteous persons due to their self-proclaimed social status and by virtue of association with a race of people descended from the likes of Moses and King David. Jesus came for the Gentiles, who were considered to be hopeless filth, unworthy of the graces of Yahweh, to bring these outsiders hope and restoration. Jesus came so that all may have a relationship with God, in a very deep, personal way.

I write about these things, not to romanticize certain notions about reaching out to the marginalized or idealize unconditional love. I write these thoughts due to an ever shifting paradigm in my mind regarding the truth about Jesus and how He wants me to impact the world around me. I have been thinking a lot lately about how all of this affects my relationships with people, or sinners just like me, or how I've seen other people treat others who may have fallen short of the "Christian standard." And really, it's no wonder that people hate Christians. I know Jesus said that people will hate us because we choose to live according to another standard, but I'm not sure that the way people hate Christians now, is what Jesus meant. People hate Christians now because we're fickle little hypocrites who are so quick to point out other people's faults without first realizing the gravity of our own. We are also quick to marginalize "sinners," quick to kick people out of our homes and our churches for messing up. In this way, I think that the Christian faith, at least in the United States, parallels the religious arrogance of the Pharisees. Ick.

Christians are so good about following a formula when it comes to confronting someone--they confront a person by speaking truth, person fails to change, person is kind of ex-communicated from community, Christian feels like they did the right thing and move on with their lives, and the other person is either devastated or turns against the church and more hate proliferates. Clearly, this is not quite right. It doesn't reflect the love and grace of Jesus. It does not give the impression of being the salt and light of the earth. It seems sad and kind of...hopeless.

The thing about speaking the truth is that it's meant to be in love and out of the same sort of grace that God has shown us through the Cross of Christ. The problem with most people who want to speak the truth, is that it is rarely done in love and most likely, things are said out of discomfort. Discomfort with the situation at hand, or not wanting to deal with someone else's sinfulness, makes it easier to give ultimatums, I think. And I think its so sad. I've been guilty of it. I used to give ultimatums about certain things, but that was because I thought I was awesome. No, really. I actually thought I was more "right" and less of a sinner than the person I was confronting.

Granted, there are times when there really is nothing anyone can do for someone who is unrepentant, who shows no remorse or no care for how he or she is hurting anyone around them. Should they be removed from their immediate community, displaced and left to fend for themselves? I don't know, probably not. I know we're not meant to coddle people. We're not meant to condone sin and be comfortable with the tragic and evil things that do happen. But should we give up on people, I don't think so. And yes, it's all easier said than done. But when I think about Jesus, or how Jesus would want me to treat other people, it all makes sense. It's not easy, but following Christ never is. And choosing to love someone in such a way that it mirrors the grace of God is terribly exhausting and extremely uncomfortable.

But I think that's what I'm supposed to do. I don't understand all of the "how's" yet. But I know I'm supposed to love people in a way that points them to the amazing love of God.