I’m going to DIVE IN because there’s just no other way. I’ve written and rewritten this column too many times already but, honestly, as a Christian, a sinner, a woman with her sins constantly set before her, I’m spent.

As writers, we know, better than most. Words hold power. We use words every day to communicate the deepest of human needs, heartaches, joys, fears, and fantastical imaginings. Our choice of words teach adults and children’s alike about who we are as men, women, human beings, etc. etc. etc. The right words at the right time can promote, inspire, entertain, empower, save a life, encourage struggling families, and move our Father in Heaven to have mercy when we need it most. We ALL need God’s mercy. But have you ever caught yourself slipping into a conversation that starts harmless and ends with tearing someone down? It happens so easily—maybe it’s a complaint about a friend, frustration with a coworker, or a whispered “prayer request” that’s really just gossip in disguise.

Worse still is the raging scandal of Christians tearing down everyone and anyone tasked with cleaning up the family mess in Washington D.C. and beyond. You’ve seen the memes all over Facebook. Individuals, with their pitifully narrow views and lacking global perspective, pretend that this or that politician isn’t Christian enough. Yet anyone who has ever had to retrench—that’s regency era speak for tightening one’s belt—will understand. Saying no to one’s children, accustomed to a certain level of comfort or feeling good about themselves is hard. It’s impossible for some. 

No, you can’t have all your friends come over every weekend. We cannot feed them all. We cannot afford to pay for your college, dear, or supply your back-to-school wardrobe. You can’t give your grandmother’s heart meds away. She needs them. You’ll have to get a part-time job. Maybe two. A small wedding is better than no wedding. Stop buying the brand name. Generic will do if we can get it. We may have to do without. Get teased about it? So sorry. Needs must, or the whole fort goes down. 

Others often criticize the person responsible for these impossibly hard calls, calling them unfeeling, cruel, blind, and heartless. Those in their own household hate him or her on. (The Crash of ’29 saw many a suicide because those who thought they were untouchably wealthy lost everything. That can happen again if we as a people ignore the reality of bloated spending and the pretext of charity that directly undermines our country’s ability to help its own.) The ankle biters in the house who are the biggest spenders of other people’s hard earned money are the loudest. They shout compassion while asserting that robbing Peter to pay Paul is holy. The Judas claims that he’s only concerned about the plight of the poor when, in truth, he’s stealing from all the people. Judas is snatching the gospel away from everyone by pretending that one may do evil that good may come of it. 

I’m sorry for rambling, but this Christian sinner is grievously scandalized by her brothers and sisters in Christ. I’d kindly ask all the would-be saints who are judging the one tasked with driving the bus to give it a rest. May we focus on the purity of intention? The wants and desires that we glimpse in the bathroom mirror when brushing our teeth are often the most accurate. What are you looking to achieve? To appear holy? To appear charitable? Okay, but at what cost? Being unChristian and vicious with another whom we do not know? Are we crying compassion because we truly grasp the whole situation or because we like to ‘feel’ good and check that box that says, I’m-a-good-Christian, but he or she could’t be!

There’s plenty of self-interest in being charitable. Don’t believe me? Matthew 6:1 “Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” 

The sacrifice asked by God is to step away from ones’ unchecked zeal in my experience. That goes out to the one crying, “We are told to judge the fruits!” Are we acting to please God in God’s time by our precipitous, out-of-context judging? Or are we pushing for perceived ‘virtue’ out of human respect and the unfounded notion that “we” will fix things? Are Christian engaging in such public displays of “Crucify him!” misusing the gospel to preach their own message? Are these zealots missing the point that even a politician is the least of our brothers. 

Our Lord himself said that we would always have the poor with us. Not because poverty is desirable, but more likely because all people need the daily opportunity to be truly charitable, not alleviated from the exercise. That said, what is poverty? Is it the lack of material goods? Or is poverty the Christian who, claiming faith in God, sets that faith aside to manage the how and when and why of making things holy in the manner he sees fit?

Consider this. The greater sacrifice can be that of prayer instead of dropping that cash we’ve been told will satisfy our obligation. Forgive us our trespasses as we give those who trespass against us. Praying these words, the Lord’s Prayer, is asking God to forgive us in the manner that we forgive others. We also ask the Lord to lead us not into temptation and yet we see Christians inviting temptation by judging with unjust judgment. They are judging by appearances, not just judgement. 

Okay. Rant over. I had to get that off my chest and I’m so glad to have had the opportunity. James 1: 26 And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.  27 Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.

Let’s speak love, not hate, even for those we consider an enemy.  Let’s attempt to imitate Christ instead of killing him, the truth, with the nails of unchecked, human zeal. Luke 23: 34 And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.