My heart is heavy over the way I have seen the church react these last few days. Throughout Facebook I have been appalled by the statuses screaming for death and full of hatred and bigotry for others. What would happen if we, those of us who call ourselves by the "c" word on our profiles, that is Christian, that is the body of Christ actually exemplified Christ? What if we showed the world forgiveness and mercy just as Christ forgave the thief hanging next to Him on the cross, just as Christ uttered "Father forgive them, they know now what they do" as He was murdered for our sins? What if we realized our own propensity to sin and dealt with the sins in our own lives before pointing out the sins in others? What if we demonstrated love not by bashing those who appear different based on race or culture but by loving regardless of what they look like or where they came from? What if we like Christ washed the feet of others in service? What if instead of running to the president in outrage were thankful we live in a land with a president and a democracy instead of a land with a dictator and a dictatorship, do we truly want to live in a land where the government dictates, or do we want to live in a land of the people by the people and for the people? What if instead of taking to the streets with cries of injustice we took to the streets and prayed over the poor, sought out the broken and served our brothers? What if we rallied in our churches between our denominations that all were created in the image of God, male and female we were created, that He knows us our frame, he created our uniqueness in the womb, that we all came from one man and one woman and instead of crying for death, valued life, even in the midst of disagreement and heartbreak? What if we, the church, the body and bride of Christ, every race and Christian denomination, every Protestant, Evangelical, Catholic stood as one and actually believed and pursued the words we all say routinely "our Father, which art in Heaven...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"? I am a 33 year old single, no children of my own, white, educated, Protestant female raised in the south, I desire a husband and children, I have lived as a minority in Asia, I know that deep down we are all the same, each of us desires to love and be loved, and I believe His kingdom is here His will is being done and I pray each day my life is an example of Him, that He is what shines first when I am met, not the color of my skin or the accent in my voice but the light of Christ going before me and the aroma of Christ lingering behind me. Rise up church, read your profiles and statuses, are you being Christ or being the world?
