The other sister

Oh, Victoria. {see Huffington Post article here}

I cringe. I think I know what you were saying or trying to say. And I hope it’s what I think: that we are blessed when we worship and when we obey God. I think you were trying to communicate that all of God’s promises are yes and amen, and that in Him we live and move and have our being and that the things He has called us to do and be bless His heart and make us whole and holy and happy and fulfilled by the very holiness of them. I think {hope} you meant to say that He has given us His joy so that our joy may be complete.

I really don’t believe, like many of our “extended family” in the Household of Faith seem to, that you meant to diminish our Father in heaven, or to say that anything less than loving the LORD our God with all our strength in every way possible (spirit, soul and body) is the standard by which we live.

“So [Jesus] answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”  Luke 10.27 NKJV

You weren’t actually meaning to say that we shouldn’t do this, though, right? You just meant that  in so doing, all we were created to do and be brings godly contentment, yes? And that God loves to see us happy and blessed, like in Psalm 1? Right?

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Oh, my sister, dear Victoria. With a stage and audience so large, with our excitement at being able to speak to so many people, I bet a lot of us might have said something that wouldn’t hold theological water somewhere along the line. I’ve screwed up royally before. I just haven’t done it with 6 or 7 million viewers to catch me meandering with words.

I am choosing to believe the best of you because I really think Jesus would have us in a circle and be writing in the sand about now.

The mockery is inhumane. I’ve been misunderstood and it sucks. I have desperately needed understanding and been refused. So, though I cringed at the phrasing, I am not casting you out of the family. I am praying for you.

God bless you and keep you. And I pray He comforts you, too. And if there is correction to be done, just remember it is just a part of the narrative of your life, and not an indictment on your existence.

Hey, um, church? Dearest Household of Faith?

My dear, beloved familia~

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions…Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”  Galatians 6 NIV

Maybe I am wrong. Maybe she is heading the wrong direction. Either way, the second half of Jesus’s command (from the commandments, people) was to love our neighbor. So how about, if you cannot stand to believe she is actually our sister in the Lord who needs some covering and support right now, you at least treat her like a neighbor and pray her up? Like you would want people to do for you?

2 thoughts on “The other sister

  1. You say what my heart has been saying today. I’m so sad at how quickly and vehemently people have jumped to throw stones. I think of the woman caught in adultery (I realize the sins are different). Jesus said you without sin throw the first stone and they all dropped their stones and walked away. The only one there who was without sin was Jesus and he didn’t lift a stone. Aren’t we to be Christlike? Why, oh why has the body jumped pointing fingers, being ugly? It sure makes me want to put my mask on as I go any where around fellow believers. If they are that hard on a person they have never actually known, what would they do to me. I’m imperfect. Really, really imperfect. Though I’m deeply loved by God. OH!!! Just like her. I’m with you Jeanie, prayers going up.

  2. Thank you, thank you, thank you. My heart has hurt so much over the attacks on God’s precious children..part of His bride – mostly by those who claim to know Him. How, how will anyone ever even want to know Him if those who supposedly represent Him present such an untrue image? I guess, the good news is that hearts are being exposed not Victoria’s or Joel’s, but those shouting the loudest in judgment. Do you suppose they will “see” their own hearts? their own need? I am praying so. Perhaps this is the time that God’s love will be seen and desired in us – even as we extend grace and forgiveness to those who holler the loudest. As always, loving you extremely!

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