We Are All Equal, We Are All Sinners
I've been struggling so much with my faith, especially watching people who call themselves Christians bend over backwards to justify the most un-Christian-like behavior. I've been wondering where God was in all of this. I wondered if God abandoned his creation (for as much as I believe in evolution, I just can't wrap my head around intelligent life rising up in the randomness of the universe. I don't discount evolution, but I also don't discount that some higher power had a hand in it. Kind of like an inventor testing out different versions of his creation. How many versions of the light bulb were there before Edison got it right?)
Today, as I was working in my kitchen it felt like I was getting answers. You can say it was my own head. Honestly, I believe someone was speaking to me.
There's someone I know named "Pete". Pete likes to think he's a "good Christian." He goes to church every Sunday. He helps out on a mission in a Caribbean country once a year. He pats himself on the back quite often about what a wonderful person he is, and isn't shy about telling anyone that, either. But Pete has a dark side. You see, Pete was not in favor of increasing the Social Security threshold. Above $127,200 (as of 2017) social security taxes stop being collected on income. There was a time, many years back, when we topped out at what the threshold was with my husband's income. Then they raised it. I didn't see a problem with it. There are too many people in this country that depend on that money every month. They choose between rent, medicine, food, and heat with the little bit of money they get from Social Security - a benefit they earned by working their whole lives. I'd rather pay more money out of my pocket than see people having to make that choice.
But not Pete. No, nelly. Pete made it quite clear that he resented them raising the threshold and wanted those few "extra dollars" in his pocket. You might think with what I've told you about Pete, he did some extraordinary things with those "extra dollars" in his pocket. He did - he traveled, a lot.
I'm not one to begrudge anyone their pleasures in life. Lord knows, I like to travel too (and I'll get back to that later). It was different with Pete, though. I could always see a side of him that was "like biting on tin foil" to quote an author I admire. Yet he would continue to make blog posts about what a wonderful person he is.
This past week, Pete described people who will die due to not having access to health care in a terminology equal to "collateral damage." He sees my son as collateral damage. He sees people with AIDS as collateral damage. He sees people with cancer as collateral damage. All in the name of lowering his taxes and somehow making his life better.
You see, Pete has heath care, courtesy of the taxpayers already. Pete's wife is a retired schoolteacher. Pete is quite vocal about how his county taxes are too high, and doesn't think they should cut health care and benefits for retirees, naturally, but for the people currently working. It's a classic Republican "I got mine, now screw you" attitiude.
It's selfish.
It's reprehensible.
It's evil.
And still Pete calls himself a Christian and pats himself on the back about all the good he does.
I felt myself slipping away from my faith. It's been happening for a long time, but after this past week, it's accelerated quite a bit. What is God, really? Has he abandoned his creation? I don't expect him to hold our hands and make things right. We are humans and we have a choice.
And we choose to be sinners. All of us do. All the time.
That is the realization I came to today. Was someone whispering in my ear? I don't know.
How many times do any of us see the person on the street corner and pass them by, or pretend we don't see them?
The early Christians, they kind of got themselves into trouble living their lives according to what Jesus taught them. They would have to sell everything they owned to join the Christian faith. The proceeds would be distributed to the poor and needy. As you can imagine, that soon resulted in Christians being poor and needy. That's what Jesus calls us to do, though. We are supposed to sacrifice ourselves to help those in need.
And we all fall short.
I fall short. I'm not about to extol my virtues in public - that's one thing I've never liked doing, even in defending my position - but I've done some nice, generous things without expecting anything in return. I've done things because I thought they were "the right thing to do" to the detriment of myself and, at times, my family.
But I never cancelled a Disney vacation and donated the money to a food pantry.
I am a sinner. We all are sinners. That right there is a sin.
There is no "my sin isn't as bad as your sin." Sin is sin. And we all are a part of it.
Too many Christians want to believe they are somehow better than the rest because they think some sins are worse than others. They aren't. Sin is sin. And unless you are about to sell you home and all you possessions and donate it to a soup kitchen, you're a sinner.
That's ridiculous, you say? I don't think so, but I'll take the argument a step further. How many people when they die leave all of their worldly possessions and money to a charitable organization that helps the poor and downtrodden? We sure can't use it anymore - shouldn't that be the natural course of events?
But it isn't. Most of us leave it to our children.
None of us do what God and Jesus have called us to do. We are sinners across the board. No one is better than anyone else. Pete's sins are not excused by what he pats himself on the back for. My sins are not excused by the good I have done. I am a sinner. Pete is a sinner. You are a sinner. Joel Osteen is a sinner. Donald Trump is a sinner.
How God sorts this all out in the end is up to him/her. I just know, on this earth, we are all the same, as much as these people try to reassure themselves they are better than someone else. They aren't. They will be called to judgment same as all of us. The child will one day have to return to the parent and face the music.
I am prepared. I can't say that I did the best I could. All I can do is have the humility to say that I failed.
I don't think the "Pete"s of this world, or the Donald Trumps, or Joel Osteens, or Paul Ryans can say the same.
But that's up to God.
Today, as I was working in my kitchen it felt like I was getting answers. You can say it was my own head. Honestly, I believe someone was speaking to me.
There's someone I know named "Pete". Pete likes to think he's a "good Christian." He goes to church every Sunday. He helps out on a mission in a Caribbean country once a year. He pats himself on the back quite often about what a wonderful person he is, and isn't shy about telling anyone that, either. But Pete has a dark side. You see, Pete was not in favor of increasing the Social Security threshold. Above $127,200 (as of 2017) social security taxes stop being collected on income. There was a time, many years back, when we topped out at what the threshold was with my husband's income. Then they raised it. I didn't see a problem with it. There are too many people in this country that depend on that money every month. They choose between rent, medicine, food, and heat with the little bit of money they get from Social Security - a benefit they earned by working their whole lives. I'd rather pay more money out of my pocket than see people having to make that choice.
But not Pete. No, nelly. Pete made it quite clear that he resented them raising the threshold and wanted those few "extra dollars" in his pocket. You might think with what I've told you about Pete, he did some extraordinary things with those "extra dollars" in his pocket. He did - he traveled, a lot.
I'm not one to begrudge anyone their pleasures in life. Lord knows, I like to travel too (and I'll get back to that later). It was different with Pete, though. I could always see a side of him that was "like biting on tin foil" to quote an author I admire. Yet he would continue to make blog posts about what a wonderful person he is.
This past week, Pete described people who will die due to not having access to health care in a terminology equal to "collateral damage." He sees my son as collateral damage. He sees people with AIDS as collateral damage. He sees people with cancer as collateral damage. All in the name of lowering his taxes and somehow making his life better.
You see, Pete has heath care, courtesy of the taxpayers already. Pete's wife is a retired schoolteacher. Pete is quite vocal about how his county taxes are too high, and doesn't think they should cut health care and benefits for retirees, naturally, but for the people currently working. It's a classic Republican "I got mine, now screw you" attitiude.
It's selfish.
It's reprehensible.
It's evil.
And still Pete calls himself a Christian and pats himself on the back about all the good he does.
I felt myself slipping away from my faith. It's been happening for a long time, but after this past week, it's accelerated quite a bit. What is God, really? Has he abandoned his creation? I don't expect him to hold our hands and make things right. We are humans and we have a choice.
And we choose to be sinners. All of us do. All the time.
That is the realization I came to today. Was someone whispering in my ear? I don't know.
How many times do any of us see the person on the street corner and pass them by, or pretend we don't see them?
The early Christians, they kind of got themselves into trouble living their lives according to what Jesus taught them. They would have to sell everything they owned to join the Christian faith. The proceeds would be distributed to the poor and needy. As you can imagine, that soon resulted in Christians being poor and needy. That's what Jesus calls us to do, though. We are supposed to sacrifice ourselves to help those in need.
And we all fall short.
I fall short. I'm not about to extol my virtues in public - that's one thing I've never liked doing, even in defending my position - but I've done some nice, generous things without expecting anything in return. I've done things because I thought they were "the right thing to do" to the detriment of myself and, at times, my family.
But I never cancelled a Disney vacation and donated the money to a food pantry.
I am a sinner. We all are sinners. That right there is a sin.
There is no "my sin isn't as bad as your sin." Sin is sin. And we all are a part of it.
Too many Christians want to believe they are somehow better than the rest because they think some sins are worse than others. They aren't. Sin is sin. And unless you are about to sell you home and all you possessions and donate it to a soup kitchen, you're a sinner.
That's ridiculous, you say? I don't think so, but I'll take the argument a step further. How many people when they die leave all of their worldly possessions and money to a charitable organization that helps the poor and downtrodden? We sure can't use it anymore - shouldn't that be the natural course of events?
But it isn't. Most of us leave it to our children.
None of us do what God and Jesus have called us to do. We are sinners across the board. No one is better than anyone else. Pete's sins are not excused by what he pats himself on the back for. My sins are not excused by the good I have done. I am a sinner. Pete is a sinner. You are a sinner. Joel Osteen is a sinner. Donald Trump is a sinner.
How God sorts this all out in the end is up to him/her. I just know, on this earth, we are all the same, as much as these people try to reassure themselves they are better than someone else. They aren't. They will be called to judgment same as all of us. The child will one day have to return to the parent and face the music.
I am prepared. I can't say that I did the best I could. All I can do is have the humility to say that I failed.
I don't think the "Pete"s of this world, or the Donald Trumps, or Joel Osteens, or Paul Ryans can say the same.
But that's up to God.
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