I'm in one of those unique positions where some people expect me to preach on their idea of the bible, and some others expect a soapbox stance on a political viewpoint. Yet at no time in my pastoral ministry did any of these particular people ever stop and say "tell me about your personal life".
Maybe I'm not to have a personal life. Maybe when I became a pastor, someone was suppose to hit me with one of those neuralizers like in the Men In Black movies.
What I can say is that nowhere in the Bible does it talk about hating people nearly as much as it talks about love.
It mentions that I can have the tongues of men and angels, but if I don't have love, I'm just like a noisy cymbal, just clanging away. (1 Cor 13).
We are called to love just as God loves us.
I know that I have some atheist and agnostic friends who might read this - so if you're reading this, HI, and I'm sending this with love! (What's a blog about love without toss a "love" pitch with it?).
And as a United Methodist pastor, I'm to follow a certain standard - the same standard that has made much news over the past few years. I have my opinions on that, but if you want to know, come ask.
Sure, I may disagree with some of my friends and colleagues on some issues, but one thing is for certain and I will not and cannot back down on - that LOVE prevails over everything.
In a world filled with hate, bullying, ugly rumors and gossip, revenge, murders, crimes the defenseless, and so on, how can we, as a society, not agree to let LOVE prevail?
When a High School student is told to switch his speech because of the content, which, by the way, the original won him 1st place in his division (he was able to stick with the original speech), or when Honey Maid received hate from a commercial that showed various types of couples, including gay, tattooed, and interracial... we're not focusing on the big picture of LOVE, but on greed of what "we" think is right.
... Even if we, in our heart of hearts, feel that we're 100% right, who are we to judge? If I stand with a Bible in my hand to point out the sins of whoever, then I also have to quote the scripture that says "Judge not, lest ye be judged" (Matthew 7:1).
Everyone has their viewpoints - I get that. All I'm saying is that if something can't be done or said in LOVE - not hate, bullying, gossip, anger, etc, then is it really really worth saying?
