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A rainbow sheep says to Jesus, “I’d like to hang out with you. Now what do I gotta do?” Jesus replies, “Nuthin!”
Did You Know that You Don’t Gotta Do Nuthin?
Many years ago I realized the enormous pressure I was under in the church to constantly perform.
I bet many of you can relate to this.
You were constantly required to be on your game.
You had to be ready to witness and testify.
You had to be ready to do good works.
You had to be ready to sacrifice.
You had to be ready to give.
You had to be ready to serve.
You had to be ready to pray.
You had to be ready to help.
You had to be ready to be a good person… flawless, praiseworthy, dependable.
But most importantly… you had to be ready to change if it was expected or required.
One of the things I detect when I sift through the gospel stories about Jesus… when I read between the diverse lines of the gospel writers… is that the man they called Jesus was a remarkably free person.
And he treated others as free.
He was free. You are free.
We do not see a person placing constant demands and expectations on others. Rather, I see someone who simply observed others with curiosity and compassion... free of judgement.
He didn’t require others to be or believe or live a certain way.
He just let people be.
When I was a pastor, I practiced this. And it was remarkable! So this is how I am with my community online. I am free. You are free. No pressure either way. How liberating!
So… just be. And let others be.
Be free. Treat others as free.
1 comment
Spot on!! Religion, at it’s core, is any system that proports to provide instruction and activities to bring people into relationship with God. It’s all bullocks. Why? – God had ALREADY done everything to bring themself into relationship with humanity, each and every person is included. God did the work (for lack of a better word) to make it happen, and it has happened.