Says it all......
“How can you believe in women in leadership and Jesus? Read the Bible you idiot,” says a letter. “You will fry,” says another, “if you keep being so liberal, you will fry in Hell.”
Nice. How loving. Can you smell the sweet fragrance of grace?
It gets worse. Much worse. But, I think I’ll leave it at that.
Flip through my Email and it is: “I just can’t read you anymore. I feel like you are too preachy. When are you going to understand the separation of Church and State?” and “I don’t buy the newspaper to be evangelized.”
I guess I’m doing something.
Some Christians, and those who claim no Christian alliance, are equally reactive and often over the same piece of writing.
The truth is I am a Christian. Despite the invasive, intrusive efforts of many “evangelists” (I think of them as “meddlers”) throughout my childhood, I did see the love of God expressed through the Life of Jesus. I’ve seen the power of a Jesus-centered life. I have tasted, although I admit in a limited manner, the pain of following the most controversial, radical Person in History.
My life with my children is as direct a Divine Intervention as I have ever witnessed anywhere. I hope you will continue to read my work – even if I get sidetracked into other matters.
And, yes, I will continue to embrace people who are very different from me, despite what many real Christians try to tell me. I must follow Jesus and not those who claim Him for their often conservative, often very hateful, causes.
Oh yes. I remember one Saturday I got two special responses: a death threat from a reader who also said he’d hoped I’d get “sh-t-canned” from the paper (I’d written about how to identify men who are prone to domestic violence) and, flowers. They were sitting on my front steps with an anonymous note saying simply “Thanks” – both were in response to the same column.
difficultrelationships.com 