We ALL Need A Love Like That

I have become a huge fan of Jen Hatmaker over the last several years.  She is one of the most caring, authentic, and sincere people when it comes to writing and speaking about Jesus.  The first video I ever watched was from the first If Gathering.  She was talking about Christians treating the gospel as something to defend and it resonated with me.    Her and her husband started the Legacy Collective which I am proud to invest in.  We focus on funding initiatives that partner with others who are providing sustainable solutions to systemic social issues.  I'll write more about Legacy Collective soon.  I had the opportunity to meet both of them at the Legacy Collective launch party and I was impressed with how gracious they both were.  My point is that Jen Hatmaker is a person of influence who is using her influence to make a tangible difference.

Jen recently wrote a post on her Facebook wall about an experience that she had after speaking at an event.  The woman had said she had waited her whole life to hear someone in the church say the words that Jen had spoken.  Jen said, "One thing I said was that it is high time Christians opened wide their arms, wide their churches, wide their tables, wide their homes to the LGBT community. So great has our condemnation and exclusion been, that gay Christian teens are SEVEN TIMES more likely to commit suicide."  Jen went on to say, "Nope. No. No ma'am. Not on my watch. No more. This is so far outside the gospel of Jesus that I don't even recognize its reflection. I can't. I won't. I refuse."

I finished reading Jen's post and then continued to read the comments of others..  As of right now there are 1,758 comments on this particular post.  I found  that I was getting extremely upset at some of the comments.  I think part of the reason why is because the writers of some of those comments must have always known Jesus or have forgotten what life was like before Him.  

I think the reason that everyone's comments are making me so upset is because I remember my life before Jesus.  I remember when I thought I was all alone in this world.  I remember when everyone was telling me about all of the sins I was committing and all of the repenting that I needed to be doing.  I remember how it made me feel like I was under attack and how I was considered "less than" the Christian doing the talking.  One particular comment on Jen's post hit me hard.  It said, "...We are all sinners who need Jesus, but we must first repent or confess, then turn away and lead a life of righteousness."   Listen friends...if I would've had to repent and confess before I could've known the love of Jesus...I would be dead by now.  It is the "BUT WE MUST FIRST" in the comment that is so heart breaking to me.  There is no "BUT YOU MUST FIRST" before Jesus will love you.  There is no "BUT YOU MUST FIRST" before you can commit your life to God. Trust me, once you know the love of Jesus, it will change you for the better.  God will ask you to give up things that keep you away from Him, but you will be so head over heels in love with Him that you will surrender what He asks.  He asks different things from different people as each of us have our own things that keep us from Him.  

I used to wear a t-shirt that said "Religion never saved anyone" on the front.  I can't tell you how many people would stop me in a store to attempt to argue with me.  They would screw their face all up and get angry and just as they were about to start telling me all the reasons I was wrong, I would turn my back to them.  The back of my shirt said, "Jesus Saves".  They really couldn't argue with that.  I didn't buy the shirt to cause any issues, I just really believed in its message.  "Religion" almost kept me away from Jesus.  

I remember all of the people who were pointing out what they perceived to be my sins instead of pointing me to Jesus.  Had I known that a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus was possible - I sure would have run to Him much faster - not because I needed to be absolved of my sin, but because I needed to be loved like that. As I mentioned in a previous post, God works out salvation in each person differently.  Let us be those who are known for drawing people nearer to Jesus and not pushing them farther away.