You think I don’t go to church because I simply had a “bad experience.” Like I had eaten an off-putting meal at a restaurant. So you shame me for not trying again, as if I’m just lazy or over dramatic, while you insist that not all churches are bad.
Perhaps, that’s true. Not all.
But, what you don’t seem to understand is that, respectfully, I don’t go to church because so much of it has become so far removed from the heart of God that I can’t even breathe inside and Jesus is virtually nowhere to be found.
In fact, I can tell you for damn sure, it wasn’t just one meal that’s put a bad taste in my mouth, it’s the entire menu. From your interpretations of the Bible to your condemning attitude towards others. From the sexist patriarchy to the self-centeredness. From your elitism to your appetite for power and control over people and society. In my experience, it’s the cancer, not the cure. The more I attended, the more empty I became. None of it worked. I became less like Jesus and only better at pretending. At first, I thought it was me that was missing the Spirit, but then the Light within revealed that it was actually much more you, all along.
I’d like to say it’s your beliefs and system of faith that keep me away. It makes it less personal and less confrontational. But, the truth is, you’re the one who brings those beliefs and that faith system to life. Without you, it’s all just words, buildings, and creeds. But because of you it’s so much more.
See, it’s not only what you believe, it’s that you actually believe it. And not just believe it, but act on it, live it, and then demand others do the same, or else.
All the judging, hating.
All the greed, self-righteousness.
All the violence, bigotry, and harmfulness.
The problem isn’t that all of that is in your Bible, it’s that it all now lives in and through you. And then you dress it up with spiritual lipstick and call it “church.”
So, if I’m honest, it’s you.
You’re the reason I don’t go to church. It’s not that you aren’t perfect, it’s that you kinda think you are. Like you have all the answers. Like your truth is the only one. And the world won’t be better until everyone is just like you, and you hold all the seats of power.
Yes, I don’t go to church.
Thanks for the concern.
Instead, I’m finding Jesus in all the places you told me I wouldn’t.
I’m meeting Jesus in all the people you send to the curb.
And, I’m experiencing Jesus in all the faiths you say aren’t true.
.
Grace is brave. Be brave.
Check out Chris’ latest book, Stupid Shit Heard In Church available on Amazon (link below)…
What people are saying:
“After reading just a few chapters, I had to schedule an appointment with my therapist, it’s that good.”
You want me to believe that your brand of faith is centered on love. That you love Jesus, love people, and love truth above all else. Yet, if I’m honest, so much of what I see in you is fear. Fear here, fear there, fear everywhere. Which makes it all the more confusing, given that your own Bible insists, “there is no fear in love.”
Like, I see you banning books. What are you afraid of?
Is your truth so fragile, your parenting so ineffectual, and the power of your God so impotent that you can’t trust them to withstand the words, thoughts, perspectives, and experiences of others? What kind of love is that? With all due respect, it looks a lot like fear.
I see you standing against true human equality. What are you afraid of?
Is your identity, faith, and sense of self-worth so brittle that you can’t love yourself without lowering others–lording and demanding your privilege and superiority above all. Do you not trust God to care for your needs while equally meeting the needs of others? Is your identity in Christ not enough for your security, satisfaction, peace of mind, and self-assurance when you compare yourself and your life to others? What kind of love is that? I gotta tell you, it looks a lot like fear.
I see you condemning, shaming, and marginalizing the LGBTQ community. I mean, really, what are you afraid of?
Is your own sexuality so in question that you fear your own truth? Is your faith so thin and your ignorance so thick that you actually believe that being LGBTQ is a kind of virus one can catch? Does the silence of Jesus on the subject and the false translations of Scriptures used to condemn the LGBTQ community scare you so much that you have to condemn the LGBTQ community yourself because you don’t want people to find out that the Holy Spirit doesn’t? What kind of love is that? In all honesty, my friend, it looks a lot like fear.
I see you pushing to nationalize your faith and force it upon society. What are you afraid of?
Is your Gospel, reputation, and “love” for others so unappealing and your Holy Spirit so uncompelling that you need to mandate your faith into the lives of others in order to preserve its existence and give you power? What kind of love is that? No doubt about it, it looks a lot like fear.
I see you resisting and abusing immigrants. You gotta be kidding me, what are you afraid of?
Is your faith so dependent upon and protected by your brutal selfishness that to share space, blessings, dignity, respect, and existence with anyone different threatens the downfall of all of it? What kind of love is that? It looks a lot like fear.
I see you rejecting meaningful gun reform. My God, what are you afraid of?
That your toxic version of masculinity, upon which your brand of faith was founded, won’t survive without guns and the ability to kill? That without the capacity to threaten, intimidate, use violence, and force yourself and your beliefs, you and your faith system have no defense or power? That your God is so impotent and feeble that He needs aggression, weapons of war, and male domination to do His will? What kind of love is that? No mistake, it looks a lot like fear.
I see you denying women’s rights. What are you afraid of?
Is your faith so male-created, male-driven, male-codependent, male-insecure, male-immature, and male-fabricated that embracing the equal value, gifts, abilities, rights, respect, and dignity of women would send it crashing to the ground? Is your God so intimidated by females and insecure with His own divinity that He has to subdue and hide their true value, capacity, and power from the universe? What kind of love is that? There’s no denying, it looks a lot like fear.
I see you demonizing the poor and vulnerable. I mean, come on, what are you afraid of?
That people will see that poverty is your creation, not the poor’s? That you could solve it, but choose not to? That you worship socialism for the top and harsh capitalism for everyone else? That you benefit from keeping the poor and vulnerable remaining poor and vulnerable? That your “success” and their “failure” comes from a rigged system that benefits you and unfairly burdens them? That your ultimate attraction to helping the poor and the less fortunate is in colonizing them into your faith Empire? What kind of love is that? It looks a lot like fear, and lots of it.
And then I see you embracing sin and spiritually justifying immorality when it serves your purposes. What are you afraid of?
Is your faith so impotent that it needs to cheat, steal, lie, bully, and deceive in order to get its way? Are righteousness, humbleness, holiness, kindness, and goodness not good enough for you? Is your God so weak, frail, and inferior that, at times, He needs to conspire with darkness and partner with evil in order to survive and achieve His will? What kind of love is that? Because it walks, talks, and looks a lot like fear.
For Jesus says nothing to condemn the LGBTQ community, nothing to ban books, nothing to stand against true human equality, nothing to nationalize your faith, nothing to resist and abuse immigrants, nothing to reject non-violence, nothing to deny women’s rights, nothing to demonize the poor and vulnerable, nothing to embrace sin and spiritually justify immorality. But instead, He demands in endless litany “do not fear.” 365 times. Over and over again.
Yet still, you choose to condemn the LGBTQ community, ban books, stand against true human equality, nationalize your faith, resist and abuse immigrants, reject meaningful gun laws, deny women’s rights, demonize the poor and vulnerable, and embrace sin and spiritually justify immorality.
There is no fear in love, but apparently, there is certainly fear in you.
.
Grace is brave. Be brave.
Check out Chris’ latest book, Stupid Shit Heard In Church available on Amazon (link below)…
What people are saying:
“After reading just a few chapters, I had to schedule an appointment with my therapist, it’s that good.”
So much of what’s been made of “church” is a blasphemous degradation of the Jesus it pimps. Oozing rivers of pus-ladened evil upon a hurting world.
What God meant for healing is used to inflict pain. What God meant for inclusivity is used to assert supremacy. What God meant for peace is used to declare war. What God meant for love is used to justify hate.
Burn it down, all of it.
Every part that condemns the different. Every part that attracts the religious and scatters the broken. Every part that lifts men over women. Every part that oppresses the least-of-these and excites the privileged. Every part that creates conditions, restrictions, rules, and limits where God created none.
The world doesn’t need more buildings, campuses, stages, light shows, soundboards, celebrity pastors, conferences, committees, coalitions of the self-righteous, and cults with crosses on top.
Jesus doesn’t need more Membership 101 classes, mission statements, prayer formulas, name-engraved Bibles, devotionals on coffee tables, “be blessed” memes on social media, or to be branded and franchised for the masses.
Burn it down, all of it.
Not literally, but figuratively. Not with fire, but with resistance. Not with violence, but with truth.
If church is a place you go, you’ll never get there.
If church is a pastor you follow, you’re already lost.
If church is a belief to which you subscribe, you’re in prison.
If church is a lense through which to see and judge the world, you’re blind.
If church is a gathering of the like-minded, like-living, and like-agreeing, trust me, you’re in hell.
For when your highest priorities are opulent buildings, slick marketing, the best programs in town, and skinny jeans for the pastor, you don’t have a church, you have a business with a side hustle in Jesus.
When your highest aspiration is to nationalize your faith, gain power over society, and force your beliefs and values into the lives of all others, you don’t have a church, you have a bulldozer with Jesus as a hood ornament.
When your most important day of the week is Sunday, and your most important activity is a worship service, and your most important measure is the attendance, and your most important calculation is the offering, and your most important person is the pastor, and your most important communication is the sermon, and your most important mission is to colonize the world, and your most important leverage is fear, hell, sin, and the devil, and your most important message is “God loves you, but…” You don’t have a church, you have a spiritual veil to an empty faith.
It’s the poison, not the cure.
It’s greed, not generosity.
It’s power, not sacrifice.
It’s control, not freedom.
It’s condemnation, not Grace.
It’s your way, not the Way
It’s deception, not Truth.
It’s death, not Life
It’s darkness, not Light.
It’s fear, not Love.
It’s you, not Jesus.
Burn it down, all of it.
Love unconditionally, until it is no more.
Include all the marginalized, until it’s squelched of its hate.
Affirm all of the condemned, until it’s smoldering in irrelevance.
Embrace true equality, until it loses its power.
Stand with the least-of-these, until it falls to its knees.
Speak good news that’s good news for all, until it has nothing left to say.
Burn it down, all of it.
Jesus says so.
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Grace is brave. Be brave.
.
Check out Chris’ latest book, Stupid Shit Heard In Church available on Amazon (link below)…
What people are saying:
“After reading just a few chapters, I had to schedule an appointment with my therapist, it’s that good.”
It’s the best idea of those whose hearts long only for self, even to the destruction of others.
For colonization is greed wrapped in spiritual justification. It’s the face of evil masked in holiness.
It’s the stealing of what belongs to others and making it your own. It’s the taking of what God created for equality and highjacking it for supremacy. It’s the enslavement of what should be free and hoarding it for elitism. It’s the condemning of all that is divine and beautiful, and shaming it into religion. It’s the forcing of yourself into someone’s life and living, to the point that their life is no longer a life of their own.
It’s greed, selfishness, control, and power plastered with divine lipstick and the gloss of moral urgency. Nothing is good, divine, or worthy about it. Every sin that is sin is involved. Colonization is the fruition of corruption. It’s the wake of evil souls. It’s the manifestation of those who have exchanged love for lordship that they might bulldoze the world.
Fox News colonizing the truth.
Elon Musk colonizing Twitter.
A worship singer colonizing an airplane.
DeSantis colonizing Florida schools and Disney World.
Let’s call it what it is… it’s colonization, all of it.
Republicans colonizing women’s bodies.
Republicans colonizing human sexuality.
Republicans colonizing healthcare.
Republicans colonizing the economy.
Republicans colonizing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
White Evangelicals colonizing the Bible.
White Evangelicals colonizing Jesus.
White Evangelical men colonizing church and home.
White Evangelicals colonizing libraries.
White Evangelicals colonizing American history.
White Evangelical Christians colonizing everything and anything they can overpower into their submission.
History reveals the dark tale. If they can’t covert you, they will colonize you; if they can’t colonize you, they will crucify you. Sadly, it’s true, all of it.
There is nothing of Jesus, God, love, morality, holiness, or goodness involved. Only insatiable evil, salivating out of colonizing mouths gaping with spiritual depravity.
For when Jesus instructed, “Go make disciples of all nations” the word translated as “disciples” is actually the word “learners.”
Notice He didn’t say, “lorders.” He said, “learners.”
People learning Jesus-love, Jesus-feeding, Jesus-healthcare, Jesus-economy, Jesus-ranting-against-the-religious.
People learning Jesus-compassion, Jesus-equality, Jesus-generosity, Jesus-human-serving, and Jesus-least-of-these-defending.
For “learners” aren’t colonizers and condemners, “learners” are lovers and servants, just like Jesus.
If only Christianity had adopted the slogan, “No lords, only learners.” Oh, the world we’d be living in.
Colonization and colonizers have nothing to do with Jesus and everything to do with control, power, and ferocious greed.
It’s colonization, all of it. It’s what they do.
Let’s learn this.
Learn this now, before learning is colonized too.
It’s coming. It’s here. Look around.
Show up, show out. Like never before, the time is now.
“‘So tractable, so peaceable, are these people that I swear to your Majesties there is not in the world a better nation. They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy.’ All of this, of course was taken as a sign of weakness, if not hedonism, and Columbus being a righteous European was convinced the people should be ‘made to work, sow and do all that is necessary and to adopt our ways.’ Over the next four centuries (1492-1890) several million Europeans and their descendants undertook to enforce their ways upon the people of the New World.”
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Dee Brown (pgs 1-2)
It’s colonization, all of it.
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Grace is brave. Be brave.
Check out Chris’ latest book, Stupid Shit Heard In Church available on Amazon (link below)…
What people are saying:
“After reading just a few chapters, I had to schedule an appointment with my therapist, it’s that good.”
There’s no way around it, and I refuse to hide as if it’s shameful or indicative of some kind of deviance or weakness.
So much hate everywhere. There is almost nowhere where it is not. Every crack, seam, crevice, platform, and instance. No more gowns and hoods. No more gloves or inside handshakes. No more concealment, embarrassment, brake pumping, or situational empathy. All out in the open, proudly parading in the light of day, longing for open spaces and closed minds. Zero to sixty at the drop of a hat. The curtain has been pulled back. The scab has been picked. The cancer has metastasized. The cover has been opened of the American sewer. Unrestrained, unchecked, and unabated hate of every kind, spewing everywhere.
Sensory overload, news overload, trauma overload, opinion overload. “Do this, don’t do that” overload. Billboards, screens, “breaking news,” and algorithms raping our minds for every moment of our attention.
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. The oppressors keep winning, the oppressed keep suffering. Heartbreak and heavy lifting.
We’re all getting screwed. Everyone of us.
Only the few that hold all the cards are immune, drifting in yachts built by slavery ships and wooden canoes.
System after system designed to keep us dependent, compliant, and functioning just enough to serve their seven-deadly-sinning. Rats in a rat race designed by wolves. We are but cogs in the clock of those who rule our time.
The more we awake, the more they seduce our sleep. Distraction after distraction, dragging us around like dogs on a leash and spinning truth like a breakdancer on crack.
Lies are approved.
Violence is budgeted.
Oppression is focused-grouped.
Power and privilege are hoisted, legislated, and canonized as Scripture.
I’m tired of face-slap debates, knees on necks, and people-erasing.
I’m tired of trucks with confederate flags flying and spiritualized patriarchy.
I’m tired of Monday morning quarterbacking, Bible masturbating, and Transgender suicide legislating.
I’m tired of “don’t say gay,” don’t see slavery, don’t learn history, don’t trust science, don’t question systems, don’t report abuse, don’t deny men, don’t read books, don’t resist injustice, don’t free think, and don’t believe the truth that you are truly seeing.
Everywhere we turn. Every breath we breathe. It’s inescapable.
I’m so exhausted.
You’re exhausted. We’re exhausted.
It’s where we are, it’s who we are.
It’s our teary-eyed, tired-eyed communal lament.
It’s the closing of the blinds. The curling up into the fetal position.
So, I’m listening to jazz again, returning my soul to a simpler time.
Taking in stories of enduring value, goodness, and humankind.
I’m turning off the news, the screens, and the voices wasting my time.
I’m protecting the streams stirring within me, welling up within me, and opening the door only when it’s time.
I’m resting more. Being careful more. Listening to me, more.
To the blips on my own radar screen.
To my own pulse, presence, and people.
So, let’s rekindle, recalibrate, and renew together, that we might reconnect and resist all the more.
Cause I’m so exhausted, and I’m guessing you are too.
.
Grace is brave. Be brave.
Check out Chris’ latest book, Stupid Shit Heard In Church available on Amazon (link below)…
What people are saying:
“After reading just a few chapters, I had to schedule an appointment with my therapist, it’s that good.”
There you will see, so much of what is embedded and intertwined into Americanism is actually foreign to Jesus. In fact, He often lives and loves outside of Her, and often stands against Her. Her good that can be seen, the good that She can be, and the good in which many of us believe, is often overshadowed by the darkness She casts and the darkness She becomes.
Yes, the Jesus that so many worship as if He is an American is actually completely and unequivocally un-American. Sadly, their “America” and their “Jesus” is far from His heart, plan, and embodiment. In fact, if He ever came to America, they’d be the first and fastest to label Him as, “un-American.” Oh, oh say can you see… the irony.
For Jesus filled not the sails of Columbus, not the inkwells of the Constitution, nor the weapons that formed Her. Jesus raises no flag; pledges no allegiance; favors no nation. He cannot be legislated, elected, or sworn in as a citizen.
Jesus is “un-American.”
There is no such thing as lesser, depraved, or subhuman. For Jesus, being white isn’t the gold standard, human standard, divine standard, or red-white-and-blue standard for measuring the divinity, rights, innocence, potential, and value of any person. He doesn’t see the white man as the default expression of humanity and everyone else, a “race.” For Him, all are one-hundred percent human, sacred, worthy, valuable, God-imaged, and of the divine–all the time, everytime, anytime.
Apparently, Jesus is “un-American.”
Certainly, He is not a Christian, politician, nation, or faith. Instead, He is a person; fully human and fully divine–as are we, and as are all. His teachings are universal and of the Universe–He is all and in all. Jesus is not a road to be traveled, a way that is exclusive, a creed to be confessed, or a Lord to be feared. He cannot be written on a page, contained in a church, nor confined to any one faith. He is not a mascot, book, brand, logo, slogan, bill, lobbyist, spokesperson, school, college, band, style, party, PAC, or perfume sprayed by the privileged.
I’m guessing, Jesus is “un-American.”
He doesn’t have a dream to be dreamed, a status to be achieved, or a ceiling to break through. He doesn’t have an economy. He doesn’t have a currency. He doesn’t have borders, “illegals,” or immigrants. In Jesus, everyone is a citizen in full union and communion. All are equally “in” and all are equally “free.”
Yes, Jesus is “un-American.”
When Jesus commands the rich to prioritize the poor instead of exploiting them, He is un-American.
When Jesus commands the rich to generously share their wealth instead of hoarding it, He is un-American. When Jesus commands the rich to place people over profit, He is un-American. When Jesus declares, “the first will be last and the last will first” and the best way to calibrate your mindset, heart, life, and agenda, He is surely “un-American.”
When Jesus turns over the tables of greedy, manipulative, unethical, and deceptive money swindlers stepping over people to get ahead, He is un-American. When Jesus vehemently rants against the religious ruling class and calls out their fakery, evil, self-righteousness, and blasphemy, He is un-American. When Jesus admonishes Peter to put down his sword and choose a nonviolent path, He is surely “un-American.”
When Jesus feeds thousands for free without demanding a drug test, work plan, or valid license, He is un-American. When Jesus provides healthcare, healing, and comfort for the downtrodden regardless of income or financial capacity, He is un-American.
When Jesus praises and upholds examples of workers being compensated equally and generously in a way that tilts the scales towards the less fortunate becoming more fortunate instead of the wealthy, He is surely “un-American.”
When Jesus uplifts, empowers, and treats women as equals, Jesus is un-American. When Jesus refuses political gain, leveraging, inside handshakes, and deals with the powerful, Jesus is un-American. When Jesus demands that we love our neighbor as ourselves, Jesus is un-American. When Jesus disproportionately sides with the oppressed, unproductive, displaced, condemned, forgotten, and the falsely accused, Jesus is un-American. When Jesus pronounces the least as the greatest, the outside as the inside, the different as the designed, the unsaved as the saved, the doubters as the faithful, the weak as the strong, and the meek as the divinely favored, Jesus is surely “un-American.”
Yes, the Jesus that so many worship as if He is an American is actually completely and unequivocally un-American. Sadly, their “America” and their “Jesus” is far from His heart, plan, and embodiment. In fact, if He ever came to America, they’d be the first and fastest to label Him as…
“un-American.”
.
Grace is brave. Be brave.
Check out Chris’ latest book, Stupid Shit Heard In Church…
Bezos, Branson, and whoever else is in the billionaire bitch mix.
I have something to say.
We have something to say.
No, there is no illusion that you will listen nor consider the words.
Yet still, hear the pounding sounds of countless shouting from the wilderness, with middle fingers raised firm and high, “F*ck you, space billionaires.”
That’s right, f*ck you and the space-cock you fly in.
I wish it weren’t true, but it’s the only linguistic that can suffice. You deserve every and all profanity because yours is a profane life.
It gives me no pleasure in declaring the truth that, while deemed the richest by some, you are, in fact, the poorest of the earth. Your heart, your compassion, your being, and your soul are thoroughly bankrupt. The debt you owe to society for your evil avarice and neglect towers high above the diabolical throne upon which you squat and drop your selfish stew all over the world. Connect all the piping throughout the world, no sewage system can contain your wasted life.
For your greed, not your wealth, has blinded you to the rest of the world. Your riches have become a veil to an empty, darkened, and diseased sense of purpose as to what it means to be human.
We can see underneath the curtain of your wizardry. You have never set out to be generous, philanthropic, or even fair. If you had, you wouldn’t be a billionaire circle-jerking with your boys in space. Instead, every person your influence has touched would be living lives far removed from the burdens they carry. And, your life would be publicly common and secretly generous to the extreme.
But, that is not you, and that has not been your choice. You’re a taker, not a giver.
You have built your empire of materiality and self-centeredness on the backs of people. You didn’t achieve it, they did. The risks weren’t for their benefit, they were for yours. The hard work wasn’t for them, it was for you.
When Jesus, a true man of greatness, cast a vision for His life, it was to help the world not exploit it, all at the cost of His sacrifice, not others.
When Jesus worked hard, it was to extravagantly and disproportionately care for and bless all people, not use them, abandon them, and run their lives into the ground.
When Jesus was given all power and authority in heaven and on earth, He immediately began washing people’s feet.
When you have been given virtually all power to change the world, you ride your cunt-capsule to the stars.
See the difference.
You are not the American dream, the European dream, or any dream. You are a scheme, through and through. You don’t live for people, you live from people; a leech raping all who are enslaved to the very economic system you exploit. A system of easy socialism for the top, and brutal capitalism for the bottom. Yet, regardless of one’s economic preferences or ideology, one pivotal truth remains–no one becomes a billionaire without becoming the equivalent sum of evil.
But you don’t care, your life tells the story. You don’t give a shit, and that’s the problem.
Any good that you have done, which I am sure is worthy of applause, has unfortunately been a collateral blessing along your self-seeking pursuit to the title, “Narcissist of the World.”
You say, “Look at the jobs we have created, look at the science we have developed.” Bullshit, bullshit, and more bullshit. Your employees, the suffering, the world-changing potential of your power, and the environment all cry out, “bullshit.”
Imagine what you could do for planet earth.
Imagine what you could do for life-saving and life-giving medicine.
Imagine what you could do to end world poverty.
Imagine what you could do to rescue climate change.
Imagine what you could do for economic, educational, and judicial equality.
Imagine what you could do for mental, physical, and emotional health.
Imagine what you could do for the differently-abled.
Imagine.
Imagine.
Imagine.
Yet sadly, there is no need for imagination, you could easily do it all, and still have room for the gold-leafed toilet paper that wipes your cold, white ass.
But you don’t and you won’t, because you can’t see beyond the micropenis of your soul.
While others may bow and genuflect at your presence and power, I’m not impressed.
No, I’m disgusted at your disgustingness.
I would never want to be like you.
Imagine the compromises, imagine the callousness, imagine the rationalizations, imagine the evil that would have to be adopted into one’s life and heart in order to become like you.
You are not success, you are not admirable, and you are not good.
The devil’s crotch smells of flowers compared to your stench.
You are the worst of what humanity can become, not because of what you have done, but because of what you leave undone.
You literally have the power to change and transform the world.
You literally have the power to positively and significantly impact every life on planet earth.
Let me repeat that for those in the back of your flying space dildo…
You literally have the power to positively and significantly impact every life on planet earth.
But you don’t, and you won’t.
You could literally save the world, but instead, you turn your back on it.
So, from my heart, our heart, the heart of planet earth, and all living things…
F*ck you, space billionaires.
F*ck you.
.
Grace is brave. Be brave.
.–Check out Chris Kratzer’s book getting rave reviews… Stupid Shit Heard In Church.
You can pressure me, guilt me, shame me, and lure me with gold.
I can’t vote for Trump, the Bible tells me so.
Not just tells me, but screams it into my soul.
Starting with abortion.
The Scripture writer declared, “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.” Jeremiah 6:14-16
In this passage from the Bible, God is upset. The religious people of the day are exploiting harmful problems for personal, political gain and not addressing their true solutions. They act like they care, but intentionally allow the issues to remain unresolved. They outwardly insist that they desire a way forward, but inwardly they have no real desire at all.
Trump and many conservative Evangelicals treat “abortion” the same. They outwardly declare that they are “pro-life” and detest abortion. They feverishly rant against how many “babies” are being murdered. Many make abortion their defining issue as to the reason why they support Trump. They posture themselves as wanting to make it illegal, as if that was the cure. It all looks and sounds so spiritual to the casual observer. Yet, inwardly, they have little-to-no heart for a real solution. For if they did, they would be addressing, providing for, and adopting the proven remedies that positively impact abortion. But, they don’t.
Instead, with deceit, they want to keep the abortion issue alive because it manipulates their voters. It’s a political false flag, the last card they have in their deck. Without it, they have no drum to beat and no provocative enemy upon which to summon their troops to fight. The need to create the illusion that they lead the way against abortion while making sure it remains unresolved, that they might remain in power.
In fact, perfectly credible and widely known statistics show that abortion rates have gone down significantly with the kind of Democratic leadership that approaches abortion wholistically and addresses the real issues that can bring real change. Yet sadly, these same statistics reveal that under Republican leadership, abortion significantly increases–that’s the facts. Yet, with Trump at their side, conservatives ”do not even know how to blush” at the truth about abortion, how they expoit it, and how they resist actual remedies. Instead, they declare “Pro-life, pro-life” where there is no pro-life among them. All in hopes of drowning the biblical voice crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the ways of the Lord to heal abortion and cure its causes.”
Like most people, I detest abortion. I want to see it become a non-issue in our society. I want to see it remedied by real people who really care, who are willing to apply the difficult, but real solutions that work. I’m tired of people who are more interested in politics than life.
That’s why I can’t vote for Trump, the Bible tells me so.
Or, how about unrepentant sin.
Most everyone agrees that sin is bad. Even Trump supporters acknowledge that he is an overly sinful man. All of the Seven Deadly Sins listed in the Bible, Trump blatantly exudes–no question about that. In fact, for some Trump supporters, they love his rebellious spirit, even against God. Yet, right in the face of the Bible, Christians who support Trump wave their many flags of excuses such as, “Everyone sins,” “We’re not electing a pastor” or, “Look at David in the Bible, he sinned, but God used him.”
To be sure, those statements are true. However, in Scripture, there is a huge, defining difference. God never raised up anyone for leadership who didn’t first repent of their sins. Not one, period. Scripturally, repentance has always been a precursor for being lifted up by God.
Yet, without any pause in their biblical steps, for many Christians who support Trump, they believe God anointed Him for leadership and to do His will in America and beyond. However, given the fact that Trump has never repented of his sins, even when given the chance, this is a biblical impossibility. In fact, in many conservative Evangelical churches, Trump couldn’t even qualify to become their janitor without a repentance of sins, but somehow he can become their God-appointed President?
Still to this day, Trump refuses to repent. How do I know? The “fruits of repentance” that John the Baptist insisted upon in Scripture are nowhere to be found in Trump.
“But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.’” Mathew 3:7-8
Trump is undeniably the same lying, profane, greedy, mocking, bullying, divisive, jealous, arrogant, narcissistic, and hateful man he was at the beginning of his presidency. That’s not a judgement, it’s an inescapable observation. Despite the lipstick Evangelicals want to put on this pig, God is not interested in Trump’s appearances of meeting with Evangelicals, closing his eyes during prayers, randomly using Christian jargon, or waving a Bible around. Instead, He is interested in a humble, genuinely contrite heart. Sadly, a heart Trump neither has nor apparently desires.
As Jesus warned in Scripture, no unrepented, sin-ladened Trump-like tree can “produce good fruit.”
I want divine goodness for America. I want integrity and decency in our leadership. I want humble, teachable, kind people at the helm who show strength through maturity and stability.
That’s why I can’t vote for Trump, the Bible tells me so.
But, what about the lies?
Yes, 20,000 documented lies or misleading statements since Trump was elected. Certainly, by now, he must be giving the Father of Lies a run for his money. With this blatant stronghold of deceit and lying manifested in Trump’s life and leadership, to willfully follow him, vote for him, or give him loyalty is to pledge yourself to evil, is it not? How can it be anything different?
“No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.” Psalm 101:7
“Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool—how much worse lying lips to a ruler!” Proverbs 17:7
“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” Proverbs 12:22
Most Christian Trump supporters insist that the LGBTQ community is biblically declared an “abomination” to the Lord and should never be supported, followed, or given influence in our society. Yet, these same Christians joyfully give a man, who the Bible declares as a lying “abomination,” their praise, worship, and anointing as a healthy, worthy, divine leader. How can this possibly be? For it’s certainly not biblical.
“Let me describe for you a worthless and a wicked man; first, he is a constant liar; he signals his true intentions to his friends with eyes and feet and fingers. He is always thinking up new schemes to swindle people. He stirs up trouble everywhere. But he will be destroyed suddenly, broken beyond hope of healing.” Proverbs 6:12-16
Most recently, Trump was caught lying to the American people about the severity of the Covid-19 virus. Once again, declaring “Peace, peace” where there is no peace. In fact, long after he knew about the lethal severity of the virus he labeled it a “hoax.” Trump lied, 200,000 people have died.
The Bible clearly teaches, nothing of God ever comes from lying.
I want a truthful President. I want leadership that places honesty over personal gain. I want to be led by people who believe that “the truth shall set you free,” even if that truth is unpopular, difficult, or alarming. I want the Father of Lies not to be an object of political aspiration, but the subject of human and societal rejection.
That’s why I can’t vote for Trump, the Bible tells me so.
Enter, the immigrant, refugee, and the foreigner.
No one wants illegal immigration or open borders as a national policy, regardless of how conservative Evangelical Trump supporters label the position of progressives. Once again, Trump supporters seem to relish in creating issues that aren’t real to deflect from addressing the ones that are.
If America is a Christian nation, what happens when immigration (illegal or not) happens? How, biblically, are we to treat the foreigners and immigrants among us, no matter how they arrive? What happens with refugees who come to our border? And, how are we to biblically treat those who seek asylum and new life within our country?
The Bible has crystal clear answers.
“Do notmistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Exodus 22:21
“When the alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as a citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:33-34
“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.” Leviticus 19:9-10
“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.” (1 Kings 8:41-44)
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:5
“For the Lord your God…loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:18-19
“The Lord watches over the strangers…” Psalm 146
“The aliens shall be to you as citizens, and shall also be allotted an inheritance.” Ezekiel 47:21
“…I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:31 (Jesus speaking)
Notice, Jesus doesn’t say they, “caged me,” “abused me,” “neutered me,” “separated me from family,” “starved me,” “made immigration nearly impossible for me,” “mocked me,” “slandered me,” or “murdered me.”
No, he said of His true followers, they “welcomed” me.
Sadly, this is not the policy of president Trump, nor the Republicans, nor the desires of many of his Christian supporters, even the ones who claim their faithfulness to the Bible and its infallible inerrancy. What God admonishes, they resist.
For if you take the Scriptures seriously, the immigrant, the refugee, and the foreigner should not just be “welcomed” with sacrificial hospitality, but “wanted” as God’s own favored blessing. They should be lifted high among all others. They should be loved, protected, and provide for with the same passion we love, protect, and provide for ourselves. They are not to be objects of resentment, oppression, rejection, exploitation, or inconvenience. Rather, they should be honored as angels sent from above. They are us, and we are them. For in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile.”
I want a country in sync with God’s heart for the immigrant, the foreigner, the alien, and refugee. I want a country in step with God’s biblical, unconditional “welcome,” “want,” and generous care for those outside of our borders who desire to come, live, and find new life within us.
That’s why I can’t vote for Trump, the Bible tells me so.
But perhaps, most of all, loving your neighbor as yourself.
“‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Matthew 12:31
“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” Matthew 5:44
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18
As a former white, conservative Evangelical pastor of 20 years, I know deeply how the system works. I’m not trying to slam the faith or the people within it, but the unbiblical evils must be chased out of the shadows, especially the hate of love among so many.
For most everything within white, conservative Evangelicalism isn’t focused on having a neighbor to love, but rather based upon having an enemy that must be hated. Fear of these enemies is the ultimate motivator, not love. They will create it, fabricate it, and inflame it. For they are nothing without fear and the hate it awakens…
If we love minorities as ourselves, they’ll take over the church and society, and we’ll lose our white church, white way of life, and white power.
If we love black people as ourselves with true equality, true police accountability, true legal fairness, true economic justice, and true opportunity, we’ll have to admit our racism and white privilege, lose our white way of life, and surrender our white power.
If we love our wives as ourselves and remove the requirement that they must submit to us unquestionably, they’ll take over the family, usurp male power, and run the church and society into the ground.
If we love the LGBTQ community as ourselves, our patriarchal power will be dismantled, God will punish our life, and all of white, male-driven, conservative Christianity will be flushed down the drain.
If we love special needs people as ourselves, we’ll have to make an honored and equal place for them in society, overpowering our “normal” lives with inconvenience.
If we love the least-of-these as ourselves with economic equality, free health care, free college, a living wage, social security, long-term care, and the removal of poverty, we won’t be able to fund our industrial military complex and foster our diabolical economic system of socialism for top and capitalism for the bottom.
If we love the environment as ourselves with significant building and development restrictions, environmental controls, and clean energy standards and investments, we won’t be able to feed our insatiable appetites for economic and personal greed.
“Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least among you, you did not do for me.'” -Matthew 25:41-45
“He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich–both come to poverty.” -Proverbs 22:16
“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” -Ezekiel 16:49
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” James 2:8-9
See, where God admonishes that our highest motivation should be the unconditional love and care for all of humanity equally, in contrast, there is truly no other fuel that drives the Evangelical Death Star than having enemies to fear, hate, marginalize, fight, and treat unequally.
This is why Trump has the addictive support and allegiance of most conservative Evangelicals. For the only thing they understand is fear, and Trump speaks their language like no other. He mocks special needs people, bullies his perceived enemies, embraces racism, fosters white supremacy, mistreats women, ignites division, worships greed, and loves himself above all things.
Biblically, this is the ultimate blaspheme of the Spirit.
To see love as the enemy.
To see fear as the friend.
To see enemies as the goal.
To fight at all cost, with lies, violence, duplicity, and sin.
To see a white, conservative, Republican, American Jesus as the way, truth, and life.
To see white, conservative Evangelicalism as the Kingdom.
I want a President with whom love is greater than fear. I want a country where to love all people equally is a friend and not an enemy. I want the character of a great person, a great society, a great economy, and a great nation to be defined by their love for all people equally, not fear nor hate.
That’s why I can’t vote for Trump, the Bible tells me so.
Grace is brave. Be brave.
–Check out Chris Kratzer’s book getting rave reviews… Stupid Shit Heard In Church.
So, you support President Donald Trump. Perhaps you believe he has been sent by God to recalibrate America back to your brand of Christian faith. Maybe you simply hated Hillary, or felt the need for an outsider to cleanse Washington of political corruption.
Whatever the rationale, you likely have many opinions about our President and the reasonings for your vote and continued allegiance. However, I wonder if you’ve given much energy to considering what his true thoughts and opinions might be of you, a conservative Christian. He obviously has your loyalty, but what is the basis of his new found interest in you?
I know, we would all like to think that those we support and admire have our well-being at heart. We’d hope that our respect for them is reciprocal, and that their exploiting of our strengths and weaknesses would be an impossibility, given what we perceive to be their character. Never would we want to believe that the hands that feed us could be the same ones that are abusing and using us for personal gain. To be sure, when we feel that we have been wronged for so long (as I know you do), the elixir of those who promise salvation makes it hard to see, hear, and reason with clarity. Instead, with new found hope, our guards are let down and our radar screens turned off to the blips and sirens that should inform us.
No, I’m not writing to criticize your support of President Donald Trump. Rather, I hope to challenge you to consider why Trump solicits and embraces you so passionately for your support in the first place.
Sadly, what I suspect to be his true thoughts and motives aren’t pleasant nor easy to hear, for anyone. Yet, as a former conservative Christian, I know intimately what it’s like to be used spiritually, emotionally, financially, and politically by people whose interests were ultimately dubious at best. Trust me, once it’s happened to you, you don’t forget it. And perhaps the only good thing that emerges from it is the heightened capacity you gain to identify it when you see it transpiring again.
Unfortunately, my conservative Christian friend, I think it’s happening to you, because here’s what I see and believe Trump really thinks…
Trump thinks you’re stupid— It’s no new revelation that exceedingly sinful, rich, boasting, self-reliant people who haven’t placed their faith in Jesus Christ typically think that Christians (especially conservative ones) and their beliefs are basically stupid. For them, though they certainly wouldn’t say it this way, Christianity is for lesser people. People who are weak, impressionable, ignorant, needy, and gullible. They don’t go to church, read the Bible, nor believe in repentance because deep down they’ve determined it’s a significant downgrade to their life and IQ to do so.
Trump is no different. In fact, recently he used the blasphemous term, “Goddamn” with great ease in a public rally and once proudly stated that he has, “never asked God for forgiveness.” Only when it mattered for his election, did he begin to warm up to Christianity. Yet, even then, only as far as to say, “Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence, somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind.”
All politics aside, that sounds much more like a political acquiescence or something a child would say about their teddy bear than it does anything like a confession of true belief, care, and devotion to Jesus Christ, does it not?
As a continued arrogant, carnal, blasphemous, unrepentant unbeliever, Trump obviously thinks that repentance, faith, and faithfulness are for stupid people, not a “stable genius” like himself.
Trump thinks you’re gullible— In his mind, because you are willing to subscribe to the conservative Christian faith, which to him is fundamentally stupid and the stuff of ignorance and weakness, he thinks you have the gullibility to believe in anything. Trump knows that you’re trying to convert him and bring him to your side, but he also believes you’re gullible enough to conclude that your efforts are working. That’s why he throws you a spiritual bone from time to time and echoes your conservative Evangelical talking points. He sees in your gullibility that you’re desperate. So he lies right to your face, plays both sides of the fence, sleeps in your bed just enough for you to think he’s committed, and bullies all the right people for you to be convinced that he’s loyal. He thinks you are so gullible that he can say and do as he pleases, and your fidelity will be unwavering.
Trump thinks you’re weak— Because he believes you are stupid and gullible as a conservative Christian, he also believes you are willing to do nearly anything with anyone to prosper and protect your power and privilege in society. Believe it or not, he’s read the history books and has seen with his own calculated eyes what conservative Christianity has been willing to embrace in order to prosper. He sees the weakness in character, integrity, and true faith within much of conservative American Christianity. He sees that no other religious group is willing to sell their souls for the hope of power than conservative Christianity. He sees their capacity to spiritualize and rationalize nearly any form of evil that charts a path of white, conservative Christian dominance in society. He sees the conservative Christian weakness that ensues when the promise of power is dangled in front of their eyes. And so he dangles, and dangles, and dangles until all are entranced and unhinged from the person of Jesus and, instead, addicted to him and the promise of power. A power that will seem like it yours, but it is, in fact, ultimately his. A power that will turn on you when you are no longer needed, be not deceived.
Trump thinks you’re expendable— He’s in it to win it. But, not for you and not for Christianity, not even America. He’s in it for himself. Make no mistake, you’re the means to an end. You’re the disposable needle to his insatiable lust for power. It feels like you’re connected, like you’re a team together on the path towards victory. Only until that day he gets his fix or finds a new dealer, and tosses you into the trash. Trump doesn’t think you are the prize, he thinks you’re the stupid, gullible, weak, expendable box that gets thrown away once everything has been opened and revealed. His loyalty is for the moment. His interest is for a time. His promises are for a season. When the moment is gone, the time is up, and the season ends, so too will your value be to him.
Yes, conservative Christian, here’s what Trump really thinks of you…
You’re stupid.
You’re gullible.
You’re weak.
You’re expendable.
My question for you is…
Is he right?
Grace is brave. Be brave.
–Check out Chris Kratzer’s new book getting rave reviews… Leatherbound Terrorism.
In Leatherbound Terrorism, Chris chases the evils of conservative Evangelicalism out of the shadows and gives powerful voice to the cries of the religiously oppressed. Confronting issues like racism, sexism, homophobia, religious greed, hypocrisy, nationalism, white supremacy, privilege, and the weaponizing of the Bible, Leatherbound Terrorism pulls no punches. Endorsed by best selling authors Steve McVey and Baxter Kruger, Leatherbound Terrorism will challenge you, inspire you, and most certainly cause you to rethink your faith and life.
In a world where diversity should be celebrated, we need to demonstrate the maturity to peacefully and fairly live life among people with whom we disagree. Being open to conversation, dialogue, and differing opinions are critical ingredients.
Yet, where harm, injustice, inequality, greed, suffering, and evil are the poisoned fruits served at the table, clear distinctions must be made and boundaries must be asserted. For there can be no peace until there is first truth.
In fact, sometimes, division is a necessary and holy outcome from the interactions between those who side with that which is right and those who stand with that which is wrong. Light and darkness, universally, cannot and do not mix.
As a white, male, former conservative Evangelical pastor of 21 years, I intimately know the system of belief to which you hold. That’s why my ardent confrontation is not with you, but the evil brand of faith that has seduced you, as it once did me. We are all human, beautifully and wonderfully made—each one of us.
Yes, I want to save you.
I want to rescue you from the religious claws that suffocate you. I want to emancipate you from the disease that sucks the marrow out of your soul. I want to wipe clean the scales that blind your sight. Not as one who is judging, but one who has wept and suffered in your same prison, who now is breathing for the first time and embracing true freedom.
“You’re wrong. You’re flat out wrong.” These were the words, these were considerations, and these were the ringing bells that silenced my religious intoxication and dragged me to liberty.
I fought it at first. How could this be? It’s what I’ve been taught all my life. People I respected told me, sold me, and groomed my mind and spirit. I’m not stupid, gullible, or easily misled. No, as it turns out, just selfish, afraid, and impressionable. Like you, I thought that the Gospel, a white Jesus, and the American dream were ultimately all about me—my future, my freedom, my success, my faith, my fulfillment, and my destiny. I swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. All I had to do was cut and paste what the pastor said, and peace, prosperity, and living-my-best-life would follow.
Trust me, I’ve been there, done that, and have the t-shirt.
So, from a place of real experience and genuine understanding come these urgent words. As much as I hated hearing them, it’s equally uncomfortable to speak them, but nothing gets any better without the truth… conservative Trump-supporting Christian, you’re wrong.
You’re wrong about the Bible, wrong about God, wrong about Jesus, wrong about the Gospel, wrong about faithfulness, wrong about America, and wrong about freedom.
How do I know that? How can I be certain?
It’s simple—by the fruits of your beliefs. That’s what Jesus taught me—see the fruit and you’ll see the foundation. And sadly, with all due love and respect, when it comes to your Trump-supporting Christian conservatism, it’s all so disturbing if you’re willing to look.
You don’t insist on being last, you insist on being first.
You don’t sell all your possessions and give to the poor, you line your pockets with greedy systems of personal prosperity.
You don’t welcome the stranger, you cage them.
You don’t see the meek, the poor in spirit, and the mourning as blessed, you see them is inferior, problematic, and roadblocks to your future.
You don’t gather crowds and feed them with equality and grace, you exploit the masses and leverage them for your gain.
You don’t pray in closets, wash feet, and take up your cross, you insist on your own way in all of society. You seek to nationalize your faith, lord it over people, and gather in religious clubs with crosses on top. You take up your guns, the American flag, and your Bibles as weapons to prosper and preserve your self-centered brand of believing and living.
These are the fruits of the Trump-supporting conservative Evangelical spirit.
You don’t give without fanfare and personal attention, you send shoeboxes of white Christian superiority to poor black and brown children. You create memes of your morning coffee with a highlighted Bible and quotes from Scripture hoping to impress others. You take selfies with brown and black kids, post them on social media, and pray they stay in their own countries.
You don’t live less sinful lives, you live quite the opposite. The faking it, hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and carnality surpasses most other humans. In fact, conservative Christians have a divorce rate of 50% compared to 20% for atheists. More conservative Christians have been arrested for inappropriate behavior in bathrooms than any within the Transgender community. 60% of conservative Christian pastors admit to frequently viewing porn—some, even on Sundays. Conservative Christian celebrity pastors end up living far more expensive, gluttonous lifestyles than nearly anyone in their cities, let alone their churches. The Native American Indian was murdered and pillaged at the hands of conservative Christians. Black slavery and murders were committed largely by conservative Christians. Mass shootings in America are the highest of any country largely because of the worship of guns by conservative Christians. Truth be told, America has become a far less moral, holy, and divine country because of conservative Christianity—period, full stop.
How can this be?
Because of a false faith system that entices sin instead of resolving it. It inspires selfishness, not sacrifice and service. It empowers hate, violence, and greed, not subduing and rendering it Godless. It solicits useless and inaccurate anxieties instead of embracing peace and goodness.
In fact, when it’s all said and done, the conservative Evangelical brand of faith simply doesn’t work. That’s why you have to keep coming, giving, trying, striving, performing, lying, pretending, fearing, and condemning. It’s a religious treadmill that only sends you backwards as it keeps you running—running from truth, running from Grace, and running to appease an angry god and cleanse the world of all that is different and disagreeing.
This is what you fear, and this is why you fear.
You’re afraid, like I once was, that the confirmation of global warming, the emergence of human equality, women’s rights, faith plurality, cultural diversity, economic equity, and a universal morality will all reveal the truth—you’re wrong. Not just wrong, but evil. Not just evil, but the enemy, as these long held beliefs have long been a part of the problem, not the solution. They work against the Kingdom of God and stand contrary to the heart and ways of Jesus. Everybody sees it, but you refuse.
So like a drunk, it seems to be all too clear, you’d rather die than admit your addiction and deception.
That’s why you blindly support Trump. That’s why you deny the refugee. That’s why you resist gun control. That’s why you give a pass to white supremacy. That’s why you demonize democratic socialism. That’s why you seek to nationalize your brand of believing. That’s why you twist, abuse, and rewrite the Bible and the Constitution.
You’re afraid. You’re afraid of what you know deep down in your spirit—you’re wrong.
Jesus says so, and you know it.
You don’t have to discriminate in order to insure your value and importance in society.
You don’t have to believe in a hell of eternal torture in order to motivate people to cling to your beliefs and validate the purpose of Jesus.
You don’t have to hold onto a faith of personal performance in order to have the peace of mind that your future is eternally secure and God’s not going to abandon you.
You don’t have to deny science in order to secure your economic future.
You don’t have to pre-qualify people for love, you can just love unconditionally.
You don’t have to believe the Bible is inerrant and infallible in order to assert the divinity of your creeds and control people towards your ideologies.
You don’t have to be first, supreme, entitled, privileged, and deemed the only partakers of truth in order to see your faith and values have a meaningful place in society.
You don’t have to foster the downfall of all others in order to see your own success and prosperity.
Others don’t have to lose in order for you to win.
Isn’t it beautiful?
Yes, indeed, salvation has come as we don’t have to be so self-absorbed and hijack Jesus to spiritually justify it.
Instead, we can learn and trust the ways of the Master—to give more than take, to confess instead of condemn, to serve rather than to be served, and to put others before, instead of behind and below. We can embrace and trust the divine within all things, instead of only recognizing Her within ourselves and our own.
–Check out Chris Kratzer’s new book getting rave reviews… Leatherbound Terrorism.
In Leatherbound Terrorism, Chris chases the evils of conservative Evangelicalism out of the shadows and gives powerful voice to the cries of the religiously oppressed. Confronting issues like racism, sexism, homophobia, religious greed, hypocrisy, nationalism, white supremacy, privilege, and the weaponizing of the Bible, Leatherbound Terrorism pulls no punches. Endorsed by best selling authors Steve McVey and Baxter Kruger, Leatherbound Terrorism will challenge you, inspire you, and most certainly cause you to rethink your faith and life.
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