Dear Susan: You Are Endorsing What God Calls an Abomination

What kind of love is it to call a fellow human being, maybe even your own child, an abomination? What kind of love is it to tell someone they are going to hell? That you are disgusted by them because of something they are doing? What kind of love is it to tell someone they are no longer welcome in church, or welcome in their own home because of who they are or what they do??

And how can someone do any or all of that in Jesus name??

One of my readers says and does those kinds of things, all in the name of being “obedient” to God.

Let’s talk…

I write Dear Susan posts every Friday. Sometimes they will be poignant, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes tender, sometimes funny… but hopefully always worth the read.

Dear Susan,

I will not be a party to any group which condones or endorses that which God’s Word calls an abomination. You can delete my comments if you want.

All Done

Dear Done,

I’m sorry to see you go. I’d like to just give you a couple of things to ponder as you leave…

Jesus never meant for us to cut and dry the rules and then hold people accountable to them. It’s not our job and not what he asked of us. In fact, he made very clear that we don’t have his eyes, and we need to leave the work to him. That’s why he said, you just love! Love God, love others. Everything else will fit into that.

I know that is very uncomfortable when we’ve been taught so much about changing our behavior, we’ve been taught so much about outward appearance, about living “Godly” lives.

(A thought… maybe living a Godly life has nothing at all to do with our behavior, but everything to do with how we love people.)

If you are worried about ‘being party’ to abominations, then let me ask you this: Do you eat any type of pork? Do you eat shellfish? Do you wear any polyblend or other mixed-fabric shirt? All of those are abominations. Do you have any contact with your wife or daughters during or two weeks after their period? That is an abomination. Do you watch football, which is men handling a pigskin, which is an abomination. I could go on.

I’m not saying this to be a jerk! I’m saying it because if we are going to responsibly ‘divide the Word’, then we have to be honest about what it says, what it means, who wrote it and who it was written to and why… not just simply read the words in a current translation and not what we think it says or have been told it says.

We toss the word ‘abomination’ around, when we commit abominations every day. It’s important that we let God show us the true intention here. That is what the Spirit of God does in each of our lives.

Adherence to the law will not get you where you want to be. And to avoid “condoning or supporting” those you determine are wrong will not get you there either.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were the best law-keepers you have ever seen! They were extraordinary at it! And it got them on the wrong side of Jesus every time.

So what does Jesus want? What does God want? Why did Jesus say to them, these extraordinarily obedient religious people: “Go and find out what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'”

I hope these questions stay with you as you move on to whatever is next in your life.

Best to you,

Susan