{"id":3822,"date":"2013-12-05T08:25:56","date_gmt":"2013-12-05T14:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freedhearts\/?p=3822"},"modified":"2013-12-05T08:25:56","modified_gmt":"2013-12-05T14:25:56","slug":"the-front-of-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freedhearts\/2013\/12\/05\/the-front-of-the-line\/","title":{"rendered":"The Front of the Line"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freedhearts\/2013\/12\/05\/the-front-of-the-line\/standing-in-line2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3830\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3830\" alt=\"Standing-in-Line2\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/487\/2013\/12\/standing-in-line2.jpg?w=300\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\"><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe ground is level at the foot of the cross.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Standing in line is leveling. Egalitarian.\u00a0I was recently\u00a0standing in line at a store and noted the variety of people. Some were more\u00a0accomplished, articulate, or attractive than others. But no one gets to the front based on those merits, only by the equal investment of standing in line. In\u00a0childhood we learn to stand in line, and if someone cuts, it affronts our sense of fairness.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus is leveling as well. Some may be more accomplished,\u00a0more pious, or more obedient than others, but no one gets in based on those merits. We get in based on a relationship with him. Period. Our accomplishments don\u2019t do it, nor does getting in good with the pastor. I rather love that. We don\u2019t have to have the right family, or money, or even (contrary to common thought) good behavior to be right with him. \u00a0He offers a place of peace and restoration to each one of us directly, and each one of us can accept that offer directly.\u00a0We don\u2019t even have to be heterosexual to be in!<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know what tradition was trained into you, but you don\u2019t have to do a certain thing or be a certain way to be\u00a0acceptable, I don\u2019t care who is telling you otherwise. You don\u2019t need a <a href=\"http:\/\/biblehub.com\/1_timothy\/2-5.htm\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">mediator<\/a>, you don\u2019t need to pay a <a href=\"http:\/\/biblehub.com\/genesis\/15-6.htm\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">penalty<\/a>. You <a href=\"http:\/\/biblehub.com\/matthew\/11-28.htm\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">don\u2019t need to change <\/a>your orientation.\u00a0You are\u00a0welcome into relationship with God through Jesus regardless of any other factors! You just get to come. Isn\u2019t that something?<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/quicksearch\/?quicksearch=come+to+me+all+who+are+weary&amp;qs_version=NASB\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Come to me<\/a>\u00a0ALL who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest\u2026 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=john%203:16&amp;version=NASB\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">For God so loved the world<\/a> that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life!\u2026\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Romans%208:38-39&amp;version=NASB\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">For I am convinced<\/a> that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>I wish to you\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Philippians%204:7&amp;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">the peace of God<\/a>,\u00a0which surpasses all understanding, to guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Much love.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe ground is level at the foot of the cross.\u201d Standing in line is leveling. Egalitarian.\u00a0I was recently\u00a0standing in line at a store and noted the variety of people. Some were more\u00a0accomplished, articulate, or attractive than others. But no one gets to the front based on those merits, only by the equal investment of standing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2073,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9,12],"tags":[82,114,174,175,182,343,344,363,364,365,366,372,457,475,478,479,480,506,626,627,739,740,743,770,785,786,962,1012,1089,1099,1100,1103],"class_list":["post-3822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-religion","category-lgbtq-support","category-the-real-jesus","tag-are-people-born-gay","tag-bible-homosexuality","tag-christian-parents-gay-child","tag-christian-parents-of-gay-children","tag-christians-with-gay-children","tag-freed-hearts","tag-freedhearts","tag-gay-children","tag-gay-christian","tag-gay-christian-charity","tag-gay-christian-community","tag-gay-kids","tag-help-my-child-is-gay","tag-homosexuality","tag-homosexuality-and-sin","tag-homosexuality-and-the-bible","tag-homosexuality-and-the-church","tag-how-to-respond-to-a-gay-child","tag-lgbtq-charity","tag-lgbtq-christian","tag-my-child-is-gay","tag-my-daughter-is-gay","tag-my-son-is-gay","tag-parent-of-a-gay-child","tag-parents-of-gay-children","tag-parents-of-gay-kids","tag-susan-cottrell","tag-to-christian-parents-of-gay-children","tag-what-do-you-do-when-your-son-is-gay","tag-what-to-do-if-your-son-is-gay","tag-what-to-do-when-your-son-is-gay","tag-when-your-family-rejects-you"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Front of the Line<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;The ground is level at the foot of the cross.&quot; Standing in line is leveling. 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