{"id":4009,"date":"2013-12-18T11:19:39","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T17:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freedhearts\/?p=4009"},"modified":"2013-12-18T11:19:39","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T17:19:39","slug":"a-white-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freedhearts\/2013\/12\/18\/a-white-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"A White Jesus?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"photo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our pastor Rick received a big plastic nativity scene as a gag gift last year. What struck him, he said, was how white they all were. Mary had a pink gown and blonde hair! Nevermind that only the wealthy royalty had access to pink, and blonde is out of the question\u2013we love to clean up the stories, make them more palatable instead of gritty and messy. Rick (who\u2019s an artist)\u00a0took some brown paint and UNgentrified them!<\/p>\n

Mary and Joseph. Pregnant before marriage. Judged for it. Compelled to travel back to Joseph\u2019s home town for the census, they probably hoped to stay with family there, but alas, no room. I cannot imagine <\/span>not<\/em> making floor space for this\u00a0young, pregnant couple, can you? Perhaps something else was going on. You see, Mary and Joseph were a blight on the family name because they did the unthinkable: they got pregnant before marriage. Here they were at the door, Mary\u2019s belly \u201cproof\u201d of their indiscretion.\u00a0Better not to \u201ccondone their behavior\u201d by inviting them in, really. Because then you\u2019d bring that same judgment from the neighbors on yourself, wouldn\u2019t you? And who needs that? <\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re not sure this is how it went down, but it fits the facts. 1. Joseph\u2019s family lives in Bethlehem and still he had trouble finding a place<\/a> for them. 2. Hospitality is a HUGE part of loving God \u2014 that\u2019s what got Sodom and Gomorrah in so much trouble<\/a>. 3. There was really no inn there<\/a> \u2014 it was only a tiny village, and travelers would have relied<\/em> on hospitality. 4. Religious people are consumed with protecting their own reputations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the problem with religious people (as opposed to people in intimate relationship with God through Christ): religious people focus on behavior. Specifically behavior modification. They work from the outside in. The basic tenet of religion is: toe the line, resist your base human impulses, and earn your God-Stamp-of-Approval. (Or if you already have it, at least demonstrate that you deserve it.) Follow the rules. Stay in the lines. Don\u2019t upset the status quo. If you have trouble with the status quo, then your behavior should be modified. Try harder. Work on behavior, from the outside in, and eventually the heart will come along.<\/p>\n

The trouble is, that does not work in the real world; change in behavior does not<\/em> change the heart. Change in heart<\/em> brings change in behavior<\/em>. Change comes from the inside out. Following rules<\/a> doesn\u2019t make a person good.<\/p>\n

That is why the LGBTQ community (or any \u2018nonconforming\u2019 community) is so\u00a0intensely challenging to the religious establishment.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t fit the neat box religious people like to fit everyone\u00a0into. The LGBTQ identification starts with the inside. It says, \u201cThis is who I am. I identify as gay even if I never engage in sexual behavior.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0This is troubling for those who focus on behavior. Because the whole point of outside-in basically says, \u201cAvoid these behaviors so your identity will change.\u201d Those who have survived so-called ex-gay therapy, who tried with all their being to change, to let God change them, still stand and say, \u201cNo, I didn\u2019t change. I did everything you came up with and I\u2019m still gay.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the movie Saved!, <\/em>there\u2019s a\u00a0\u201creorientation\u201d camp called Mercy House. One character says, \u201cPlaces like\u00a0Mercy House don\u2019t exist for the people who are sent there. They exist for the people doing the sending.\u201d He means that some people are very put out by those who won\u2019t conform to the box. This definitely includes the LGBTQ community. They\u2019d rather leave them out in the cold like Mary and Joseph. Better yet, get a new box to put them in. (That\u2019s where reorientation camps come in.) It\u2019s too threatening just to let them be, not to mention inviting them in. The \u201cMercy Houses\u201d are the perfect box to put them in.<\/p>\n

Even more than all that, God is always challenging our boxes, our neatly drawn lines. Jesus was\u00a0nothing\u00a0<\/em>like the religious leaders expected! They held up their own rules, and they looked at Jesus, and they couldn\u2019t make them align. In fact, he denounced them soundly.\u00a0(Just read Matthew 23.)<\/a><\/p>\n

God could easily have brought about his savior to the world in a way that did not involve scandal. Of course he could have. But I think he rather prefers the appearance of scandal \u2014 because it helps us not get too glib. It shakesdown our boxes. What is our opportunity in all this? <\/span>To trust a living God who works from the\u00a0inside out<\/a>. To stop\u00a0working out rules<\/a>\u00a0we\u2019re not equipped to work out.\u00a0To welcome what God brings us, even when it appears to be scandalous.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our pastor Rick received a big plastic nativity scene as a gag gift last year. What struck him, he said, was how white they all were. Mary had a pink gown and blonde hair! Nevermind that only the wealthy royalty had access to pink, and blonde is out of the question\u2013we love to clean up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2073,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,9,12,13],"tags":[82,114,174,175,182,184,287,344,363,364,365,366,372,457,475,478,479,480,506,626,627,726,739,740,743,770,785,786,962,1012,1089,1099,1100,1103],"class_list":["post-4009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-religion","category-family-support","category-lgbtq-support","category-the-real-jesus","category-theology","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-christmas-family","tag-ex-gay","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-mom-im-gay","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":"\nA White Jesus?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our pastor Rick received a big plastic nativity scene as a gag gift last year. 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