i have to admit, i love those moments where i run across something i did (a painting, a sculpture, or a poem) a long time ago, and i realize, man, its good to know i have been awesome for a long time! i had one of those moments yesterday while going through my old things on myspace. i found a blog i had written about a year ago and let me tell you, wow! i did a really good job of putting my thoughts into words, so here it is..
"All right everyone, I'm usually not the kind of person to come and write my feelings in a blog unless it is something important. As some of you may know, I recently got my septum pierced. To me, it has not been a big deal because it was something i want to do and didn't see anything wrong with. I got the blessing from my dad to do it and so i did it. Now that it is done, there are many people trying to tell me that what i am doing is wrong and that it is 'unholy.' i have even had people straight up tell me I wanted it for attention or manipulation or even that i got it because i was rejecting God and following my flesh. It's funny how people throw that out there and they say the works of the flesh are anything different than what they are used to. Wearing makeup is condoning self-loathing and vanity, so is make up a work of the flesh? Dyeing your hair is changing your appearance, and thus rejecting God's original creation, so is this a work of the flesh? Wearing high heels make you appear taller, or wearing the colors red and blue that have negative connotation, are these works of the flesh? who is to say that what someone does is sin or not? Sin is not something we do, is something we accept, just as being Christian isn't something we do, its something we are. I'm really frustrated because the people who are making the biggest deal out of it are people closest to me and people i once admired.
How can people be so close-minded? How can someone who serves a loving, caring God be so quick to jump to conclusions and condemn? 1 Peter 4:8 says, "ABOVE ALL, LOVE EACH OTHER DEEPLY, FOR LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS," how are we expected to love people who need God when we can't love our brothers and sisters in Christ? How can we show the love of the living God when we ourselves are so ignorant and already have an idea of what that is supposed to look like? I have met incredible men and women of God, people who have denied themselves completely to serve God, people who have learned that while the "church" is still arguing over tattoos and piercings that there are people in world DYING everyday without the gospel. And more than that, there are people in the world the church is rejecting because they are so different!!! When will they get saved? when will the guy covered in tattoos get saved? Maybe when the church stops worrying so much about appearances and more on character and what's inside!
Just how i have met incredible people, i have also met people who look prim and proper on the outside, who look like the ideal Christian, who carry their Bibles everywhere, and wear Sunday best clothes everyday. They know all the right Bible verses and when to raise their hands in church and what to say to bring a congregation to tears, but inside of them lies a character so weak that can so easily be swayed, people who know don;t really know God, but only know what they have been taught. In the New Testament, it talks about the early church and how they were being persecuted by the Roman Empire. It goes on saying in Acts that they met together in fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. And God added to their number DAILY. Not 2 young people a year or every 3 months. but DAILY! so, what are we doing wrong here?
God and being a Christian is so much more that what we think and what we have been taught. Then we ask ourselves why our youth groups aren't growing or why the church is only reaching 4% of the youth in out nation! Maybe we need to stop following the rules and start following Jesus. I know when i get to heaven, God isn't going to ask me, 'Hey, how many holes do you have on your face? or 'How many tattoos do you have?' or even 'How many rules did you follow?' He's simply going to ask me, 'HOW MANY PEOPLE DID YOU TELL ABOUT ME?' That is my mission. That is my goal. To share with everyone the God who saved my life, the God who took me out of depression and suicide and brought me into His love. The God who uses IMPERFECT PEOPLE, like Jacob who always lied, or Sampson who disobeyed him, or David who gave into his lusts. As long as i love God and bring other to know His amazing love, I know I am doing what i am supposed to be doing. Everything else is beside the point."
A.K.K.
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