Swine

"Don't give an earful of sacred teachings to those who don't want to listen. Chances are, you're the one who's not ready to receive what they have to offer." Matthew 7:6. (paraphrased).

"Why lay ourselves open to being branded fanatics or religious bores? We may kill a future opportunity to carry a beneficial message." page 77. Alcoholics Anonymous.

Over the past year, I've sent a few of my blogs over to the atheist page on Facebook to see what the waters are like. And every time, within minutes, the responses start rolling in. But they're not pretty at first. I think they like to see what kind of message I'm sending, so they'll test me by saying really mean things. I have to admit, the first time I had my feelings hurt. I thought I had a message that worked for the atheist as well as the agnostic, but it didn't. I scampered away like a hurt school kid. 

And then I sent another one. This time, it was a question. I posed the question, "In your opinion, what is one thing Christians everywhere could do to help restore the relationship between Christianity and Atheism?"

The responses were incredible! Dialogue went on for two days discussing how and why Christians and atheists just don't seem to get along. I learned a ton from that conversation about why many atheists despise Christianity. And most of it had to do with forcing religious beliefs on people who don't believe the same things. While I understand the idea, I don't think force is the right word to use here. No one can actually force anyone else to believe anything. What they were trying to say I think, is that sometime in their past, someone had tried to force religious beliefs down their throats. Whether successful or not (I'm assuming not since they're on an atheist Facebook page), it was the motive that mattered. 

Jesus lived in a time of intense opposition to the message he was trying to get out - namely that God loved everyone and not just the religious elites. But, the other side of the message was, God is for justice, but not the kind of justice the religious institution puts forth or the kind the Roman Empire puts forth. Jesus enacted a program of justice through love and humility. 

It was too soft for the Jewish leaders and too forgiving for the Roman leaders. In fact, it was a threat to the established order. It was a threat to the cultural, religious, and political systems of justice at the time. 

So, what would happen if a follower of Jesus were to go up to one of these zealous priests or ruthless Roman soldiers and shared the message of justice through love? They probably wouldn't have responded nicely to say the least. They would've been branded heretics by the Jews and traitors by the Romans. 

In the watered down translation of this verse, the authors have Jesus saying, "Don't throw what is holy before dogs, and don't throw pearls before swine. They'll turn and tear you to pieces." I think this verse is a reflection of the author's prejudice at the time. The author would've thought of the Roman soldiers as dogs, and the Jewish leaders as pigs. Prejudice. It's obviously a metaphor, and the Greek word for dogs means "men with impure minds" or "men with unfaltering minds." 

I've tried many times to explain God to people who are close-minded to everything God-related. It just doesn't work. And it's the same with trying to explain alcoholism to the alcoholic who doesn't think he or she has a problem. It just doesn't work, and usually I'm the one who ends up being butt-hurt (that one's for you Shelby).

What I've learned over the years is this: people are on their own journeys, and I have the option either to contribute to that journey or make it harder. 

If Jesus were standing here today, saying the same passage, he'd probably say something like, "Quit thinking words are gonna fix everybody who disagrees with you. You're only making things worse for both of you." We have examples through the scriptures of both hard-nosed Jewish leaders and intimidating Roman soldiers (whether they're true or not is besides the point) coming to accept and believe the message that Jesus was carrying. But the thing about it was, Jesus was more concerned about love than words, and the audiences could tell. He made it abundantly clear that he wasn't in it to convert people to Christianity (since Christianity wasn't even a known religion) or Judaism (since Judaism had long lost its allure to the common folk), but to love radically.

Jesus was more concerned about building relationships of radical love than swaying people to believe the articles of the Jewish faith. And if he were here today, he'd be more concerned about radically loving the world than swaying the world to believe the aricles of the Christian faith.The love he showed was the picture of his concept of God. 

The way we love reflects the way we view God. Let that sink in for a moment. Let it simmer. 

Going back to the question I posed to the atheist group on Facebook. One of the most common answers I got was stop letting religion guide law. If I could interpret what they were trying to say, it would be something like, "Too many Christians think God is intertwined with American sovereignty," or "Too many Christians believe that God is the author of the American Constitution," or "When will Christians stop taking the Bible so literally, to the point that laws are created based off of scriptures taken thousands of years out of context?"

I like to think that I'm open-minded enough to care more about nurturing loving relationships than trying to sway anyone to believe the same way I do. If I'm not, then I consider my purpose in this life a complete failure. Whether it's working with the suffering alcoholic or talking about God, words hold no meaning when there's not the sense that love is what's fueling the conversation. And in my belief, love is God. Wherever love is, God is there also. 

From the outside looking in and the inside looking out, there's an ever-widening gap between Christians and non-Christians. I'm helped to both widen the gap and close the gap, but it's there. 

I don't believe Jesus was saying to throw out some words and if they don't like what you have to say then walk away. I think he was saying to choose the words wisely, and if possible, just use action. Just love. If I can't use words to convey love, then I need to keep my mouth shut. And that's my biggest problem. My words are what get me into trouble way more than my actions. 

One wrongful sentence can leave wounds for years along with resentments. And I, just like most other people, don't want to feel like anyone's trying to force religion down my throat. It does me no good. It doesn't do anybody any good. That's where my atheist friends have it right. They, more than most, know what it's like to be manipulated, laughed at, and mocked by religious people. 

But no one's gonna argue an act of restorative love, an expression of justice through compassion. When love invades space and time, there's no time for debate or argument. Because really, God is there. And the presence of God is powerful enough to captivate any audience. 

Today, may we try to replace our words with loving, restorative action.