What is the difference between a Church and a night club?
No, it’s not a joke. This is an honest question which begs our honest consideration.
By now, the world knows about the massacre that took place in Orlando almost a week ago. 50 people – priceless souls – had their lives mercilessly and senselessly stolen. In the wake of this destruction, the world did what the world does best. It divided us. The media spotlighted people who did and said evil things in the name of their “religion” and made them out to be representatives of those religions. Every story that surfaced on my news feed screamed “US” and “THEM”.
Here’s what I want you to ask yourself; had the gunman walked into a religious building and killed the same number of people there, what would the difference have been?
My proposal to you is this; there is no difference. Not one. Damn. Difference.
In a culture where our labels define us, a world where our titles divide us…I believe there is no true difference between a soul in a nightclub and a soul in a church building.
In both places, you will find people. Some are lost, but most of them aren’t aware of it. Some have found God, some are searching for Him, and some are a combination of both. You’ll find believers and practical agnostics. Some will be gay and others straight, some will identify with the physical gender assigned them at birth and others will not. In both places, every single person you meet is a sinner.
Yeah, we hate that word, don’t we? We always think it describes someone else. No, dear one; it is you, and it is me. It is your grandma and your child and your best friend in the world. We are sinners. Not one of us can be called good or innocent. Some of us are forgiven, and we should never presume to know who is and who is not. This has never been our place or our call. But we do this, don’t we? We draw lines, we align ourselves with those we think are ‘like’ us, and we alienate those who are ‘unlike’ us. We shut out those who would grieve with us because they don’t know what it’s like to be us. We distance ourselves and our heart recites the prayer of the Pharisee, “God, I thank you that I am not like them (Luke 18:11).” We say, “Someone like *them* hurt me, so I will not trust *them*.”
Read this slowly. You are “them”. “They” are you. “Us” and “them” is a lie from one who has only ever spoken lies. Please erase those words and their mindset from your vocabulary. The truth is we are sinners who are wildly loved, every one of us. We are sinners who have been given unimaginable worth. We are souls that can only be bought with Perfect blood.
On Sunday, all over the world, in bars and in church buildings, sinners gathered looking for God and refuge and relationship. Thousands of them died. On Monday and every day after, the same story. Thousands of souls run out of time. Billions of us somehow made it to today. It’s not because we’re different or better or more deserving. Every moment you draw a breath that is not hellfire is a gift undeserved. That might sound harsh to some, but I don’t know how else to get this point across.
Some of you still want to draw a line. You want to discredit my words because of the labels you’ve ascribed to me – cisgender, white, Christian, woman, etc. – and you want to make a distinction between us. I won’t stop you. However, I want to plead with those of you who profess the same faith I do, to stop being the ones to draw those lines. The lines are imaginary. At the feet of God, all ground is level, and we are all equally in need of Someone to stand in the gap for us. I pray we would lay down every identity the world has attempted to label us with and take up one.
Loved.
Mismatched Miss 