What would Jesus do?

Y'all, if I could only say one thing to the whole world, it would be this. Jesus loves you more passionately than you've probably ever realized. For the few who come to an understanding of this love and decide to love him back, their lives will be nothing like they ever expected. When you enter into a relationship with Jesus--a real relationship--the whole world changes for you. Our current world is full of people who call themselves Christians, but they have never actually entered into a relationship with Jesus. Instead, they've signed up for a religion, and those two things are not the same…at all!

Christianity, without Jesus, can be a very ugly thing. All I have to do is open my Facebook, and I can find all kinds of examples of Christians who are in a religion but don't get Jesus. One great example is people who insist that another person has to be a Christian before that person is worthy of any kind of respect. These people love to quote scripture, but their quotes are used to be hateful or at the least judgmental. Often, these people don’t even realize what they are doing. It has become so commonplace for Christians to use the bible as a tool against others that they think what they are doing is not only acceptable but the right thing to do.

I read an article that someone shared on Facebook yesterday about Jim Carrey speaking to a group of former gang members and convicts. He made a nice speech concluding that only through forgiveness (specifically, forgiveness for suffering we've experienced at the hands of others) can we find grace and open the gates of heaven. It's a great speech in which he refers to the forgiveness Jesus offered while hanging on the cross to those who were crucifying him, but the comments on the article were terrible. All of these "Christians" were combing over every word of the speech, looking for any scriptural error (in their view), and making comments like "Well, I hope Carrey really is a Christian" like if he isn’t, he shouldn’t be allowed to tell others about Jesus. Some were citing his studies in Buddhism as "proof" that he isn't a Christian, and like many religious discussions, it all boiled down to whether Carrey would be going to heaven when he dies (which drives me crazy, but I'll write much more on that in the future).

One of the discussions I found the most interesting was a comment by a man who criticized these Christians for judging Carrey, and they attacked back by claiming the man obviously wasn't a Christian since he didn't agree with them, so he shouldn't be commenting. He never said if he was or was not a Christian; he simply called them out for judging. What I found interesting was that I am a very dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, and I totally agreed with the guy. In fact Jesus himself said, "You judge by human standards; I pass judgement on no one" (John 8:15) and "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it" (John 12:47).

Basically, Jim Carrey's relationship with God is between Jim Carrey and God. Jesus calls his followers to love. I am called to love Mr. Carrey. If I have questions about where his loyalties lie, I have no right to judge him. I can pray for him and his journey to know God. His message of love to those former gang members and convicts was inspirational and honored Jesus, an act of which we also know from scripture that Jesus approves. When the disciples were complaining to him about a person who was not one of their group driving out demons in his name, look at Jesus' reply. “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you" (Luke 9:50).

So, there was a group of people judging and criticizing Jim Carrey in the name of Jesus, when Jesus himself was probably super excited by the speech. Those in a real relationship with Jesus would know this about him. Rather than stating their fears that Carrey might not really be a Christian so we shouldn't trust his words, a person in a real relationship with Jesus would applaud Carrey and pray for his personal relationship with Jesus, which will bring him revelation from the Holy Spirit and better equip him to continue to teach others about Jesus. No judgment; just love.

The apostle John straight up tells us that God is love (read the whole book of 1 John, and you'll see what I mean). Being in a relationship with a being who IS love is like nothing I can describe or anything else I have in my life. His love is so abundant that it overwhelms me and floods out of me to others. Because Jesus loves me so much, I am able to love others so much. Because Jesus didn't judge me, I can understand how to love without judging others. I am not part of a religion; I’m in love with Jesus, and he's in love with me. And that, my friends, is an amazing place to be! Let him love you and get ready to experience an amazing life!