pardon me

...while I get all Jesus-y for a minute. This might seem to come out of the blue, but it has to do with where my heart is at today, which I'm sharing in order to attempt to live more transparently. Today at church we started a series called "Tough Questions," where we talk about some of the questions many people have, in my experience, as non-believers or new believers. Questions such as, "Do all paths lead to God?" and "Is believing Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven, inclusive or exclusive?" I have to admit, I have been a part of many discussions revolving around John 14:6, and many people who don't identify as Christians will say that is quite EXclusive. At some level, its hard to disagree with that. It sounds awfully exclusive to me.

During the sermon all I could think was I don't have time for this (because obviously, I'm a jerk). I don't have time to sit here and hear the way the scripture speaks to one person. I don't have time to question/discuss/argue the details of our faith. I mean, is this what God wants from us? I thought he wanted us to move forward and put our faith into action. How can we do that if we are always concerned with the details?

It's interesting to me how uncomfortable I was sitting there. God has been putting action on my heart a lot lately. And it kind of felt like this series might have me spinning my wheels. But at the last minute I had this thought--God gave us the greatest gift. He sent Jesus to give us the ultimate example of how our time on earth should be spent. Through Jesus he then, without question, proceeded to free us from the eternal consequences of sin. And if we see that, if we acknowledge that gift and accept it, we will hopefully want to live our lives like Jesus did. And what Jesus lived was a life of love and inclusion. 

So there's my answer. It's my prayer that I will live my life in a way that displays inclusion and emits love. I want people to see that there is redemption and love for everyone, God already gave it to us, now its our job to show that to each other--to everyone.