E-mails from Heaven
Dear Follower:

When I left you in charge of my kingdom on earth, I thought you understood what I wanted. Instead, you have turned my grace into a law and my mercy into judgment. So let me go over it one more time.

First of all, what did you think I meant when I said that I didn’t come into the world to condemn the world but to save it? Apparently, you must have imagined that what I really said was that I would leave you with one mission only – to find every wretched sinner you could find and make him or her feel really nasty and guilty. You must have thought that I wanted you to heap guilt upon guilt so that they would spend the rest of their days writhing in the dirt. After all, that’s what you’ve been doing.

Well, you were wrong!

Hold on! Don’t stop reading – I’m just getting started.

Do you remember that little story I told about the boy who wasted his father’s money with sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll? Remember how he came crawling back to his father in shame thinking that maybe his father would have enough pity on him to give him a job on the farm? I want to ask you, Miss Super-Christian, what part of “his father saw him while he was a long way off and told the servants to get the party cranking” did you not understand? The boy knew he messed up. He was at rock-bottom. So, why bring it up again? Do you get some perverse pleasure out of making him feel worse than he already does?

The point I was trying to make – a point you obviously missed – was that I am looking for folks who are willing to continue my mission of dispensing mercy to the people who need it them most.

But not you – oh, no. Somehow you have turned it all upside down. Do you think it really makes you a better person to repel the very people I came to serve?
So let me continue. Let’s see…, oh yeah… remember the time the “sinners” kept coming to me and the Pharisees got all bent out of shape about it? Do you remember the mini-sermon I laid on them? How I used the text from Hosea to make my point? I hope so because I’m really proud of that one.

Just in case you did forget, here it is again: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

It sounds pretty plain to me. What’s your problem? Why can’t you understand this?

You do need to understand this: I’m coming back soon. Get it right, for once. I don’t care one bit about you playing church. I’m only interested in how well you represent me by administrating grace and mercy to a world that is headed full-speed toward destruction. Go back and look at the record of my life. I had four biographies written about me, for goodness sakes, and I endorse all four of them. You never once saw me acting like you do toward “sinners,” and I’m the son of God. If I didn’t get all snooty with sinners, who do you think you are to do so? Do you think you’re better than me? Do you think that sin could possibly offend you more than it does me? Give me a break.

I’ll leave it with you for now and give you some time to think about what I’ve said. If there is any further confusion on this matter, just remember that day when the “good” people who look down their noses at everyone else brought that whore to me who had been caught in bed with another man. Do you remember how I defended her and how I treated her after the “righteous” dudes had walked away? You do remember, don’t you?

Why don’t you try doing it like I did. Defend the defenseless like I did. Reach out and touch the guilty like I did. Treat them like you would treat your favorite preacher if he were to knock on your door and ask if he could share an important message with you. Tell them that they can be restored. Let them know that they can get their lives right with me.

Think about it.

Your Brother and Your Lord,
Jesus

PS – Why don’t you get rid of those church buildings? You’re sending the wrong message.