I apologize if it seems as if I haven’t stepped down from my soap box in a while, but sometimes you can’t help it. And after all, the premise of this blog is based on “the rants” of a young pastor.

But intro aside, there is something I have noticed in the church all my life that really irks me. Why is it that we think we are given the excuse to be mean simply because we have morality? It is almost that we think that there are varying degrees of sin and as long as my hands are cleaner than yours then I don’t have to treat you with common decency. Or if I can’t immediately spot the chinks in your armor, I can use my morally superior microscope to inspect your life until I find something I can lord over you. Do we really think it is all about a virtue score card that ultimately decides our fate and the fate of others? I certainly hope not. Not to say that virtue isn’t something to aspire too, but it is most definitely not a weapon to be wielded.

Let’s take the example of Jesus just for a moment (I know it sounds crazy). Who did Jesus snub because of their lower moral status? Think really hard…NO ONE! Jesus seemed to surround himself with ragamuffins, with the morally bankrupt. And if anyone ever had the right to draw a dividing line in the sand of morality it was Jesus. And yet the line did not exist. This is the scandal of Grace.

And what’s more, our righteousness is like filthy rags (do some research on this if you want to know the full revulsion of this remark) and yet we sometimes wear it like a badge of honor. So my plea is to drop the badge…throw down your arms…Stop being mean! Instead, may we learn to love like Jesus loved. By this, and only by this will people know that we are His disciples.