Be Encouraged!

Months ago, I was blessed to sit in a car with someone I deeply love as she shared her struggles in the faith. This beautiful young lady suffers from severe anxiety and feels she is disappointing Jesus whenever she smokes weed. Marijuana is the only thing that seems to help calm her nerves; prescription medications leave her with an array of awful side effects.

I love having deep conversations with people, and before answering, I silently pray God gives me the right words for those seeking my advice.

Now this gal knows she is talking to a “black sheep” of a pastor’s kid. Try placing me, my faith in Jesus, and my views on the Christian life in a box, and I’ll destroy your box in under five minutes. I reminded her there are so many gray areas that God left us free to decide. Walking with Jesus means allowing Him to help navigate those gray areas.

First, come as you are. God will slowly transform you into His image on His terms, not mine or the preacher’s. God may never ask you to give up the same things He asks me, and vice versa. He might not care one single bit if you smoke for medicinal purposes or even for pleasure; then again, you may feel convicted to quit an activity for a list of reasons. You might be asked to stop drinking alcohol because of A, B&C, and then again, Jesus may ask you to loosen your halo, stop being so self-righteous, be His hands and feet, walk into St. Charles Place, have a couple of shots of whiskey, play some rounds of ping-pong, develop relationships with folks, and love on them- have a good time being with others made in His image, without an agenda. Drink, walk home, and try not to get eaten by a mountain lion may need to be on some of your agendas!

Jesus would spend loads of time laughing, talking, and loving on folks at St. Charles Place - all to the disdain of “modern-day Pharisees.” I’ve written this on my social media page only to wake up the next day to a long, angry dissertation coming from one projecting her negative experiences surrounding alcohol and the need to be right in her judgments condemning all alcohol use. Sometimes, no response is the best response.

Many folks will never enter a church but will sit on a bar stool. Are you willing to go where Jesus would go? When Jesus went to dine and “party” with “sinners,” people just like me, He didn’t change who He was. Remember, little kids sought to sit on His lap. Why? Because He was fun to be around. He cared and loved. He cares and loves now. So, He hung out and spent gobs and gobs of time just chillaxin’ enjoying good food and drink, so much drinking, that the church leaders of His day accused Him of being “a drunk.” Imagine that - the religious leaders calling Jesus, the Son of God, a drunk.

At St. Charles Place, Jesus might lovingly take someone aside and privately say, “Bro, you shouldn’t be here. I love you, and you need to stop drinking and get your life together because I have an incredible set of blueprints for your life, and it requires sobriety.” And in the next breath, He’d say to the bartender, “I’m buying everyone a round! Congratulations, Jane, on your promotion, and Gary, on the birth of your first child!” And that’s my Jesus! A personal God with an individual plan for each of us! Some people in the faith are absolute “killjoys.” I don’t get it!

I explained to the young lady in my car my off-and-on struggle with nicotine. Smoking is a gray area. The bottom line is I don’t want to be ruled by nicotine - so it’s an issue for me, whereas with other Christians they smoke all day - not a problem. Some who love to quote author C.S. Lewis go silent when I explain the walls of his home were so yellow from all his smoking, not to mention how having LOTS of beers at the pub with his friend J.R.R. Tolkien was instrumental in bringing Lewis back to the faith. Charles Spurgeon, a famous 19th-century preacher, was well-known for his love of cigars. His views on alcohol consumption depended on whether it was problematic for the individual who was consuming it. Those facts don’t fit in everyone’s theological box.

If you claim to love God, go out and be Jesus! Stop judging folks who don’t live out their faith as you deem they should. Start loving. Have a good time (responsibly)! On the flip side, don’t pass on Jesus because you decided some are poor examples of what you think a Christian is supposed to be. He’s not asking you to be like me or Sally Sue down the road. He’s asking you to be like Him. Find out what that means! Ask Him. He will show you!

God is good! Always!