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Stop talking.

Stop talking.

Shhhhh.

Stop.

Zip. Shhhh, shhhh, shhhhhhh.

Please. Stop talking…

Stop boycotting stuff because people believe different things than you.
Stop quitting clubs and making your own clubs.
Stop telling others to boycott things you want to boycott so you won’t be alone in your stand against evil.
Stop using the word “Christian” while making blanket statements and actions for the rest of us.

Let’s read the book of Daniel.

Let’s all just stop talking and start implementing and practicing love…practicing empathy…putting into practice the lifestyle Jesus modeled…one that went something like: loving the whole world, no exceptions.

In the world, not of the world, but love the world.

“Love our neighbor…”

Stop talking about quitting Starbucks® because they ditched the dove for the holidays, because it’s not even a thing, and because we all know you aren’t going to, because, well, it’s your cliche schtick, so you can’t, anyway…plus, the lady in accounting at Caribou® corporate likes “Moonlight Path” by Bath and Body®, the guy in shipping at Gloria Jean’s® eats his guacamole with GMO corn chips from Tostitos®, the CEO’s assistant at Peet’s® is a lesbian who wears Avon® and incidentally has breast cancer, the guy in marketing at Lavazza® donates his time to freeing slaves in foreign countries where they worship idols, the social media girl from Dunkin’Donuts® always posts pictures of her cats and we all know real Christians like dogs because G-O-D and D-O-G, the people in the village where your beans were harvested practice voodoo, and then there’s the barista at Tim Hortons!® whose great, great, great, great, granddaddy started Macy’s® so you can’t watch the parade now, either…

Besides…are you kidding? “Red cup?” It’s kind of brilliant. Like, at a party, Red Cup™, get it? But that’s maybe the point? Maybe Solo® really should get some royalties for the inspiration?

“Love our neighbor…”

So, there aren’t any other options…unless, of course, you have one of those thing-a-ma-jiggers, oh…what are they? Let’s see, they are these things that make coffee for us right at home…oh, yeah, coffee makers. And there we can choose our very own mug…it’s crazy stuff. Oh, and, since none of the alternative coffee chains will suffice, all the money saved can be applied to a community service project or family mission trip, instead. But only get the coffee makers and beans and filters and mugs from, well, sources where you know every. single. one. of the beliefs of every employee.

Stop talking and read the book of Daniel and look at the life he lived.

We are all connected, we belong to each other, like 6 degrees from Kevin Bacon, but much more personal…and we need to learn how to get along and love, love, love.

“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”

Listen, boycotting World Vision International and dropping the child sponsorship of 10,000 children in devastating living situations around the world because you differed on views about homosexuality speaks volumes…in fact, it’s so loud, the children and I can’t quite make out the message you were trying to send…except that “Christians” eat their own.

“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”

There are 7 billion people on earth, all created in God’s image, uniquely designed for a display of His creative love and artistic work, some don’t believe this yet, but loving them well as Christ instructed will reveal it. There is no way we will ever all believe the exact same things about every single thing…so, I mean, that’s fine if you want to boycott such and such a company because of certain core values you don’t share and support other organizations with your monetary investment, but then it’s probable you’ll need to boycott every. single. organization and product on the face of the entire earth because if we get really into it, and dig deep enough, we may just discover that someone in accounting at your favorite “Christian” store has a cousin who is your barber’s sister’s husband’s best friend’s daughter and she said, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” to a patron at Starbucks the other day when she handed them their plain old red cuppa joe.

Seriously. Let’s stop talking.

And let’s start doing THE THING.

LOVING. LOVING EACH OTHER IS THE THING.

“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”

 

LORD JESUS, PLEASE FIND US DOING THE THING…

27 Responses

  1. I’m totally with you! Could we focus on real problems since we know the Solution? Could we focus on the broken since we know the Healer? Could we focus on love since I’m intimate with the Lover of My Soul? I could go on and on but I have to do laundry for 3 of my high school football players that don’t have money for the laundry mat…is that what Christ asks of me? Yes, why yes it is!

      • Adrienne- you are a beautiful spirit- I knew tha,t the moment I met you!What I really enjoy is seeing those brilliant, creative works surface, bubbling out of the cosmos- for our immediate take away, enjoyment. It is like sprinkles on my icecreeam.Thanks for your contribution to my life, with lots of love to you and your family!

  2. Well said, except for the part about all us non believers. Most of us “heathens” have been there, and left religion for various reasons. No, we’re not mad at your deity. It’s silly to be mad at something that doesn’t exist. We see your deity as a less-than-nice version of SpongeBob SquarePants. Praying over us or preaching at us won’t make us change our minds, either. Save you energy for helping the homeless, feeding the hungry, and generally helping your fellow humans. After all, two hands working accomplish more than a thousand hands folded in prayer. And have a happy holiday season.

    • Nancy, thanks for stopping by and bringing up the point about “non-believers.” My intent with these words was to remind myself and others, namely “Christians” (and the satire that “Christian” isn’t a blanket statement to how we all believe or behave…) to just stop talking and looking for fights and thinking everyone is out to get anyone else, and just keep our heads on straight, our hearts and actions in the right place, and our hands doing THE THING. Love that you point out it does, indeed, apply to every single one of us, deity or not, obviously. We all belong to each other, and yes, collaboration when it comes to love spreading and doing the work, goes a long, long way. Thanks, Nancy!

  3. In a recent article, Marilynne Robinson summed up nicely the point you are making in this blog post when she said, “When Christians abandon Christian standards of behavior in the defense of Christianity, they inflict harm that would not be in the power of any enemy.”

    • That is a truthful quote, Beau. Thank you for sharing. Although, I might point out, in this attempt at satire and my intention not to hurt brothers and sisters I call “family” but to call out the “institution”, I’m sure I inflicted wounds, and for that, I am sorry.

  4. Excellent point, well made. I loved the subtlety of your references to Daniel, and truly hope people will actually read it. When you serve God in Babylon, you can’t expect to get all the little things your way. Get the big ones right, mind your own spiritual business, and treat ALL others with respect.
    You did one thing, however, that almost kept me from reading the article. It was the quotes around the first word: “Christians”.
    Maybe you meant something different than I am hearing, but those quotes strike me as disrespectful and judgmental, synonymous with the wretched but ubiquitous epithet “so-called Christians” that I read a lot in the painful diatribes of the very people that you are asking to hush.

    • Randy, such great insights into Daniel and Babylon, thank you for sharing. Thank you, too, for bringing up the part where the word “Christian” and “Christians” is in quotations. My heart behind the punctuation is more of a personal, internal battle with the “institution” rather than all my imperfect siblings and I. See, I knew the red cup thing wasn’t actually a thing…I truly doubt any followers of Christ actually got worked up about Starbucks’ design choice for seasonal cups, but the very thought of it quickened in my heart my frustration with myself, some in Christendom, and now, having my eyes opened by a reader, non-believers, as well, that there’s just so much talking about doing, rather than simply doing…if that makes sense? A commenter of Facebook was offended because he said, “Isn’t that what we SHOULD be doing?! TALKING?!”

      Randy, I’m a word nerd. I write words, savor words, butcher words, and avoid them all in one day. My head and heart are constant places of editing, and somedays I get it right and other days the words fly and I can’t take them back. I will tell you this, my heart in this whole post, even the passion behind it, comes from, not a desire for disciples of Jesus to be quiet, never using words, but for the power of the Holy Spirit to be so evident through our day to day love and actions, that anyone we meet pauses and wonders and asks the reason, inviting the words.

      Also, this post was greatly inspired by having listened to and read Galatians and 1 Peter over the last week…the post wasn’t actually new material at all, but could have just been cut and pasted from Paul’s letter.

      Randy, thanks for being real and writing your thoughts. I don’t believe in “so-called Christians” because I believe in Grace. We are all messy, speaking for myself, at least, so as far as Galatians goes and trying to check off boxes for what a “Christian” looks like and what a “Christian” looks like or acts like, I’d say, I certainly don’t measure up when it comes to trying to speak for everyone, so that’s why I just want to stop worrying about what other Christians think about me, and love the world.

      • Well, you did indeed mean something different that what I heard. Thanks for the well-nuanced reply.

        You’ve got me hooked now. It’s rare to find a good wordsmith who wishes to do more than be heard. I’m in.

    • Hi Cynthia! I KNOW no one is protesting Starbucks…and I know Christians don’t care about this. It’s satire about a cup, but a heart check about real things that actually matter.

  5. There needs to be balance between speaking and loving. Truth brings freedom to love, and love wins a hearing for truth. The Starbucks thing is not a Christian issue. It is an issue of history, and an American tradition of sharing good wishes . Should we also abolish the Christian calendar? You can boycot Starbucks if you choose_ and still be loving. You can obey Ephesians 5.11 (Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.) And still be loving.

    • Some good points, Charles. Thanks for sharing some of your points. People can absolutely boycott anything and everything, it’s just discouraging when blanket statements are made for all believers, using Jesus’ name as if He would behave that same way, seeing as how His track record was meals with the most-unlikely on many occasion. My point here, which I want to write more on later, was all inspired from reading and listening to Daniel and Galatians the last couple of weeks…so, technically, I could have just copied and pasted Paul’s words into a post, but was sharing a bit of my own interpretation as a modern-day reader.

      I realize with satire there is a mix of truth and extreme ridiculousness. My heart isn’t to hurt the family of which I’m part, but to help us look up and out to the fields, rather than inward, protectively, as if anyone is after “us.” Our battle is not against flesh and blood…

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