JANUARY 2006 The following two e-mails were originally
posted on His Spirit Realm.
If you haven’t already joined, I would encourage you to do so. Candice wrote: I’m so annoyed its unbelievable, I'm still freaked out and this happened yesterday already, but I don’t think I’ll get over this that easily anyways, just the bloody nerve of those judgmental pricks!!! But I’ll start from the beginning; it'll be easier to understand... On my way from getting my bf a very belated V. day present (got him a figurine to add to his already mad collection), I was sitting in a taxi. This lady looked at me and said that I look so beautiful and sweet, but she wonders if I’m really as innocent as I look. I was already confused at this time and went on with my own business. As I got out of the taxi and headed for the train, (I was already terribly late coz Justin was gonna pick me up at home and we had to catch a movie that he pre-booked), This man that was with the lady in the taxi stopped me and said "Just one thing", the lady was standing next to him at this time... " All these things that you are wearing" and he indicated to my accessories and skeleton badges (I have a whole lot of them on the straps of my bag and Jack Skeleton on my T-shirt). I was already REALLY late by this time and told the man " I really don’t have time for this, I’m really late" and shook my head at these people's ignorance and proceeded (making my way to another taxi coz waiting for my train would take too long). These people were shouting behind me saying stuff like "repent" and "it's not too late for you", so I stopped and told them that they know absolutely nothing about me or by beliefs, and if they read their Bible at all they wouldn't be judging me. It's like they didn’t get what I was saying and just got angry, but I really couldn’t afford to waste any more time on these people coz I was seriously late as it was (I blame last minute shopping!). Anyways, to get to the taxis from where I was, I had to climb up this dingy staircase, so I took out my pepper spray just in case (heard some people got robbed there b4, just being safe). Next thing I know these people were heading in the same direction as me, walking fast as well but well behind me. I could hear the man shouting something about the blood of Jesus, and they looked really upset. I just honestly couldn’t believe these people. I was just shocked really. The lady shouted behind me "Why are you running away from the truth?" and a whole lotta other stuff. At this time I was a bit freaked out, but really angry at the same time (these people looked like they wanted to kidnap me and tie me up, while praying loud and pouring holy water over my head)! I shouted back that I wasn’t running away, and that I was late, and that she should just leave me alone and stop judging, coz she knows absolutely nothing! It's people like that, that scare others away from the love of God; that give Him a bad name. These people just took it way too far and it was actually disgusting. What if I didn’t know Jesus, and these people "attacked" me; I’d probably be anti-Christ for a freakin' long time, thinking all Christians are hypocrites and judgemental pricks! I’m still really upset about it, and wonder how many other people they've freaked out away from the love and warmth of God! This is the first time something like this happened to me (I have had a whole lotta bad comments and stuff b4 though, but this was just the pits!), so excuse me for freaking out. I probably should have handled the situation better, but even thinking back now, I still wouldn’t know how. So just how to you handle such things, what do you do, what do you say??? Candice Shortly after Candice posted the message above, Joel replied with a message of his own. Joel wrote: I understand what you’re going through sis. A few years ago a visiting evangelist met me at the door of the Church I was going to, and was outraged by my appearance. I understood his discomfort, but I honestly did not know how angry I had made him, that is... until he started preaching his sermon. He went into a tirade about how people should not come to Church dressed "Like they are going to a party"... His message was so harsh and condemning that a lady wearing pants stood up and left with a disgusted look on her face. So, in a sense, I became the brunt of this guy's destructive message that Sunday night. And, I learned a hard lesson. Many people who claim to be followers of Christ have no clue what the "attitude" of Christ is like. Who were the people who came under Christ's condemnation? Those who treated people like dirt in order to promote themselves as zealous followers of God. The Pharisee who thanked God that he was not like the despised tax collector praying in the same temple went home without justification, while the tax collector's humble prayer promoted him. Jesus also said that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom of Heaven before the religious elite that spent all it's time condemning them. Sorry about the rant. I completely understand how you feel sis. Being publicly humiliated by people who claim to be Christians can be the worst kind of wound. The best advice I can give is to know that no matter how bad it hurt, God does not see you the same way those people saw you. They spoke in blatant stupidity and ignorance in their attempts to be right with God. People like that deserve pity, because when they stand before Him, they will have to answer for turning people away from Him rather than helping people find their way to Him. And, that is the worst sin of all. |