The Education of Shelby Knox

We finished watching this movie in my intro to social work class today, and it was definitely interesting. Take a look at the trailer:

So okay, the main reason I mentioned this is because of Shelby's pastor, Ed Ainsworth. If you couldn't tell from the video, the things he say are cringe-worthy, and Shelby ends up being in opposition to him on more than one occasion. It may be able to go without saying that my classmate weren't huge fans either. Being a Christian is not about being intolerant. Christ loves everyone. And yes, pre-marital sex and homosexuality are considered sins (so are dishonesty and disobedience... just saying), but Jesus hung out with sinners on the daily! He loved them. (He loves us!) And since when has love been intolerant?

"⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
{1 Corinthians 13:4-7}

Yes, I just whipped out what is probably the most cliche/advertised passage in the Bible, but I think it lays it all out there very nicely. I should also point out that all sins are weighed equally, so the "guilty" people Ed points his large finger at are in no way worse off than he is. The thing that irks me the most is that this image is what we are up against as Christians. People outside of the faith look at us and assume that we are going to judge and condemn them by not accepting who they are! Now this documentary was made about 6 years ago, but there are people just like that who are in the lime light today. So how do we respond? By following the model that Christ left for us in the gospels of His life. No mere human can get it right, but we are fortunate in that we have God's son to turn to as our role model. My intro professor jokes that if Jesus were alive, He would be a Democrat. (He even has a shirt that says that.) And in regards to Ed, this girl in my class put it pretty nicely: "I feel like if he met Jesus, he wouldn't like Him."

It's definitely something to ponder, because I think sometimes the things we cay can contradict the model that we have been given. I'm not saying we should promote sin, but I firmly believe that we should be tolerant and love our brothers and sisters. We certainly don't have it perfect, but here is a challenge for you: Think about who you were before you knew Christ, and then think about how he has transformed your life. He can do the same to your neighbor :) Let's not hinder it!

"¹¹ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
{Ephesians 2:11-13}