There are two ways to face the dilemmas confronting the Christian faith.
One is the Noah Clause.
To be exclusionary and draw the lines of who's in or out ever tighter. Until you're left only with your own church or denomination and preach that only those on that narrowly defined ark will survive.
Vote the wrong way, pray the wrong way, love the wrong person, care too much about the poor, worry about who has health insurance or who doesn't. and you are....
OUT!!!
Then there is the Santa Clause.
Warm, open, inviting, inclusionary. He goes to all homes, regardless of faith background. The lumps of coal only go out to those who behave badly to their fellow man, the selfish and the spoiled. You don't get left out if your heart is open and you care and love each other.
He don't care if you have tattoos. Or if you eat shellfish. Or if you're gay or straight. He don't care if you believe in Jesus or in pasta. He cares that you believe. Believe in love and hope and understanding. Of tolerance and forgiveness. Love, and love wastefully.
When Christianity is about love, unconditional and generous, when it focuses on making this a better world for all, believers and unbelievers alike, that is when it is at its strongest.
When Christianity is about hate and exclusions, when it concentrates on circling the wagons and judgment, when it resembles more the philosophies of Ayn Rand than that of Christ, that is when it is at its weakest.
So choose wisely, my fellow Christians.
The Noah Clause or the Santa Claus?
I know which one I choose.
Ho! Ho! Ho!
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