I would always call myself a christian and not religious because i do not care for religion. I’ve seen your teachings, i do not align with them. If there was ever a question for my religion v humanity, I would pick humanity. 

I would choose to lead with love which a lot of you lack because you cannot conceive empathy when you’re not being centered. I would not be unkind to women because your understanding of the bible dictates so as when you read the bible in isolation, you can make it say anything you want. And because i’m seeking out my truth i know that questions and doubt is not the opposite of faith, certainty is. i know to always ask questions and seek answers instead of being feared and guilted into silence. I know to not use “open rebuke” as a tool to perpetuate shame, not to use tough love to suffocate those who are grieving and not to suppress my emotions because the church doesn’t believe in mental health. 

I would choose to forgive but not so blindly that it absolves you from the consequences of your action, and i carry your cross. I know to not take religious leader’s words hook, line and sinker because they are not above mistakes and pointing that out is not undermining their authority but giving them grace to admit and grow. I know that blindly following them is no different from idolatry and hush culture within religious circles is why so many are turned away from God mistaking the errors of mere men as His will.

I know to break away from the Us v Them mentality in religious institutions because it only divides us further. It’s never a competition at least not at my table. i know not to rebuke those who have left and dismiss their woes because the church has hurt people and pretending otherwise would be building a cult. i know to understand what they’re saying without immediately jumping to my own experiences. i know listening to them is all they ask and really all they wanted and invalidating their experiences shows a lack of emotional intelligence so i sit and i listen. i know to do this without feeling the pressure to evangelize because that’s neither what they need nor are asking for. 

I understand that God is omnipresent even though it seems that i’m alone sometimes. i know to learn from my mistakes and let myself grow and not internalize a lot of the world’s metrics for religion, it’s never been easier to cosplay christianity. i don’t know if i’m right and i probably never will but ill always keep asking, keep growing and most importantly keep loving and leading from the heart. 

Author’s Note- 

Here’s a late post. This was supposed to go up yesterday which was a monday so here it is, a few hours late.