Two things happened this week that kind of nail it for me in terms of my own Christianity. The first one is Penny Wong had a baby with her wife. Not only is she a gay mother, she is a practicing Christian. Many christians exploded into the media condemning the idea that a gay woman could be married, have a child or be a practicing christian.
And then out of the most unexpected quarters, a blog by Andrew Bolt gently praises the amazing, quiet, under the radar work by an army of Christian volunteers, the Red Frogs. The Red Frogs turn up to the most frequented schoolies locations every year, at their own expense, and pick up drunk kids, give them water, listen to their stories of regret and get them home safely. and give them red frogs (yes the jelly lollies - buy a pack for your next hang over). They do it in response to God's call to love one another. I know one of the red frogs, and he personifies love, gentleness, fun, compassion and servant leadership.
My own experience is that in the presence of unconditional love, the question of right and wrong becomes a secondary consideration. The more I listen to and respond to God's call, increasingly my response to the question "Who's right" is "Who cares?". I don't know whether the fundamentalist christians are right, but what I do know is in the experience of giving and receiving unconditional love, many things that once seemed foreign are no longer a threat. We all need unconditional love, Penny Wong, the drunk teenager, the fundamentalist. In this we are one.
For me, the impact of the Red Frogs is evidence of God. Love like that does not come out of a well planned thought. It comes out of the deepest creative stirring of the heart, and the outcome of acting on it is that humans connect, experience love and are inspired to share the story. Look not only to the impact on the teenagers they work with. The lives and actions of the Red Frogs have even moved a cynic to express his deepest gentle heart.
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