Hi. So I have this extra special friend. His name is Jesus. You might have heard of Him before from someone at that place people call church, or your parents, or maybe even one of your classmates. Now, I don’t know exactly what you’ve heard about Him, but sometimes people say and do crazy things that are really misleading about who Jesus is. If it’s okay with you, I’d really like to clear this up and get a few things off my chest at the same time.
So, I want to confess a few things. I want to say I’m sorry for what Christianity has been and for what it is now, and for not doing anything about it. To some of you, Christianity means the Crusades. It means being persecuted for having different ideas. It means being yelled at by your teacher(s) at a Christian school. It means being bullied by the president of FCA. It means being beaten by your Christian parents. It means being molested by a minister. The point is, Christianity means something different to each person, and that something is not always positive. What’s worse is that when I try to defend that term, I just make those people with negative experiences of Christianity even more repulsed by and angry at the thought of being a Christian, and for that, I am extremely sorry. I want you to know, Jesus doesn’t stand for any of those things, and I don’t want to defend the term anymore.
I want to say I’m sorry for misrepresenting Jesus. He says to love my neighbor as myself, yet my actions show plainly that I am addicted to myself. He says to feed the homeless, take care of orphans and widows, and respect my parents, but I fail miserably at all of these things. Jesus never uses His faith in God to justify His political stances, but I do it all the time. Jesus says to love people all the time, no matter what, and He does just that, without passing judgment on people. Unfortunately, I catch myself thinking things like, “I bet he’s a drunk,” or “I just know she’s on welfare.” I’m sorry if my words or actions have given you a negative perception of Jesus.
I would much rather defend Jesus than Christianity, so right now, I’d like to straighten a few things out. Jesus is alive. He is a person, just like you and me. He thinks, He breathes, He moves, He has emotions, just like you and me. He is not trendy, and He is most certainly not the most popular kid on the block. He is a very straight-forward person; when you do something wrong, He lets you know. Usually, He is very kind and gentle, but sometimes, He gets really upset. (Again, He has emotions, just like us.) However, what’s really awesome is that when you do mess up, Jesus doesn’t rub it in; He rubs it out, completely. He loves His dad, and He loves people. Believe it or not, Jesus likes me, and He likes you, too. That’s right. You were picked last in P.E.? Your fingernails aren’t manicured? You aren’t tan, you aren’t slim, and your skin isn’t clear? You missed the game-winning shot and failed your math test? That’s okay. Jesus looks past that. He knows what you really need, and if you let Him, He CAN and WILL help you. Just ask Him.
Now, I know people make Jesus sound like He’s this guy that desperately wants to punish you for messing up (or even because He’s entertained watching you squirm), but in reality, He’s this guy that desperately wants to meet you, and moreover, desperately wants a relationship with you. He wants to be your best friend. He wants to change your life for the better. If you’d like, I can introduce you to Him sometime.
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