Being Outed and Guilted
Last week we had a lunch party for bosses' day. The department heads and the dean of the school were honored, and I was good with that, because my dean is phenomenal and I'm not afraid to say it. At one end of the table I sat with a young speech colleague who said something he'd heard on Bill O'Reilly, one of those words he uses at the end of the show, blooter, I think. We were laughing about watching Bill O'Reilly and I said, for the benefit of the person at the end of the table wearing an Obama button, "Clint, we've been outed." I've already been outed on campus of course; I call myself a conflicted conservative, but a conservative nonetheless. I've been asked to sponsor the College Republicans and the Pro-life group. Yes, I've been outed, and I'm proud of it.
What I'm not as proud, or happy about, is being guilted. And my church is just doing that too much, even if not intentional. The guest speaker tonight at prayer meeting asked us at the beginning, "If you knew in 31 days you would meet God, and only had a month to live, how would you change your life?" And we were supposed to write it down. I wrote, "Give a very clear testimony to everyone; make sure David and Paul were taken care of (and my mom); give away my books; be sure my classes were given to someone who knew what to do with them; and have fun!" I'd be ok with meeting God tomorrow. Why should I be? Jesus paid it all; it's not about me; I can't do anything to make myself more His child (or less, for that matter). I don't live in a way I'm ashamed of, and I don't appreciate people insinuating that I do and just don't realize it.
To those of you who preach, don't guilt people! It's short lived. Now, the alternative is not to be therapeutic and to build up self-esteem--that's not preaching. Lift up Christ. His glory is more important than momentary obligatory feelings.
What I'm not as proud, or happy about, is being guilted. And my church is just doing that too much, even if not intentional. The guest speaker tonight at prayer meeting asked us at the beginning, "If you knew in 31 days you would meet God, and only had a month to live, how would you change your life?" And we were supposed to write it down. I wrote, "Give a very clear testimony to everyone; make sure David and Paul were taken care of (and my mom); give away my books; be sure my classes were given to someone who knew what to do with them; and have fun!" I'd be ok with meeting God tomorrow. Why should I be? Jesus paid it all; it's not about me; I can't do anything to make myself more His child (or less, for that matter). I don't live in a way I'm ashamed of, and I don't appreciate people insinuating that I do and just don't realize it.
To those of you who preach, don't guilt people! It's short lived. Now, the alternative is not to be therapeutic and to build up self-esteem--that's not preaching. Lift up Christ. His glory is more important than momentary obligatory feelings.
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