"I Don't Like Your Religion," he told me.

An acquaintance recently told me that he didn’t like my “religion.” I’m not sure what he meant. It’s a pretty broad indictment. (Between you and me, I’m not big on religion, either. My faith is more about relationship.) If it’s my church that he doesn’t like, I wonder what he is basing his comments on? I’m pretty sure that he’s never been to Good Shepherd Community Church. I know he wasn’t referring to a national organization, like “Baptists” or “Quakers,” because our church is a non-affiliated community church. We aren’t part of any bigger body. It could be that he meant Good Shepherd. True, our church wouldn’t marry a gay couple, but is that a cause for a blanket indictment? The Mormons, Catholics, Russian Orthodox Church, Seventh Day Adventists, and a hundred other churches wouldn’t conduct a marriage for me, because I’m not of their faith. That’s not cause for an indictment - it’s cause for a shrug. (I’m happily married, by the way, thanks, not looking to get married.) If it’s all Christian’s everywhere that he doesn’t like, then I feel sorry for him. It makes no more sense for him to “not like” all Christians than it makes sense for me to hate “all Muslims.” Both comments make no sense. At last check, there were about 2.2 billion people in the world (out of a population of 7 billion) who self-identify as Christians. Can it be that he doesn’t like 2.2 billion people? How many of them has he met? Did he mean “I don’t believe what you believe?” Maybe, but that’s not what he said. And again, I don’t know what he thinks I believe. He and I have never discussed what I believe. Did he mean “I don’t believe that the Bible is true?” Could be, but I suspect that he’s never read it, so that would be an uninformed opinion. If someone asked me what I thought of Shintoism, I would say that I’d never read about it, not that I “didn’t like it.” I sure hope he’s not reaching that decision based on what he thinks he sees on television. TV loves to paint most people of faith - all faiths - as radical, closed-minded, judgmental people. If what he doesn’t like is how I’m living out my faith, I wish he would explain what I do that he finds offensive, because I want to work on it. I’m not perfect, but if I’m actively doing something that he finds offensive, then I want to change. The Bible says that the world will know we are Christians by our love. Good goal, good standard. I hope the love shows through. If it doesn’t, I’m failing in my daily walk. But please, don’t be to quick to condemn the Christian religion. I did a quick check. There are 17 homeless shelters listed in an online Portland directory. Of those, 9 are run by Christian organizations. None of them screen the cold and the hungry to determine what they believe before they are fed and sheltered. The doors are open to all. Christian organizations, for all the disrespect that they are shown, are doing some things right. Oh, and the number of Portland area shelters run by Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Muslims, animists, and Sikhs? All together, they are running… wait for it... zero homeless shelters in Portland. It doesn't mean that individuals of those beliefs aren't volunteering, but the organizations haven't stepped up.