Do you know

a Christian Clown?

Thoughts all jumbled?

Upside-down?

Focused on one thing

stubborn, yup.

Walks around

always tripping up.

 

Clowns pick a verse,

From God’s Word

Bible skewed.

Message obscured

They live by laws

designed by man

fooled themselves

a distracted plan.

 

Point at others

silly white glove

Judging dealt

with no love.

Man, that clown

is acting funny,

opinions inflated

looks like a dummy.

 

Didn’t Jesus

teach the way?

And he said

We would pay?

Only GOD can judge

any man.

Only GOD sees

A perfect plan.

 

Sad old clowns

Trippin’ on those shoes

Stop mocking God.

You’re lookin’ so bruised

Scoffing at folks

Yet, with no mirror

Sad reflection

Couldn’t be any clearer.

 

Don’t focus on things

That do no harm

Stop segregating love

With polka dot arms.

 

You’re an embarrassment

to His greater cause

Cause God said LOVE

above all laws!

 

Love your neighbor

spread kindness their way.

Don’t judge others

Simply Pray

 

Give to God

What you can’t change

Stop trying to fix

You can’t rearrange

 

It’s not your job

To meddle and fuss

In other’s business

To scoff and cuss.

 

Bless the world

With your shining light

Be different & focused

On what is right!

Don’t read the Bible,

and start making things up!

 

You’re expecting water from

a hole-filled cup

You’ll get nowhere

from a cup with holes

Just a wet shirt

and more lost souls

How sad to be the reason

People didn’t pray

when God commanded us

bring more My way.

 

Clowns play a role

either extreme or scary

Don’t be either

be LEGENDARY!

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Clowns.

Be honest. Extreme and funny? Or scary and creepy?  It’s one or the other right?

Why? Anything blown up so oversized is not okay.  A huge nose? Eyes that are way too big? A super big mouth? Feet that look like snow shoes?  It’s boarder-line one or the other. Funny or terrifying.

Clowns

For me, they are scary.

I don’t like them.

Our church service yesterday discussed taking Bible verses out of context and becoming a litigious Christian.  A Christian that takes one verse, blows it way out of context, creates its own set of rules and regulations and then presses on others with vague and grey, human-designed expectations.

Clowns.

Our family has set rules and regulations based on the weaknesses we have in our past.  My husband and I don’t drink.  It’s a weakness that is deeply ingrained in our family.  Both sides have suffered from the disease of alcoholism.  So, we personally don’t drink.  It never ends well when we do, yet, it took a while to see we had to 100% stop drinking.  We hurt each other a lot before we were able to let it go and make that family law.  Sounds silly, but you probably can relate if you have suffered from it too.

That’s our personal choice.  We don’t press our family law on others, judge them and make them feel awkward.  Everyone has their own set of unique set of fingerprints designed and created by God.  Their choices and paths are their own.  Stressing out, demanding control and pointing fingers are the most insane actions that actually push people away instead of drawing them close.  Have you ever tried to cuddle with a cactus?

As a Christian, are you walking around with extreme attitudes, crazed and self-inflicted expectations of others and a stand-off attitude to what you see is wrong in others?  Are you haughty, scoffing and a scary blown-up clown for Christ?  Is that what he taught?  Is that how he lived?  Are you standing out for the wrong reasons?

When I committed my life to God as an adult, I was so passionate that it became like a drug.  What put me on my knees in front of God was an extreme low point in my life.  I was living on adrenaline.  While I was in that drug-like state of mind, I pressed my faith on my family in an extreme and desperate way.  I was a clown.  All I talked about was my faith and how everyone else should change their lives.  If they rejected my thoughts, I told them they were stupid and stubborn.

I’m not kidding, that actually happened.

And what resulted from those clown-like actions was so sad.  They told me I was crazy and they couldn’t talk to me anymore.  They couldn’t relate to the adrenaline drug I was on.  I ended up pushing them away from salvation out of fear.  They didn’t want to end up like me.  We haven’t talked for over a year, and when we do there is a barrier, a wall and such guarded discussion.  I pray that never happens to any of you.

I feel sad about my actions.  I can’t ever change them.  But what I can do is try to live in a gentle manner from now on.  Remain constant prayer, focused on staying humble and allow them to come to God in their own personal way.  Only God can change their hearts now.  The scars I left will always be there and I am so sorry for how I acted.

Which made me think about our church service.  As Christians we are expected to LOVE above all other laws.  There is a distinct difference between love and acceptance, however.  Love means not to judge – judging is only for God.  Acceptance means that we allow other influences to dilute our God-given laws.  Man, there’s a can of worms, eh?

I can’t condone actions that are against the teachings of Jesus.  I am not saying that we can go about our business and love sin.  We are to love people, nature their souls, carry ourselves as Jesus did and above all try to live a life that is not condescending or judgmental.  Haha – I just typed judgmental – check out that word.  You have to be mental (ego)- to think you can Judge.

I don’t want to be a clown for Christ.  I want to be a loving Christian without the extreme or laughable characteristics that would ostracize me from society.  I want to be a gentle night-light for Christ.  I pray I am a light that shines evoking a sense of safety, not avoidance.

“A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.” – Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

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Solomon asked God for wisdom – and it was granted – here are the words of wise Solomon.

Proverbs 10

13. Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense.

14. The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.