Dearest Christian Family...

Stop.

Just stop making it about you and what you don't get to do/be/say/think/feel. Because, after all, it isn't about you (or us, because I, too, am a Christian). It never was.

It's about Him.

It's about showing others Him through our every thought, action, and word. It's about belief in something greater by being something greater. It's about reaching out, helping more and lifting up those that we don't agree with or understand.

It's about love.

You know what it is NOT about?

A red cup. A chicken sandwich. The right for a person to love another. Or use a restroom.

We fail so many times when the spotlight is on us. We just get it wrong.

Acceptance of others isn't meant to be at the expense of us. What acceptance can (and should) be is the light of Him through us.

Jesus himself loved the lepers, the prostitutes, the thieves and liars. He touched the untouchable, loved the unlovable and sought the persecuted at the risk of persecution. And while I am no biblical scholar I do know that He teaches us to love. (There's an actual whole commandment about it). I do know that to be the hands and feet of Jesus, we need to be willing to do what He did. Love who He loved.

And He loves us all. Every single sinner. (That's you and me by the way).

Why is it so hard for us to do the same? Is it because we feel threatened? Unheard? Unloved? Probably so. And I get it - I understand.  We so desperately want to be recognized that we sometimes forget we already are. We are the majority in a world that is working to include the minority. And that's difficult because it feels like it is "at the expense of". I work at a public institution where my personal beliefs are hard to manage with my professional philosophy. But you know what? We are not being made to sacrifice OUR values, OUR choices, OUR faith because someone else doesn't share our ideals.

A red cup doesn't take away Christmas. It keeps your coffee warm(ish). And if we are going to choose a battle against a big 'ol giant company, let's just ask them to cut the price a bit, eh?

No one can take away the right for us to say Merry Christmas. To believe He died for us. To know that He loves us. Stores saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" isn't to spite you. They aren't doing this to leave us out - quite the opposite actually. They are doing it to include everyone in celebrating the season. It's to create an environment where we all feel loved. We all feel heard. We all feel welcomed - and I ask you... what's so wrong with that?

After all, if we want everyone to sit at Jesus' table with us... shouldn't we first send them an invitation?