Sinners Speak
(aka The Special Sinners Project)
If the Church has ever judged you
—either gently or harshly—
to be a special sort of “sinner,”
I want to hear from you!
Last year I started noticing how Christians in the media spotlight were relating to the folks they’d decided were Special Sinners.
Some were picketing patrons and employees at a local strip club. Some were standing their toddlers beside venomous sandwich-board vitriol at the funerals of gay men. Others were pointing rifles at doctors who worked at abortion clinics. And one charming chap was threatening to burn the holy book of folks who practiced another religion. (hashtag: Why don’t people believe us when our smiley-face bumper stickers insist “God Loves You”?!?!)
Was I the only person who felt like I was living on Planet Crazy?
No one was waving picket signs in front of Ben & Jerry’s to convict me of my gluttony. No one had hired a sharp-shooter to take me out during naptime in order protect America’s families from my sloth. They weren’t hacking into my credit card statements and posting awful nasty blog comments accusing me of oppressing the poor by giving my spending dollars to WalMart. (even though they should have) These sin-stoppers had clearly had not consulted my children about how wrathful I can be if the person in front of me in the school carpool line turns around to buckle their kid into a carseat instead of zooming off quickly to get out of my way.
None of these folks who were judging Special Sinners--in love, of course--were bothering with me because I, like them, was a Regular Sinner. (We Regular Sinners can often be heard saying, grudgingly, “Well, of course we’re all sinners...” and that’s code for, “But some are a little worse than me.”) Don’t even get me started on hating the sin and loving the sinner...
It simply seems like many of us in the Church have no idea what to do with—aka how to love—those whom we’ve identified as “Special Sinners.” A few of these include, but are not limited to...
-the young adult who comes out of the closet
-the woman who works as an exotic dancer
-the spouse who cheats
-the church staff person who divorces
-the single or married woman who has an abortion
-the single woman who doesn’t have an abortion
-the youth leader accused of impropriety
-the neighbor who struggles with addiction
-etcetera...
When I’m not being snarky, I really do believe that there are a LOT of Christians out there who want to do it differently. (Maybe a little more like that Jesus fellow we’ve heard so much about?) THAT is what is at the heart of the Special Sinners Project: creating new possibilities for living in fidelity to the heart of God.
If the Church has ever judged you to be a special
sort of “sinner,” I want to hear from you.
The Church really needs to hear your story and there’s no way we can know this stuff without hearing your voice. (And I do understand that sharing yourself with an anonymous stranger who wants to listen probably either strikes you as horribly wrong or potentially lifegiving. If this weird thing has got your name on it, please EMAIL your three quickie answers to the questions, below, to:
1.Because of a behavior others decided was “sinful,” were you treated poorly by Christians? How?
2. Who loved you well? How?
3.Was there an unexpected someone who loved you well? How?
(age and gender would also be helpful!)
Thank you, in advance, for sharing.
Margot
*Though I’m clearly looking for ideas to build up the Church, our correspondence is entirely confidential. So your bright idea might one day find voice in my writing, but never your identity. Fair?
