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"We get so caught up in what we need to do that we forget where we are and who we are. We are not human doings, we are human beings. The being part is what I think most of us have the most difficulty with. What does it mean to just be? To be yourself and not care what others think. It is easy to say that but it is not easy to be that. It is that kind of courage to be your true self, flaws and all that makes people shine in this world, that meaning those who are not afraid to be imperfect.
The problem with religion, the problem I find many times with Christian culture is we expect people to be perfect when it is impossible to do so. This is what makes Christians un-relatable to the world. Human beings can not relate to perfection, they relate to imperfection. We connect through pain not perfection. Compassion can be expressed when there is pain that is felt. Life is not meant to be lived perfectly it is meant to be lived fully. When we expect ourselves and others to be perfect we rob ourselves of life, we end up getting caught up in shame, guilt, fear, control and isolation. We end up faking rather than truly living. We end up living behind pretentious masks that we create that keep us from being who we really are. I think this is what irritates me about Christian radio at times because the only songs that are played are in the same key, same chords, same words and same message …. The message isn’t untrue, it is the truth, but where is the human element, where is the pain, the suffering, the confusion, the discourse, the vulnerability, the authenticity, the passion? Why is it all so predictable? Why is it that I relate sometimes more to 2pac, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Otis Redding than I do most of the artists on Christian radio? This is why I love King David and the book of Psalms, it is REAL. You can feel and relate to David’s highs and lows, the dude is the farthest thing from perfect yet he loves God with all his heart, soul, strength and mind. That’s what I’m talking about, that’s the song that I want to hear and I can relate to. It is life’s poetry that keeps us intimately interested, it is expecting the unexpected, the ups and downs, the tapestry of human experience that fills our worlds with color. King David was not a human doing, nor was he just a human being, he was a human LIVING. In today’s Christian church standards he would be written off as a sinner, not to be trusted, never to minister, but I wonder if David is exactly the kind of person that God chooses to use for His glory? Cause at the end of the day it isn’t about how perfect we are but it is about how perfect His love is"
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