"He was 'crazy' 'creepy' 'weird'"
'He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism'
"He was super negative all the time"
"He was an outcast, loner"
"Always creeped me out and was different"
"I deleted him off Facebook because I couldn't stand his posts"
These are the things people are saying about Devin Patrick Kelley, the shooter at Sutherland Springs, Baptist Church. It is the typical stuff we hear about shooters or killers after events like this, he was a freak, he was a loner, I couldn't stand him, he was weird, a loner etc.
Where is the church in this man’s life? I’m not blaming any one church, and I’m not talking about just this man, but the entire church across this country, and to any man or woman that is an outcast, a loner, bizarre, depressed, angry, hurt, broken, a person filled with rage and bitterness from a lifetime of pain, abuse, loneliness, neglect and reject. Where are we at in the lives of these people? How many have people in our past and present that we would describe as “weird” “crazy” “different,” how many people out there have we deleted from our social network or our real life network because they said things we didn’t like or didn’t agree with, maybe they offended us with their words, or their beliefs or values push us away, when we full well know they come from a lifetime of being an outcast, a loner, a reject, of being unaccepted by all people, except maybe those with the exact same struggles, pains and heartaches.
This shooting is a horrible, tragic loss and waste of life, is it possible it could’ve been prevented, we will never know for sure, but the time for that is gone, but now at our disposal, is the present, the shootings, the violence, the suicides, the rejection that we can help avoid by being the light in the dark for those during their hardest times, or to help prevent them from falling on their hardest times. Jesus went after the outcasts, in John 4:9, we see where He went and spoke to a Samaritan woman, “9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.” She is saying, I’m an outcast, you are a Rabbi, a Priest, a Pastor, a religious person, you can’t spend time talking to me, you can’t be seen with me, I’m a social outcast, I’m a outcast because of my race, I’m an outcast because of my beliefs, I’m an outcast in every way imaginable, you can’t talk with me!!!! What are you doing Jesus?
What was Jesus doing? This was going to ruin his reputation, people were going to talk, they would call him weird, crazy, creepy, this wasn’t the norm, these outcasts aren’t the people we religious people talk to. They have problems, they come from questionable backgrounds, they don’t dress like we do, they don’t talk like we do, they sure as heck don’t believe what we do, and they might get upset with me, they might argue with me, they may say something that I don’t have a good response to. What if they challenge me in my faith and I don’t have the answer. It would just be a lot easier if I stuck with the people who look like me, came from the same background that I do, have the same beliefs that I do. It would be a lot easier if we just talked about how those “outcasts” really need to find Jesus and then when they die, kill themselves or kill someone else we can sit back and say, “boy, see, I always said that he was nuts” “yeah she was crazy, her hair was black, she always wore black, and she said Christians were dumb and hateful” THEY ARE RIGHT SO MUCH MORE OFTEN THEN WE WANT TO ADMIT, we Christians are so DUMB and HATEFUL and FULL OF OURSELVES. Jesus spells it out clearly for us in the New Testament, go to these people, show them the love of Christ, don’t beat them over the head with your theology and religiosity, be someone that can say, “you have value” “you don’t have to be alone” “you are loved, you don’t have to be an outcast” “let me tell you about a man who died for you and everyone like you!”
Show the love of Christ to those people that aren’t like you, WHO CARES what someone might say about you, WHO CARES how it might be out of your comfort zone, WHO CARES how it might inconvenience you, you may be the only person standing between them and their death, the deaths of others, or a lifetime of pain, depression and loneliness, isn’t it worth your time and effort to be a difference maker in their life? When Jesus was asked why he spent time with the “outcasts” of society in Mark 2, he was quick to say this, “ 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”” We are all sinners, let me lay that out right here and now, the Christians aren’t perfect and the outcasts and the broken are not the only ones with problems and they are not the only ones making mistakes. Jesus came to call those who are hurting, broken and lost.
James H. Aughey, a minister that was tortured, beaten and condemned to death by the confederates during the civil war for his pro-union beliefs hit the nail on the head for where we as the church should be during times such as now “The church is not a select circle of the immaculate, but a home where the outcast may come in. It is not a palace with gate attendants and challenging sentinels along the entrance-ways holding off at arm’s-length the stranger, but rather a hospital where the broken-hearted may be healed, and where all the weary and troubled may find rest and take counsel together.”
We need to stop, NOW, with church being an elite social club for the perfectly dressed, eloquent speaking, well raised, problem free people. Each one of us is guilty of ignoring the brokenhearted, the outcasts, the weird, crazy, creepy loners, each one of us that call God our father, in our darkest, saddest, neediest moments have the fortunate ability to call on the name of Jesus and ask for help that surpasses all understanding, we have the knowledge that he loves us, that he died for us and that he will always be there for us. Don’t you think someone that is in a deeper, darker, more horrible place than you would like to hear that news? And don’t just tell it to them, show it to them. A friend of mine took their own life a few months back, it pains me every time I think about it, what else could I have done, why didn’t I do the things I knew I should’ve done, that will follow me around forever, what else can we be doing today, what else should we be doing today, that we already know we should be doing. Have no regrets when it comes to reaching out to someone in need. Be the difference, this world needs it, let people call us weird, crazy and creepy because our passion to reach those who need reaching surpasses their cultural understanding, like Jesus with the Samaritans, sinners and tax collectors.
