Guilt and Love

This was written about 1.5 years ago.....but, I never published it...so, I thought I'd give it a go. At this point, I was a senior at Purdue....
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Tuesdays and Thursdays are long days for me. On Tuesday, I have class from Noon 'til 9pm...straight. Thursdays keep me locked up from Noon 'til 6pm. Ok, no pity....I waited to tell you I only have class those two days a week. So...no pity deserved...for sure. I open in that manner to just give you a feel for how irritable I am by the time I get to leave campus each day. This particular moment of irritability was this most recent Thursday on my way home from class. After spending an entire day in little ugly classrooms listening to lectures.....I am a shade on the grumpy side. Luckily, no one has to deal with me until after I hit the gym and work off some frustration.

So...long intro....just to get to this....it was Thursday...I was on the way home...and I was testy. To exacerbate my situation, all six of my radio presets were on commercial. I was pissed....my airwaves being exploited for advertising, and no cd's looked appealing....yes looked...I have them in a pile on the floorboard of my truck....maybe that's why they all keep skipping. Anyways.....on the way home...testy....radio presets......started to scan and found the local Christian rock station in town...fairly new...97.7. It caught my attention because they happened to be spinnin' a nice audio adrenaline piece from the time when I was a young...and Christian music didn't suck. (There is still some good stuff...but not much...and nothing like the early days Jars and Audio Adrenaline...some Smalltown Poets...mmmm...good stuff). So...the station had my attention. I made it through the song I liked and another that was so so. I was appeased...something to listen to on the way home. And then comes a....commercial. Joining my six presets in their exploitation was this Christian station......but this was a different kind of commercial. This was more of a Godmercial. The radio voiceover started with...."Some people need to use hellfire and brimstone techniques to reach people....Pastor _____ sees it a different way....." Then, they went into a little snippet of his sermon. It went a little like this....I'll try not to exaggerate but just get the jist of his message...which, I feel I can remember to an ok extent. He basically said that it's not hellfire and brimstone preaching that bring people to God....it's guilt. Guilt. Granted, I can see this as being a way that people find God. But...to say it is the way kinda enrages me. And....to represent God as a being that encourages guilt...even in a utilitarian sense....I'm not a fan. He went on to say how...the world (this world...whatever that is...somehow there's a distinction between the world...and the Christians...not a distinction I would trumpet)...the world....is in need of God...and guilt is the way they realize it. The world is guilty, because they are full of sin that they can't take care of themselves.

Here's my problem. If this radio station, obviously trying to "reach" those who need it, is trying to use guilt as a motivator...that's a stupid idea. Communication researcher Em Griffin talks about guilt as a motivator. Griffin says basically....guilt works as a persuasive tool(very well, actually)...but we despise those who use it against us. Now, isn't that great? We'll have some people who are motivated to seek God but despise Christians. With the way the church often acts...this really may be what we deserve.....people who are connected to God but despise those who are supposed to be all about God by definition.

God, as I see him, is not a God of guilt. He's a God of love and mercy....of grace. Granted, those are church words that often have been stripped of their meaning....words plundered by our Christian culture. But think about what they mean......love.....mercy....grace. They are profound...beyond my full understanding. And possibly, that's why they are so powerful to me. I can't understand them...and I truly doubt I could understand things that are truly associated with God.