Have you ever stood for something? You might be exclusive

"If you didn't belong to a religion as exclusive as Christianity, I would consider dating you."

I was told this once, and far from offending me, it interested me. It interested me because I don't really think of myself as an exclusive person. Arrogance might sometimes make me tend that way, but as far as my general opinion of myself, I have always tended to feel on the outside looking in. Therefore, having someone observe this characteristic of my life made me extremely curious. Perhaps I am exclusive, simply by association with Jesus who, if this accusation of exclusivity is to be true, is at the head of it all. 

So I thought about it, and I thought about Jesus; who He allowed to partake in His life and His promises, and who He kept out. 

Children---He said "let them come to me" (Matt 19:14)

Prostitutes---He said "neither do I condemn you"  (John 8:11)

Tax Collectors---He said "Salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19:9)

The lame-------------He said "walk" (John 5:8)

And He healed the sick. He healed the demon possessed. The blind.

hey, there's even a plug for dead people when Jesus says "rise" (Luke 7:14)

and perhaps Jesus's entire attitude towards people could be summed in Mark 2:17 when He says "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

So if we want to think of Jesus having a club (don't get all huffy, it's just a way of looking at things) then people who are in need and want help are in His club. People who are already righteous (or think they are)(Luke 18:9-14, Matt 23:25-28, Isaiah 64:6) are out by default---they choose not to be. If you think you're healthy, you don't ask to be made well. 

Exclusive. Right. But I don't think the exclusive claim was so much who Christianity lets in more so than what (maybe who) it keeps out. (please note, I am totally talking about the religion itself, not the people who claim the religion. I can't help it that most of Jesus's followers don't seem to know who He is at all. I am currently reconciling this in my own life) We claim one way. We claim Jesus. We claim a certain set of moral rules and absolutes that make people cringe and howl about our exclusivity. We believe things that a lot of people-intelligent and unintelligent alike-think is preposterous. Pause for a second while I voice an opinion entirely my own:

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The arguments "most intelligent people dismiss Christianity as ridiculous", and, "many intelligent people believe Christianity", are stupid. If you are basing your assurance in believing whatever you do because someone you consider as (or more) intelligent as yourself believes one way or the other, you are lazy, that's a cop out, and it's a weak support to either argument. People are people, and people are biased, and people are currently a sum of their every experience to that point. Situations, hurts, victories, circumstances, they all play a part. They all make up your bias. You are responsible to seek truth honestly, and think as best you can. Don't use someone else's thought journey to replace your own. That's lame. Thanks for listening, come back next time for another big-headed opinion. 

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So I started thinking "what specifically do we exclude?" because I don't have a list of the boundaries of Christianity on call in my head. 

and then I was like "wow, it's 2:12, I should go run because I still have to go pick someone up before we go out to eat tonight"

so this thought became "to be continued"

the end