Don't go Judgin'!!

Heidi's final project for a recent religious studies class was to imagine what Paul would say if he visited her former school today. Her email from Paul based on I Corinthians follows. Enjoy! (By the way, her first week at Crossroads was "awesome.")

From: “Paul of Tarsus”
To: “Upper School Students”
Date: 2007 in the Year of Our Lord
Subject: Cool it with the gossiping! Don’t go judgin’!! Love everyone you meet, not just yo’ peeps!!

Hey!
Your friend Paul here. I’m sending you this message for a reason, so don’t delete it!! Read the whole thing so that God can reach out to you. He’s always been there, but you have to be the ones to make the effort to ‘friend’ him on Facebook and start up the communication. You guys have been pretty good about that – you try really hard to express God, and Jesus is obviously sticking with you all. I think you know what you’re doing, and all you want is good. Never forget that Jesus and God are right there for you!

On the other hand though, you’ve got some serious issues. I’m not trying to diss you, but this is important! You need to pull yourselves together!! Friends have texted me, and what they say isn’t good. They said since I left, you’ve been gossiping about each other, gettin’ up in each others grillz. You’ve been very judgmental about people you should be friends with, and even laughing at them because of what they look like, who they’re dating, or what ideas they have about the world! That is not cool!! Pull yourselves together!!!

Trust me, I’ve had friends backstab me too, and I know how much it stings. When my close friend and traveling companion John Mark left me during an important time in my journeys because he doubted that my plan to spread Christianity would work, I was seriously ticked, and very depressed. That doesn’t mean I wanted to spread false stories about him for revenge or stop loving him like a brother! What you all need to learn to do is learn to forgive and forget! No one can be perfect, and when people make mistakes or do things that hurt you, get over it! Ultimately, you are both children of God, and if you don’t love your friends, you don’t have anything. Without true love for even your closest friends, no matter how much they mess up, how can you begin to love everyone??

That’s the other thing you guys need to get up to scratch on: stop judging people!!! Not everyone at your school is the same, and that’s great, but you need to spread the love to everyone, not just the people you agree with, ones who dress like you, or hang out with you. Even if you read your Bible Lesson every day, believe in God with all your heart, and say your prayers and sing hymns every night before you go to bed, but can’t love people without conditions, you have absolutely nothing, and your faith is wasted. Take my views on requirements for becoming a Christian, for example. Most converted Pharisees, (and I used to be one too), thought that to become a Christian, you had to become a Jew first, and follow Jewish customs, like being circumcised, but I stopped them in their tracks. Christianity (and keep in mind as I say this that you are a Christian school) is all about love. Jesus loved the world so much that he died on the cross then rose himself from the dead to prove his love. Love shouldn’t have any conditions whatsoever. It is an unselfish, pure thing that everyone should share freely with everyone else, no matter what their background, opinions, appearance, or what they’ve done in the past.

In short, Love is all you’ve got, friends. Without it, there’s nothing important you can do. It needs to become your top priority, over any personal thoughts you might have about others. Just love them!

I may come visit you again soon, so be on the lookout. Send my greetings to the good teachers of your community, and remember to spread the love! I love you all in the name of Jesus, dudes. Peace out!

-Paul