Sometimes it troubles me so much that the church doesn’t have a clue. Bono calls us squeakies. Sometimes we’re so self-righteous we forget about the basics. We’re so caught up in the fact that something is a sin that we forget all about the basic command to love.

But the greatest of these is love.

Certainly the sin is wrong. There’s no way around that, and I’m not suggesting there is. But love should be the order of the day. Not judgment. Not gossip. Unfortunately Christians often miss that point. The basic tenant of Christianity and we forget about it.

Sometimes I wonder if the frustration is compounded by our own feelings of self-righteousness. I am right, therefore your viewpoint is wrong. I think love is the better approach, therefore your approach is wrong. You think emphasizing the consequences of sin is important, therefore my approach is wrong. It’s a simplistic example, mixed with the sins, oversights, and just plain mishaps of humanity.

Sometimes I just wonder if God looks down on us and laughs, always thinking we have the right answer, always claiming that our answer is the way God really sees things. I wonder if God smiles as he sees how each one of takes a bit of God’s truth and calls it our own, then adds to it our own biases and preferences until it’s not simply God’s truth anymore. It’s become our truth, and it’s become tainted.

I think when we get to heaven we may find it very ironic when we figure out just who was right and who wasn’t. I also think that at that point it won’t matter to anyone.