Someone once told me, "Religious people drive me crazy." Today, I agree with him. Check out this craziness from Foxnews.com:

A radical Baptist church in Kansas known for picketing the funerals of soldiers who perished in Iraq said it intends to protest Heath Ledger's memorial service with signs claiming the actor died and is in Hell because he played a gay character in "Brokeback Mountain."

Churches like this one (that's probably not fair, since most are labeling this church a "hate group") are ruining a word I dearly love -- radical. What does it mean to be truly radical for Jesus? Is it picking petty issues like what kind of character an actor played in a movie, and then terrorizing a family who is grieving the tragic death of their son?

Or is it something more?

Is it being culturally insensitive and telling everyone you see to accept Christ or go to hell? I met a guy who's hardcore about hell-fire and brimstone evangelism. He actually tells people, "You will burn." He quotes Finney, Spurgeon, and Wesley to justify his style of "open-air" preaching. He calls a lot of Christians "false converts" and tells them that they need to have a "real" conversion. He doesn't seem to notice that most people ignore him, scoff, or just walk away. Is this what it means to be radical?

Or is it something more?

Is is making outrageous statements like "God hates fags" while never learning to love someone who is different? I know that "fundamentalist" is another bad word today when referring to religion, but that's the best way to describe my interpretation of the Bible. I believe that the Scriptures in their original writing are inerrant, without flaw, and great for the spiritual direction of a follower of Jesus. I try to live my life according to the principles established in that book. But I also know the Word is living and active and not meant for fanatics to just senselessly quote without context and in a spirit of condemnation. Is this what it means to be radical?

Or is it something more?
 
I wonder whatever happened to that word I used to resonate with -- "radical."Whatever happened to Christians loving the unlovely, reaching out with scandalous grace to the unreached, and showing unconditional acceptance to the rejected? Talk about radical. 

Now, let's be clear here. Living in any kind of sin isn't good. We are all headed for hell, unless we allow God's grace to come into our lives. God is love and his unconditional grace covers all our sin. When we go on to sin more, there is still forgiveness and freedom from condemnation.

Did Heath Ledger go to hell? Who knows... I do have to believe that God wouldn't condemn him based on his role as a gay man in the film Brokeback Mountain. My God just isn't that petty. Is yours?
 
If Heath went to hell or heaven, it was because of his relationship with Christ, or lack thereof. Plain and simple. For me, it comes down to grace, not what political stance you took on a particular issue or how morally pure and untainted from the world you were. It's about humbly accepting by faith God's forgiveness in your life. As believers, we can either trust that God's grace is sufficient to bridge the gap between our failures and his perfection, or not.

So, which is it?

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