Dear "Christians"--the Bride and Zombie-in the House of Worship of Jesus Christ

A Poem by Jazmin-Ruby

It's not really a poem. It's a letter. Truth be told, it's an essay I did for a college assignment. I got a B-. Cheers!

This letter is to encourage you to remain in love. If you are not in love, I shall make you this proposal: you should smile more goofy more often, for the invitation to the biggest wedding in the universe has been offered to all who fancy it and you have said “I do”. I am going to lay down a very important, but unfortunately, less appreciated notion in a “Christian’s” belief that I know some of you are aware of but that many yet do not know about. Notice the word I put in quotations. It is to remind you that you can call yourselves that, but with the reality that that word no longer holds the same meaning as it did to the first followers of Jesus in Antioch. Must I mention that the term was given by a random group of people as a contemptuous nickname to those who suffered for Jesus Christ? Besides, anyone can call himself a Christian nowadays. Gallup reports state that 78 percent of the American population identifies themselves as one. However, that is unimaginable. It implies a lot of death; faithfully laying down your life for Christ, beheaded and vanished, devoured by wild beasts and crucified for His message. Now most American “Christians” do what they please without much hassle at all. They miss church to go to Six Flags, or, perhaps, woke up with something that felt like a stomachache, and then it left but it was too late for church, so they went to Six Flags instead. What I am saying is that not everyone can bear that name, and enough have made it so it leaves a nasty flavor in other people’s mouths. For what it is worth more, Jesus did not call you to be a “Christian”. What did come out of his lips, though, was “follow me” (NIV, Luke 55:27). ‘Why?’ you want to ask. That is the question every “Christian” fails to deal with.

Dear Bride, with hopes that you may give your Jesus a fair number of thanks until the end of time whilst you can hug and kiss Him, I will explicate the wondrous and lovely thing it is to believe in Him again. Remember the wedding we briefly touched upon in the beginning, the really big one that you cannot miss? Jesus knows the way to that wedding, you see, and do not even think about missing it. You really cannot. You are the awaited bride. You are the one who will meet the bridegroom in a bedazzling “bright and clean” linen dress (NIV, Rev. 19:7-8). We have a problem, though. There is so much talk of God in the world and it almost seems like the “Christians”, who mostly tend to have the impression of mad zombies, do most of the talking. (If you are thinking and have not found a person fitting to this description yet, I am deeply sorry that chances are it might be you. Your paragraph is the next one. You may stomp on the floor now and stone me if you will. But, for the love of God, read the next part). It is so disappointing to see these fire-preaching souls preying around in corners as they present the wrong Jesus to the world, one that is judgmental, hypocritical, and snobby"perhaps, the sole reflection of who they are. Please do not think it is fine to create a website called Godhatesfags.com and make it your church’s official anthem. Westboro Baptist Church might have done it, but do not allow it to inspire you to rant that “God hates f**s” in a concert full of people. It is a very scary thing to believe, mainly, because it is not true; God so loved the world, not just a part of it (NIV, John 3:16). Of course, you, love-struck ones, do not know these at all, and there is only about one or two in the planet. But, what I want to focus on is if we all knew the real Jesus, the sincere and merciful and charming bridegroom that He is, it would all be so different. The whole world would be drawn by Him and everyone would smile more goofily more often…If only everyone knew how perfect His love is! (NIV, Jer. 31:3) So, this is your pep talk: make the whole world in love. And do not forget the zombies. We have a lot of love, kindness, and patience to go around.

Dear zombie, excuse me if it seems that I am trying to offend you while I am not. Believe me, I am only using the word to infer that as “Christians” we are inclined to become “a will-less and speechless human…capable only of automatic movement who is held to have died and been supernaturally reanimated” as defined my Merriam-Webster. Given our uncanny credence about being reborn and the comfortable seat at church, the definition provided by the West-Indies would make sense, too. Once we recited what we understood from the salvation prayer, read a couple of bible books, and preached to our next door neighbor, we believe to be the holiest thing since the apostle Paul. We become content that is all. Sitting down in a church bench, the only longing in our heart is for God to quicken time. I sincerely apologize now if that is still not enough for you. I am only here to simplify some things up and shine light on what truly matters. To ease your mind let me remind you that before Jesus was arrested and crucified, he prayed about his followers and that means you too. By His last request, you were made one with Him"made one in love"so that the world would know that Jesus had stepped on Earth’s soil (NIV, John 17:21). Not just for the sake of stepping or saving or being called the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and all of the glamorous statements attached to His name, though to these He fills in perfectly. But He also came to leave His footprints in the sands, creating a fragile path before He left. If you are angry because you feel abandoned by your God and that is the reason for your Pharisee inclinations, there is no need to be angry anymore. He left that trail open for you to follow up behind Him, happily motioning others with your hand to do the same. That is why your mouths should not be preach about a burning pit or include manipulation in its tactic, they should excitedly talk about the sound of trumpets suddenly blasting off at the will of God’s angels into the world and exploding dead people back to life in the blink of an eye (NIV, 1 Corinth. 15:52). How is that for an eye-opener? Sounds intimidating and far into the nutty side, I know. I also do not hope that, if a trumpet played by a man made me wince in my seat, a trumpet played by an angel would leave me deaf in time for the walking dead people"and the wedding of all time. Okay. So, it will not exactly be like that, and I will explain. But, I want to end by saying that I would like you to realize this carefully: the wedding is the whole thing (NIV, Rev. 21:2), the bridegroom is the Jesus Christ you hold on to, and you were made to be His treasured possession (NIV, 2 Corinth. 11:2). He hopes that you love Him and are filled with overwhelming happiness, despite the fact that you cannot see him (NIV, 1 Pet. 1:8). If it still means nothing to you, you can drop this at once.

Dear “Christians” in the house of worship of Jesus Christ, do not forget that your bridegroom has a heart. Remember His love always. Shelter it in your mind just as He has “engraved you in the palms of His hands” (NIV, Jer. 49:16), which were made holes by 9-inch nails. Remember that He has “lead you with cords of human kindness, with ties of love”, and has “lifted the yoke from [your] neck” as He “bent down to feed [you]” (NIV, Hos. 11:2). Remember His love always and show this kind of love to the world by deeds. Remember that you played like a harlot and committed adultery, exchanging Him for temporal pleasures and idols (NIV, Jer 3:6; Ezeq. 6:9), and He took you back. You caressed His face one day and slapped Him on the next, and He took you back. When He wanted to hold you at night, you roared at him. As he waited quietly by your bed, he wanted to hate you but was incapable of such human nature (Jer. 12:8). The end says He chose to give His life in replace for yours, so that He will not lose you in life nor in death. (NIV, 1 thessal. 5:10) My dear Bride and Zombie, it is time to stop abusing Him. It is time to marry Him"to vow to have and to hold Him, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death brings you together. It is only your heart that He wants. He says, “Give me all of you!!! I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!!...Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart shall become your heart” (Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis). We can understand a faint gleam of His jealousy here, for the zeal of protecting what is precious to a husband is the purity of His marriage. He will not share you with another or a thing, for He has betroth you to Him forever (NIV, Hos. 2:19). Who, what would you let take the first place in your heart? At every moment, you should fall madly in love with him all over again, because you are meant to be more than a slave or a servant, more than a son or a daughter. You were meant to be His Beloved (Romans 9:25). He did not say be a “Christian”, but he did say follow me. He did not come to create another religion, but the aisle for His bride to walk and meet Him on. For the love of yourself, share this with the all the people around you. Show them through yourself the beauty it is to believe, to be in love with the One you are waiting to see. Watch how their feet effortlessly step inside the ones Jesus made before walking to the cross. But you must show them, not the engagement ring, but the experience of your “I do”. I promise you this: follow and live with Him, find something new about His persona every day, and His heart will be all you care to keep warm against your chest.

This is like a secret, a gentle whisper from God’s lips. Not everyone knows about the path, not everyone cares about His thoughts and feelings yet that is the whole thing. Everything else healthily comes forth from that, your faith, your works. Live in a way that makes God smile, and the world will dance better under His lead.

With love,

Jaz