Confessions of a Pharisee

I see them often. They're usually disheveled, dirty and nonsensical. They sit on street corners and roam parking lots, gathering attention from those who either mock or elude. And they are everywhere...especially here in L.A. There is a man who preaches crooked "Christian" theology in his underwear- the kind that has elements of truth (regarding heaven and hell), but is overshadowed by outrageous ideas of planets colliding and aliens taking over as the end of the world approaches...and the fact that he is only wearing underwear. I saw another such crusader last night, on a streetcorner holding a large sign that simply said "Jesus Saves." He was wearing a cape and shouting angrily. I don't know what the cape had to do with anything. Personally, I would have left that at home along with my angry rants.

I don't know what has made me so sensitive to people's perspectives of Christians recently. It's made me aware of the image that I project to the world, and the way that I interpret situations around me. Moving to Los Angeles has certainly challenged my ideas of normalcy in ways for which I was unprepared. It's almost embarrassing when I think about how sheltered my life has been, usually surrounded by people who are like -minded and, consequently, safe to know. I've been convicted by my quickness to judge. That's why the following song ministered so strongly to me as I listened to it this morning...and thought, how would I react to Jesus if I'd met him in Los Angeles?

Check it out:
"Wide Eyed", by Nichole Nordeman

When I met him on a sidewalk
He was preaching to a mailbox
Down on 16th Avenue
And he told me he was Jesus
Sent from Jupiter to free us
With a bottle of tequila and one shoe
He raged about repentance
He finished every sentence
With a promise that the end was close at hand
I didn't even try to understand

He left me wide eyed in disbelief and disillusion
I was tongue tied, drawn by my conclusions
So I turned and walked away
And laughed at what he had to say
Then casually dismissed him as a fraud
I forgot he was created in the image of my God

When I met her in a bookstore
She was browsing on the first floor
Through a yoga magazine
And she told me in her past life
She was some plantation slave's wife
She had to figure out what that might mean
She believes the healing powers of her crystals
Can bring balance and new purpose to her life
Sounds nice

She left me wide eyed in disbelief and disillusion
I was tongue tied, drawn by my conclusions
So I turned and walked away
And laughed at what she had to say
Then casually dismissed her as a fraud
I forgot she was created in the image of my God

Not so long ago, a man from Galilee
Fed thousands with His bread and His theology
And the truth He spoke
Quickly became the joke
Of educated, self-inflated Pharisees like me

And they were wide eyed in disbelief and disillusion
They were tongue tied, drawn by their conclusions
Would I have turned and walked away
And laughed at what He had to say
And casually dismissed Him as a fraud
Unaware that I was staring at the image of my God