Christian Cousins: Extending Grace to Christians That Bother You

Hello everybody, welcome once again to the Unlearn podcast. I am your host, abigail Smith, and you have entered once again into Freedom Fridays, which is when me or me and one of my friends comes and shares with you something we've unlearned this week and how it has made us just a little bit more free. So, as most of you know, we're in a series called Unlearning Religion, where I get to talk to different people from different walks of life about their journey through religion and how it has made them more free, no matter where they've landed. So I was having a pre-conversation with one of my upcoming guests here. We're going to actually have about three more weeks left in this series And y'all, this guest I'm so excited about she actually is from my childhood, somebody I have not been connected to in a long time. She is a writer and she's a storyteller. She's a storyteller. She tells stories through books, through stage plays, through podcasts. She tells stories in all different ways, and so we were having a pre-conversation today And we just had an hour long conversation. That was just so rich And I'm really excited for y'all to hear her. But one of the things we were talking about she was sharing a little bit about her experience with different, with people within the Christian family, right, that don't think the same as her, that have different opinions, different ideologies, things like that, and we were just kind of talking about the frustration around some of those tensions. But one thing that I really appreciated about her is that she kept referring to them as cousins. She kept referring to them as cousins, my cousins. You know. They're in the family. I think you know, and this is specifically you know, talking about the Christian faith. Y'all, whether we like it or not, we are all one family. That's really really difficult right To accept. I'm gonna be the first one to say that is a difficult thing for me to accept. I don't really want to be related or in the same place in space or connected to a lot of people that call themselves Christians. I'll be the first one to admit that It is hard for me to admit that. You know and be real about that out loud. It's true. Like I, some folks that call themselves Christians, that say that they follow Jesus, bother me And if y'all know me at all, you know that that's true, it bothers me. But something that I, through that conversation, had to unlearn is man, whether I like it or not, those people are part of this family. I don't have to like it. Y'all know, y'all have people in your families that you wish wasn't a part of your family. But you can't change bloodlines. It is what it is The blood of Christ, the blood of Christ. It's connected to us all. Now we could get into who really is a Christian and are you, you know, are you really saved? you know all those internal conversations We like to get into. We could do all of that, but the reality is none of us know, right. None of us know who who really getting in and who not. We don't have to have that Conversation. Only the Lord knows our hearts and in and all that. But as far as I know, right, if somebody professes it, i don't have a choice But to take him at face value, just like they don't have a choice but to take it at face value for me. There are plenty of things. There are plenty of things that I know that people disagree with. We argue all day long, but They can't sit here and tell me I'm not, you know, i don't follow Jesus. They can't say that They don't know me and they don't know my heart. Well, it's the same for them. I can't say that about them either. So only God really knows. And if only God really knows, then I don't need to spend a ton of energy trying to figure it out and then Deciding to, you know, cast them out as though they're not in the, in the family. Even as I keep saying this, y'all not gonna lie to you. This is hard for me to even say, but I was really convicted, as she was unpacking some of her, some of the hurts in her past And and and some of the ways that you know our cousins have hurt her right And man, i've been hurt by my cousins too. I've been. I don't trust some of my cousins. I don't. I don't have a desire to really get to know them deeply, not my real cousins. I'm a real cousin's cool, my real cousin's cool. I'm talking about these, these Christian cousins, okay, but But I don't, i don't really want to connect to them. A lot of times, to people that, to other Christians that don't necessarily That I just find too much tension with that. I it really bothers me how they might practice, practice the faith. It just doesn't, doesn't vibe with what I understand some of the tenets of Christianity to be. So I Just I have to challenge myself and I have to be ruled myself, like, whether I like that or not, they are That, they're a part of the same family and the same grace that's extended to me. I Have to extend it to them. That is very, very, very difficult. I really don't like saying it out loud, but it's true. I Just saw an Instagram post by my favorite gospel artist personally, kirk Franklin, where he was talking about how Christians have adopted this cancel culture and How we have a lot of people who call themselves Christians who also feel like it's okay to Cancel other people based on the fact that they don't like you know, they don't like their views on things, or they've made a mistake, or you know they they disagree with them. Okay, like you know, this cancelling out people That that we did not bring in God brought them in. God brings in people, not us, so it's not our. We don't have the right to cast them out. We don't have a right to cancel them, and I think it's just. I Am. I am having to really be challenged with that and I'm grateful for the challenge because, man, i Could be cancelled out, you could be cancelled out, right, and and I'm grateful that I'm not, and so if I'm gonna accept that kind of grace, then I have to be willing to give it to other people. And remember, no matter what I may think of others In the Christian faith who do not vibe with what I believe, what I believe and how I live it out, it don't give me a right to cast them aside. There's still my cousins, there's still my family, and I may not have to talk to him at the reunion, we may not even have to go to the same house. I I gotta honor them as children of God, and so it's just a reminder. So if y'all wrestling with that, like I am, let's wrestle together Honestly. It'll keep us again. It's all about freedom. It keeps us more free When I don't have to even be bothered with that. I don't have to spend my energy trying to get rid of different people because of what it is that they believe or what they think or how they practice or whatever. I don't have to do that because that's not my job, that's God's job, and I get to just pursue what he's convicted me to do. So that's it. Y'all have a great weekend, and actually, when y'all see this, i'm gonna be in Disney World with the Angel Street Girls And by this time, yeah, we gonna be probably about ready to go home, because it's gonna be a long, long week. I'm excited about it, it's gonna be. I know it's gonna be a lot of fun, and so y'all keep us in your prayers. All right, thank you. Keep gaining more wisdom, gaining more courage to change your mind so you can experience more freedom, peace. Thank you once again for listening to the Unlearned Podcast. We would love to hear your comments and your feedback about the episode. Feel free to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and to let us know what you think. We're looking forward to the next time when we are able to unlearn together to move forward towards freedom. See you then.