PREACHER SWAG
God Loves Ugly People
Driving on the southwest side of Columbus, Ohio in August of 2005, I was struck by the following sign advertising services for the CrossLink Community Church.
Alright don't worry, I'm fine. I wasn't actually struck by the sign. But it did make a big impression on me.
It's not something anyone ever talks about, but churches do tend to attract some unattractive people. Though ye be just gross and ugly and can't get a date with a dog even while wearing a pork chop necklace, church folks will still socialize with you. Hey, they pretty much have to accept anybody. Not to speak for any other religion, but that's probably one of the better points of the Christian churches I grew up in. They're a haven of acceptance for the socially inept.
But it struck me odd that a church would actually publicly acknowledge this, much less absolutely advertise it like this. Basic Christian agape would seem to prescribe a kind of polite discretion. "Hey, are you so gross and fat that you couldn't get a date with a crack whore while carrying a $100 rock? Come see us, we'll still accept you." That doesn't seem very nice. That would seem to be rubbing our ugly faces in it- not particularly a good act of Christian charity.
Talking about this oddity with my godson's Mama, she immediately went another direction with it. It has to be some kind of thing about us ALL being ugly with sin, and we love sinners.
Going to their church website seems to confirm this, as they are advertising "two chances each weekend in September to find out why we're all ugly."
See, says Mama, that WAS it. They were just making that quote for shock value to get your attention.
They certainly did accomplish that. But that shock value depended precisely on the indiscreet acknowledgement of that hurtful truth that I originally took out of it.
That's all there is to this humble little essay. I don't have any Deep Theological Insights here. It just struck me as curious strategery.
God and Country index and explanation
Culpepper Log [updated frequently]
Link Soup
morethings master
photo gallery index
MP3
sammy davis
little richard photos
buddy holly pictures
fats domino images
chuck berry pictures 01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
01/02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12
01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
manchurian candidate pictures
24
lucille ball images james
blunt photos
clint eastwood pictures lena
horne images team
america pictures
robert mitchum photos
bruce springsteen pictures
mariah carey pictures
ann coulter photos
sissy spacek pictures
tanya tucker images
loretta lynn pictures
beatles pictures
white stripes pictures
andy griffith pictures
kill bill pictures
parliament funkadelic p-funk pictures
beverly hillbillies pictures
al
barger
frank zappa pictures
jerry lee lewis pictures
richard pryor photos
june carter johnny cash pictures
vic mackey shield pictures
macy gray pictures
james cagney images
elvis presley pictures
gwen stefani images
dolly parton pictures
devil whores pictures
tom petty photos
tori amos pictures
joaquin phoenix images
Quills movie images
peter lorre images
reese witherspoon pictures
flaming lips images rolling
stones photos
fiona apple images dr
strangelove pictures elvis
costello images
ray charles photos marx
brothers pictures
prince rogers nelson pictures blazing
saddles images
sinead o'connor images
eddie murphy photos all
in the family pictures
south park pictures homer
simpson images
bob dylan pictures elizabeth
taylor photos drawn
together images
saturday night live pictures hee
haw pictures james
brown images pete
townshend photos
tina turner pictures
dixie chicks photos
robert anton wilson images
guns n roses pictures
paula abdul pictures
jodie foster photos
borat
eminem
frank sinatra photos
van halen images