Lead me from religion

If we aren’t careful, we’ll soon be slaves again, cast back into the depths of Egyptian sand. If we aren’t careful, we’ll be scraping shit off the bottom of Sabbath’s sandal; we’ll be chained unwillingly to a present we poisoned. If we aren’t careful, we’ll be begging for water though the well is plentiful. We’ll refuse to draw from it’s depths, from the eternal spring feeding, filling, and refilling its mouth. If we aren’t careful, we’ll soon follow our wandering feet far outside the Promised Land and then deny our own re-entry. If we aren’t careful, we’ll worship religion and forget to worship God.

If we aren’t careful, we’ll keep dressing like sheep, ignorant that we have become wolves.

To answer your lingering question…

Yes, I said “shit.” And, yes, I am a follower and fervent lover of Christ. So why did I blatantly curse in a blog that’s supposed to be about my walk with Christ, with Christianity, with a life that exemplifies Jesus? Because I want to be real with you – I want you to see my weaknesses and my sins just as clearly as I hope that you will also see Jesus. I don’t want to be a wolf, but above all, I don’t want to be a wolf pretending to be a lamb.

Why did I say “shit”? For the same reason that I have gossiped about my friends, disrespected my parents, yelled at the red Toyota that cut me off this morning, and judged the whore, the drug dealer, the atheist, the cheater, and myself; I said “shit” for the same reason that I am a God-fearing, Jesus-loving, Christ-adoring, raging sinner.

I said “shit” because I want to begin this journey naked.
(No, not literally naked. I’m at work, so that would be weird).

I want to clothe myself in the love, mercy, grace, and redemption of Christ – in the blood of the Lamb. But, first, I want to make damn sure that I’m not a wolf. So, I’m stripping my wool. I’m shedding and praying that God exposes me. I am praying that He make me wholly vulnerable so that I may then dip into and submerge myself in the blood of the Lamb.

My hope for this blog – this journey – is that I may be led from the way of the wolves, that I may be separated from the goats, that I may remain naked and exposed, clothing myself only in the ways of the lamb and counted among the sheep.

I’m starting Naked Lamb because I need to – I need to use my writing to directly glorify and praise God connect with people, to be honest about faith, and real about the shit we are all trying to muck out of our lives and scrape off our hearts. I’m writing this so that my gifts don’t lay dormant; I’m writing this because God is great, and following Him is our greatest struggle and our most redeeming and perfect reward.

I’m writing this to remind myself and others that Scripture is beautiful, foundational, and vibrant and that relationship beats religion, love beats legalism, Christ beats the cross, and the Son beats Satan.

This is my introductory post to this blog and I’m hoping to post once or twice a week. If you like it, I’d love for you to keep on reading,  give me your feedback, and maybe even share it with your friends. If you hate it, then clearly there’ something wrong with you. If you want to know about me then ask my friends. If you want to know what I think about myself then read my About page.

Happy Friday everyone and enjoy your Labor Day, three-day weekend because I certainly plan to!