So here is an email I got regarding the death of Robin Williams. I will be honest it shocked me.

“This morning on the show you talked about Robin Williams like he was such a great guy. In reality he was a vulgar comedian who was also a bisexual. How about admiring some of the great men and women of faith. I have no respect or admiration for those in worldly entertainment. I am done listening to the Wally Show. Too bad a “Christian station” can’t have more Christian content.”

I will freely admit I am confused by how we can all read the same Bible and come away with such different viewpoints on love and grace. Here is my response to him. Feel free to give me your thoughts.

I will be honest, if this is how you really feel it is probably better you do not listen to me anymore because I refuse to hate people because of their lifestyle choices. If you and I continue to have conversations they will probably degrade and ultimately look nothing like Jesus, and that is not good for anyone.

Here is a thought for you though. Did you know that the people Jesus had the biggest problem with weren’t the sinners struggling in sin? It was with the pious religious leaders of the day. I am sorry you are filled with such anger that you can’t see the pain of children losing their father, or a wife losing her husband, regardless of one’s lifestyle. I find that sad, and I wonder what hurt you have in your life that blinds you to that.

I talked about Robin because we share some similarities, one being struggling with being happy even though on the surface everyone expects us to be. I am sorry you missed the point, because it was an honest moment that I think others can identify with.

I think you might have confused being kind with condoning. I never endorsed his lifestyle choices, but I had a good experience when I met him, and I wanted to share that. Yes, he was a vulgar comedian many times, but he wasn’t always that. He was an addict, but he wasn’t always that.

It is tough paint someone with one brush. I don’t think that is fair. In that same spirit I am not going to paint you as some religious zealot who hates people to somehow make himself feel better about his own standing with God. I am going to say that I think I caught you on a bad day and I believe that you do normally extend grace to people because that is one thing we are all going to need one day. So, I am going to start by extending it to you today. I hope you will pass that on.

Take care