Adios, Adios, Adios!

            The first story I ever wrote was titled, “Timmy the Monkey and His First Play Date,” or something along those lines. It was about (shocker!) a monkey named Timmy and his first play date with Tommy the Cat. I know it’s not the most creative plot, but I was in first grade so give me a break.

            I enjoyed writing that story more than I did working as a fashion consultant for my Bratz dolls or substituting bricks for legos as I constructed my dream house. The crayon nuzzled in my right hand, telling the story in my mind to the blue sheets of construction paper my mom had stapled together for me. I also decided to include artistic depictions of pivotal scenes in case my readers could not understand what game Timmy and his friend were playing or why Tommy had to go home at the end. Once I finished, I let my one adoring fan read my story. My mom loved it.

            It's one of the fondest memories from my childhood.  

            Now, here I am many years later. I’ve gone from writing fictional stories in crayon for my mom to writing down my experiences and thoughts on God and Christianity for readers of my blog. It’s been a year and half since I began this blog and I still can’t believe people even wanted to read what I’ve had to say. I kept thinking to myself, “Wow, people actually care? What a blessing!”

            As wonderful as this blessing has been, I am both sad and happy to say it is time to move on. I’ve enjoyed writing for my blog a great deal and I’m completely grateful for all of the readers who have taken even a second of their day to glance at my few posts. As much fun as I’ve had, though, I’m no longer a teenager. In addition, I’m graduating soon and I know God has plenty more planned for me after I welcome this diploma into my life.

Although I am happy to say “hello” to the next stage of my life, I am sad to say “goodbye” to my blog. However, I want to make it clear that I am in no way saying “goodbye” to my writing or readers of my writing in general. I sure hope that if I ever start another blog or become a famous author someday, readers of this blog will continue to enjoy what I have created.

And readers? Please don’t let me become one of those attention-hogging authors on TV whose sole wish is to magically transform books into cash. It’s always been about the writing and the talent that God has given me; I never want it to become anything else.

So, if you ever see my name on some fancy novel on a Barnes & Nobles shelf, just remind me about the monkey story, the little girl who wrote it, and the aspiring writer that she bloomed into with nothing more but a Christian teen blog.

God bless,

Selys Rivera

A Comedic Christian

            Although April Fools passed a while ago, I’ve been wondering about the relationship between humor and Christianity. There are quite a few different viewpoints on the matter. Some Christians I know, including my dad, think laughter is fine so long as it’s not dirty or offensive. My dad especially can’t stand jokes about Jesus. Other friends of mine don’t see the line so clearly. I have one Christian friend who likes to analyze jokes, specifically Jesus ones, to see whether or not they are offensive or not. There are even more strict friends who stick to kid-friendly jokes.

            So where’s the line?

            I think this can be a difficult question, especially with teenagers. So many people like dirty jokes, sexist jokes, racist jokes, etc. Personally, I find it difficult to not laugh. I kind of laugh at pretty much anything. I should probably work on that.

            What I really want to focus on are Jesus jokes, though. Or mainly, humor and where it stands in Christianity. I don’t think Jesus jokes are bad, to be honest. I mean, of course I don’t want to hear an offensive joke, such as one that a friend from high school told me:

“If the Lord’s Supper has us eating the bread that represents Jesus’ body, which part of His body are we eating, if you know what I mean?”

That’s not the kind of humor I’m talking about. I’m with my dad on this one; that’s an offensive Jesus joke. There is some humor in relation to Jesus that I think is okay, though. I remember seeing one photo that showed a sign that read, “No running!” but the place was flooded so there was clearly no place for anyone to run. Someone commented, “Behave Yourself, Jesus.” Personally, I laughed. It made sense. Jesus is the only one who has ever walked on water, so He is the only one who can run on water. Why is that offensive?

All right, so maybe this isn’t that deep a subject to discuss, so I won’t babble anymore about it. But I will leave this video of Stephen Colbert arguing with a Bible Critic. Stephen not only has a great argument, but he uses humor as he makes it. Hopefully, this video can show my point a bit clearer.

Drunk Off Jesus

            I never used to understand the big hype around “Thirsty Thursday.” Every Thursday, people go out and party, get drunk, and then regret it Friday morning. What was the point? Why would someone put him or herself through that?

            Then I understood. “It’s a hard knock life,” as Annie would say. Life is difficult; it is stressful and painful. It’s a searing cut in my skin that never fully heals no matter how much medicine I put on it. If there were any way to relieve the pain, I would take the chance.

            Isn’t that the promise alcohol makes?

             Now the example I’m about to give didn’t happen today or even this year. It happened when I was going through a much more difficult time than I have been lately. I just want to make that clear.

            So one day, a couple of years ago, I was at a relatively low moment in my life. As a result, I decided to listen to those whispered promises. I’m not proud of it, but I got drunk. Once. Never again since then, and I don’t plan on it ever again either, even after I’m happily past twenty-one and here’s why.

Nothing changed.

            After I felt as nauseous as if I was on a heaving boat, after I felt so dizzy I couldn’t distinguish between the floor and the ceiling, and after I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, nothing changed. 

            After I woke up the next morning with a pulsating headache, after I went to church feeling as if I had spent the night substituting for somebody’s punching bag, and after I lied to my family and won the award for best patient performance, absolutely nothing changed.

            My problems were still there when I got off the boat, when I could tell where the floor and ceiling were, and when I was awake. My problems were still there when the headache crawled back home, when I resigned from my punching bag position, and when I abandoned my acting career. Alcohol didn’t keep its promise; instead, it broke my heart even further than I thought it could break.

            This all brings me to today. My day was nowhere near as bad as the day I got drunk, but it wasn’t a good day either. Stress has been my companion lately, no matter how many times I try to say goodbye. Tonight, though, while many people were into “Thirsty Thursday,” I decided to go to my youth group, which I hadn’t gone to for a while.

            Stress tried to accompany me in, but I was able to trade it for someone else: Jesus. He didn’t lie to me like alcohol did. He didn’t say my problems were going to be gone in an instance. He didn’t even say the pain was going to subside anytime soon. What He did promise was that He would be with me as I went through it all. He reminded me that He loves me and that no matter what I’m going through, He always would.

            After I left, my problems were still there, just like when I drank, but there was one difference: the problems didn’t bother me as much. I felt worse about my problems when I drank because I wasn’t doing anything to better the situation. However, spending some time with God, letting go of my stress, rejuvenating my strength, that was doing something about my problems. Even if it was just giving me a little sense of hope, going to youth group did so much more for me than drinking would have.

            Now, I’m not saying drinking in general is bad. I never think something in its whole is bad, I think it’s when someone loses control with a substance that it can be harmful. For example, using the Internet isn’t a bad thing, but using it to look up harmful things, looking at it every possible minute until an addiction is formed, that’s bad. So, I don’t think a sip of wine at a wedding is a big deal. Getting drunk at a wedding, now that’s worth worrying about. Drinking for the wrong reasons can be bad as well, like in my case.

            Here’s my new solution for myself, though, and I offer it as advice. If I ever do want to just forget about everything, relax, and give into something completely, I know just what to do.

            I’ll get drunk off Jesus. 

An Easter Post: Tears of Joy

            I’m the kind of person who cries easily. Seriously, I mean show me a picture of a sad puppy and I tear up. So it’s no surprise how much I cried when I watched the Son of God movie today to celebrate Easter.

As I watched Jesus endure forty agonizing lashes on his back; watched Jesus get pierced through his hands and feet with rusty nails; watched Jesus drip blood and tears; watched Jesus die on the cross; and watched Mary carry Jesus’ lifeless body in her arms just like she carried him when he was a baby; I cried desperately, my nose dripping snot and my eyes turning red.

            It was not a pretty sight.

            My mom walked into the living room and found her daughter in a puddle of snot and tears. I wasn’t embarrassed since, being a pastor, she was sure to understand my sorrow. However, she reminded me about something that took me a little off guard.

            “You know He rose three days later, right?”

            Duh, of course I knew that. I don’t know what my mom expected. I wasn’t going to stop crying just because I knew there was a happy ending. It was still so horrible to see how Jesus was crucified. Still, it did make me feel better as I waited in anticipation for the movie to get to the part where Jesus returns. I wiped my tears away and smiled when my anticipation was rewarded.

            It’s wonderful to know that Jesus rose. I don’t know if any other religion believes in someone dying and coming back to life, but it’s amazing that Christianity has that. It’s even more wonderful, though, to know that Jesus will come back again. How amazing will it be when He does? I can’t even imagine it.

            I do know this, though. I would more than likely cry for that too.

Only that time, I would cry tears of joy.

Love Thy (Gay) Neighbor

            “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”

            “Oh yeah? Well the Bible also says ‘Lot and his daughters,’ not ‘Lot and his sons.’”

            There is no other theological debate that I am more tired of hearing about than the one on homosexuality. The main reason why it bothers me is because it’s tearing the Christian church apart. It’s almost like I walk into a church, someone asks me whether or not I’m okay with homosexuality, and then I’m either welcomed in or shunned depending on my answer.

            That’s not right.

            Here’s my dilemma. I am absolutely horrified at the way “Christians” are treating homosexuals. Not only that, I can’t even say for sure whether or not I believe homosexuality is a sin. Currently, I feel myself leaning towards the belief that it’s not.

            Shocker! Well, I did say I don’t have conventional views on matters.

            Let me start with the fact that I’m not gay. I like guys and want to have a husband someday. Hopefully, my heterosexuality can give me some impartiality on the subject.

            Now, ever since I was aware of the homosexuality debate, I have always called myself “neutral territory.” I wasn’t for or against gay people. If someone was against, fine. If someone was gay, fine. It didn’t matter either way for me. Although I still have the same non-judgmental attitude, I have taken the issue a lot more seriously lately.

Why? Because I’ve begun to notice the horrible way Christians are treating their gay neighbors.

How could “Christians” go to church and then look down in disgust at the gay person sitting in the pew next to them? How could they ignore their own sins while they judge anyone who shows even the slightest hint of being gay? How could they believe they are supposed to hate homosexuals? How could they believe God hates homosexuals?

It baffles me.

Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than this” (Mark 12:31). He doesn’t say to love someone because I agree with his or her lifestyle choices. He doesn’t say to love someone because I know he or she is not sinning. He doesn’t say, “Love someone because” at all. He just commands to love. Period.

Now saying this, I know that doesn’t mean if we don’t agree with someone who is, say, a drug addict, that we should hang around him or her all the time and pick up bad habits in the name of love. It does mean, though, that we shouldn’t hate him or her.

All right, after getting that off my chest, let me go back to why I’m leaning more towards the idea that homosexuality is not a sin. I do want to state that I don’t want to force anyone to agree with me, I just want to express my musings on the subject.

So, there are several “sins” in the Bible that are no longer considered sins. For example, no one is supposed to touch a woman when she is on her period because she is considered impure (Leviticus 15:19). (Well, then I guess many of my friends who have hugged me during my time of the month have sinned. Whoops!) Commandments, such as this one, are considered outdated and no longer valid, so to speak. “Cultural variation” is the term I have heard. Some parts of the Bible have to be seen in relation to their cultural context; it should not be taken literally word for word, without analyzing.

When I revealed my observation, one of my Christian friends told me there are parts of the Bible that should be taken literally and others figuratively. I agreed, but when I asked how to discern what parts to take literally or figuratively, my friend replied, “Oh, you just know.”

            Well, I don’t think you can “just know.” I think the Bible needs to be considered and deeply analyzed based on its cultural context to be able to understand what is most relevant and important for us as Christians today. If we followed the Bible literally without doing so, then there would still be slavery in our society and women would not have rights. I don’t think I should be focused on whether or not I need to wear a head covering because I’m a woman and the Bible says so (1 Corinthians 11) when I should be more focused on other pressing matters, like my sexual purity as an unmarried young adult, for example. 

The way I see it, a sin is a sin because it has consequences. If I lie to my mom, I’ve hurt her and myself. If I cheat on my boyfriend, I’ve ruined my relationship. If I have sex before marriage and then get dumped by my boyfriend (or get pregnant or an STD), I’ve lost my self-respect (and get myself in trouble to boot). And if I have an addiction, I'm going to lose everything. 

Sins also include a lack of love. Obviously, if I lie to my mom, I care more about the benefits that come with the lie than I do her. If I cheat on my boyfriend, I care more about gratifying my own desires than I do my boyfriend’s feelings. If I decide to have sex before marriage, I’m more than likely acting on lust than love. And if I have an addiction, it's all about satisfying my life-threatening desires. There's no love in any of these cases, whether for myself or others. 

There are exceptions, though, no? I might lie to my mom to save her from something horrible. I might cheat on accident (though I find that one difficult to imagine). I might even decide to have premarital sex because I’ve been in a loving, committed relationship for years, but cannot get married for some reason. And technically, I could be addicted to a good thing, like reading the Bible everyday. 

            Well, what about homosexuality? I agree that a gay couple that decides to act on their lust for each other is a sin because 1) there will be consequences, just like with a heterosexual couple and 2) there is no love. But what about a committed, loving, Christian gay couple that wants to wait until marriage, growing closer to God in the meantime, like any faithful, Christian straight couple? Why should one couple be praised while the other one is condemned? Apparently, it’s because the gender of the people in the couple matters.

            I see no logic in that (and I won’t even get into the problem of gender and the biological/psychological debate on it).

            Now I know there are so many arguments about what the Bible does and does not say about homosexuality. I’m not an educated theologian so I’m not going to debate the Bible scriptures as if I am one. Heck, I’m not even sure if the parts of the Bible I do get are understood correctly. I’m only human; I’m a sinner and I’m flawed. I accept that.

            Which is why I refuse to judge homosexuals and plan to leave the judgment to He who holds the almighty gavel up in heaven.

But I will say this. The debate between homosexuality and Christianity needs to stop dividing churches, youth groups, Christian friends, and every other Christian in the world. We are all God’s children. Should we deny an alcoholic to come to church? Should we deny a liar a seat at our table? No! Jesus spent time with the people who were considered the lowest of the low, such as prostitutes and lepers. So if homosexuality is a sin, who cares?! I know I will welcome them into church, hug them, and love them no matter what because nothing is more important than sharing the love of Christ.

            Absolutely nothing.

Note: I found a great website on homosexuality and Christianity: the Gay Christian Network. What I found most interesting is the whole idea of “The Great Debate” within the gay Christian community, arguing the Traditionalist vs. Reformed view on the position of homosexuality in Christianity today. I'm not going to lie. Many of the ideas I spoke about in this blog post came from and were inspired by these essays, especially the reformed one. Credit is due where credit is due. I recommend reading the original essays if anyone is as interested in the subject as I am.

Also, there's a great article, "I'm Christian, Unless Your Gay" that I think takes what I'm saying and breaks it down even further. Just in case anyone's interested!