Allergic to God

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked. – Galatians 6:7a (NRSV) 

Ask the evangelical internet, and you might hear that Christianity is under attack by malevolent forces that hate Jesus Christ. The opposite is true: plenty of folk are angling to make our country a right-wing Christian theocracy, with some success.  

But where I live in the Bay Area, to admit publicly that you are a Christian is to court immediate and vehement scorn. Which honestly I get, when I see how some of my co-religionists behave. Many of my neighbors think all Christians are fools, bigots, and/or potential domestic terrorists. 

So I knew what I was in for at the Bay Area Book Festival, trying to sell something very few people wanted: a memoir of progressive faith. I’d even brought free stickers with quotes from the book. One sticker echoed Rumi, “Dance when you’re broken open.” Another said, “God is not an a-hole.” Still another said, “God didn’t send the disaster, but She will use it.”  

One guy glanced at my stickers, saw the word “God,” and looked up at me. “Good luck with that,” he said flatly, before moving on.  

It’s one thing to come for me and the spiritual siblings to whom I’m albatrossed by the name Christian. It’s another thing to scorn God when you’ve had very little firsthand exposure to Christian community.  

It’s like they have an allergy to something that their bodies think is poison but might, under the right circumstances, turn out to be the bread of life. 

Prayer
God, we are a stubborn and prejudiced people, some in one way, some in another. Bend us. Feed us. Heal our anaphylactic response to what is truly You.

About the Author
Rev. Molly Baskette is the lead pastor of First Church Berkeley UCC and the author of books about church renewal, parenting, spiritual growth and more. Sign up for her author newsletter or get information about her newest book at mollybaskette.com.