Imagine a church that plays Rainy Day Women (#12 and 35) as the benediction.  You know, the Dylan song, “Everybody must get stoned.”  And not for the “getting stoned” part, as I have plenty of friends who have gone to that church for far too long.  I appreciate the list of things for which people will stone you.  “They’ll stone you when you’re tryin’ to be so good (process of sanctification?)…  They’ll stone you when you’re walking down the street (justification?)… They’ll stone you and say that its the end (eschatological views?)…” etc.   

Seriously.  If there is a group of people out there committed to the notion that left to their own devices they blow it nearly as much or more often than they succeed, I am in.  And I’m giving 12.5% instead of 10. 

What if there was a church who threw down her glossy pamphlets and mutated “5 core purposes” mission statements stolen from a successful church in California in favor of something that sounded more like this:  ”We’re probably going to brutalize you, and if you should be chosen to sit on God’s right or on his left for 15 minutes, we’re going to throw a holy fit until you come down.  But we hope that by ackowledging our shortcomings there is hope that you’ll forgive us, and we’ll try to do the same when you return the favor.  We don’t mean to stone you, and we understand that you don’t mean to stone us back.  We’re just disgustingly human at times.  Last week we stoned 15 people, but this week we’re down to 13.5.  We’re trying to follow Jesus!”

I’m not saying this from a “holy” perspective.  I’ve stoned my share of friends as well.  At the end of the day, I hope I am in a position to ask for forgiveness rather than defend the rocks I’ve thrown.  So, try forgiveness.  Next time you find yourself with a couple handfuls of rocks, build an altar to remind you of the forgiveness you’ve received, instead of choosing a target for your ammo. 

(They’ll stone you and then say) Good luck.