Dear James,

Thank you so much for being willing to spend some time with me and share about your life. Your honesty and your fresh
perspective have challenged and encouraged me. I would like to share a few more ideas of my own with you.
You talked about God being responsible for nothing and being no one particular form. I spoke as if God were an entity, a
man. This is an idea you did not hold to. You said God was in everything and part of everything, we are God and God is in
the trees, the river, the animals. I know it may seem narrow-minded and clich, but I believe that my view of God has
something incredible to offer: companionship.
All throughout the Bible, various people are shown to have different kinds of relationships with God. These characters
respond to God's actions just as God responds to them. I don't enjoy reading about everything that God chooses to do in
the Old Testament (as you seemed to echo), but I do love that God chooses to do the things he does. He is responsible for
His choices. This means that there is the possibility of a relationship with Him and a truly deep understanding of Him and
the way He works.
You see, every time I read my Bible, I ask myself the question: Who is God? This question excites me so much more than
the question, "What is God?" Understanding that God is a person, and having a record of many of His thoughts and actions
(both the pleasant and unpleasant ones) allows me to know him and have a relationship with Him in the same way I have a
relationship with you. There is nothing vague or undefined about it. I know what God is like. Granted, He maintains a
certain amount of mystery, but I can still know Him in part; I can nail down who He is and how I can be more like Him.
Believing that God is responsible for nothing that He is in every rock and tree allows no real relationship or knowable
understanding of Him. That sounds like a very lonely, unresolved situation to me.
I also appreciated your unorthodox views on illegal drugs. That was difficult for me to hear, but really important. I'm very
quick to label things immediately good or bad. I think I do it so that I can feel more comfortable with the world around
me ... or something like that. I can be really judgmental without even thinking about it it gives me a certain power over
the world around me, and I really don't enjoy being powerless. You reminded me that people have to make their own
choices, and that even though a choice may be good for one person, that same choice may be really bad for another
person; it's all about the way in which that person makes the choice. I'm not sure if I'll ever wrap my head around the idea
that there's no such thing as bad drugs, but you've certainly opened up my mind to the possibility.
It was also really nice to struggle with you through what kind of punishments are best for the worst kind of people. I never
feel like I have solid answers with this topic on the one hand, I desire to be not judgmental, while on the other hand I
desire justice. I do believe that the Bible has much wisdom to offer on this struggle. God forgives all sins. You talked about
rapists deserving to be killed. That seems about right to me, but to God, we all deserve death. It is true that some choices
negatively effect those around us far more than others. Put simply, it is true that some bad choices are worse than other
bad choices. But the one thing that makes all bad choices similar is the fact that they are all ways in which we rebel against
God. They are all choices we make which make God unhappy and, being perfect, make us unable to be in God's presence.
This is why Jesus bled for us. Every sin from the tiniest white lie to the most violent rape is within Jesus' power to
forgive. We are only to accept that forgiveness. If you view the world from that perspective, then your judgments of others
is not based on hatred or frustration or malice, it is based on justice. You see, I am no better than a rapist because I have
alienated myself from God and only have hope in Jesus' blood. While I am on this earth, I have far less judgment and
negative consequences to face than a rapist, but in the eternal perspective of things, I am forgiven in just the same way
that a rapist is forgiven. That may sound like injustice to you, but what it does is it frees you and I up from having to be
judges, from the most impossibly difficult job. A rapist is one who can be trusted with very little, perhaps so little that he
cannot be allowed to live (you and I should talk about the death penalty some time!), but his punishment is based on how
his thoughts and actions impact the society around him. They are not based on hatred. Jesus does not allow me any space
to hate a rapist. I only feel sorry for him and wish him the best: an understanding of the gravity of his choices and a desire
to repent, to completely change his life, and to face the consequences with humility and grace.
I hope these further ideas are stimulating to you. Thanks again for the fantastic talk!
-Matt
Passages: Companionship with God = 2 Samuel 24; 2 Chronicles 7; Job 13:15, 16; Being Judgmental = James 4:11, 12;
I Corinthians 8:9-13; The Worst Kinds of People = Matthew 6:14, 15; I Corinthians 6:9, 10