Interview w/Self : Volume 1, Chapter 1, Section 3b, Row 14, Seat 09

To ease the flow of this interview, my subconscious will be called "Tom".

Tom: Good morning Mr. Sutton, I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview.
Jonathan: No problem, let's get to it.
Tom: Absolutely. This morning's interview will consist of a series of random questions.
Jonathan: Gee, what surprise.

Tom: Question number 1: As a devout follower of your blog, I've noticed you haven't mentioned any good church signs lately. Why is that?
Jonathan: Well, I'm trying not to "slam" or be negative towards someone or something...especially the body of Christ. We have enough of that already. However, it's funny you mention the church sign thing...cause I just saw one yesterday morning that HAS to be mentioned.
Tom: Ok, but keep it clean, be nice.
Jonathan: Sure thing. The sign said, "Almost living right is still wrong! Right is easy with God's help." I'll keep this brief and simple. This sign does absolutely no good. Here's how I see it: To me, this sign says, "Nice try, but you failed. You 'almost' got it right, but your not up to our standard. God/We demand perfection. You are still wrong! If you 'almost' did the right thing, good try, but you're still damned!" By the way, why do any church signs address the community with messages like this? What possible good could come from a sign like this? When I pass by a sign like that, my first thought goes to the divorced guy who lives 2 houses down from the church. He grew up in the church. Was married in the church. But then things went sour. His life unraveled. His marriage fell apart. And within the blink of an eye, he found himself isolated from his friends at church. He's not sure how it happened. But now he feels he can NEVER go back. Why is that? It's because of the attitude of the "saints" at that church. To them, this guy failed. He didn't "live right". He almost did. He did for awhile. But as we all know, Jesus only died for those who live right. :-0 This oozes and smells of PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE. Where is your focus church? We are not in the business of trying to help/make people "live right". We are in the business of extending the same grace and forgiveness to others that has been poured on to us. Stop telling people they are wrong. You only make our job harder. Please read more carefully how Jesus handled the religious people of His day. The parallel to what we do sometimes...how we treat unbelievers...how we put the external standards of living above WHO we are following...you may find this parallel frightening.

Due to my insanely long response, I'll continue with question 2 and 3 at a later date.