Hi there, bigots!

Being a Christian is hard. Right now, my walk with God is pretty much in a shambles. I'm going through a rough time in my life at the moment, so I feel pretty horrible inside. Unfortunately, when I feel down I try and do something that probably won't help to fix it, and since I've given up alchohol my brain wanders elsewhere. As I've realised that an appreciable number of hot women do find me attractive, pre-marital sex has proved extremely tempting.

Aside from desperately wanting to get laid, my biggest frustration is how people view us Christians. A lot of people think we spend our days judging the world, looking around and gleefully pointing out the failings of others. You know, like this guy. Had sex before marriage? Sinner! Taken drugs? Sinner! Homosexual? Sinner! But everyone has fallen short of the glory of God, including us Christians. Especially us Christians. We know we're sinners. We should be smart enough to avoid throwing stones in a house we know is very much made of glass.

But do you know what doesn't help? These guys. I'm not talking about the gags pulled by the Something Awful crew, I'm talking about the guys holding signs reading such wonders as "Fags doom nations", "God hates fags" and "God hates fag enablers".

Yes, I believe that homosexual acts are a sin, and I can back that up with reference to the Bible. But crikey, so's being disrespectful to your parents. Am I going to have a posse chasing me around with signs reading "God hates you for talking back to your Dad"?

These guys make a lot of noise, and have a fairly high profile for themselves. When a lot of people think of Christians, they don't think of aid workers in foreign countries. They don't think of people helping out the homeless. They think about people like these guys.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to share the news of God's amazing love for people when what they associate our God with is hate?

Whose fault is it that people have this mistaken idea about us Christians? I'll make this very clear: it is our fault.

Let's clear at least this one up for the benefit of those reading this: God loves "fags" as much as He loves everyone else. I know He doesn't want His people to go around and hurl abuse at homosexuals. Is this what Jesus would do? If you think it is, I'd ask you to examine His character a bit further, particularly in these passages:

• John 8:3-11
• Luke 7:36-50
• Matthew 9:9-12

Here's another inspiring story. It's labelled "They hate you because of me". I don't know about you, but I think "They hate you because you're acting the spa" would be a more accurate lead-in. This isn't what we should be about, people!

Here's a little thing I learned a long time ago. This world is a pretty sinful place. If we're going to start finger-pointing sins, we're going to awful busy; and in the end, it's counter-productive. Even if you point out every sin a person has, what can they do about it? Only Jesus Christ Himself can make a real difference in their lives, and finger-pointing only makes these people think our Lord and Saviour is an asshat.

I can feel myself rambling. I'll leave you with a picture, and for those fellow Christians reading this, a challenge: is this what we want people thinking when they hear the word Christian? Heck, is this what we want people thinking when they hear the word Christ?