Gangster: a member of a group of criminals. So, what exactly is a spiritual gangster anyway? It would be me overthinking words on a t-shirt before I buy it. Over the years we’ve taken words that have negative connotations and have trended them into society. I had to really think before I committed to this tank because I didn’t want to send the wrong message. God, sometimes I give myself a headache. But here’s why I bought this shirt.
Religion kind of took a nose dive. I could say it’s recent but then we’d be forgetting all the wars fought throughout history in the name of religion. Religion has been a contentious thing since…forever. I am a Christian. Mind you throughout college I was called a heretic by my fellow Christians. I went to a private Christian college that centered its doctrine on rules, not on love. Of course if you are familiar with Tarryn Fisher you know that I unapologetically had something to say about all of that. It didn’t go over well. Some people love that law, yo. So the word “Christian” became a wonky word for me. The associations made me shy away from the word. But, people do that don’t they? They ruin things. And in the end I wasn’t going to let flawed humans turn me away from something I loved. The original message-that’s what I live for. Now, you could be an atheist, a Muslim, a buddhist, let me just say that I don’t care what you are. You are a human being and I love you. It’s really none of my damn business what you’ve chosen for your life. My business is what I’ve chosen for my life, and to avoid hypocrisy and actually live out my belief system it’s in my best interest to focus on my life not yours.
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
Dayuuum! What does that mean? Bear with me for a moment as I explain what it means to us Beliebers….I mean believers. It means God came down to experience human bullshit. Betrayal, hate, hunger, rejection, a different type of klan, temptation, hurt, murder, hypocrisy. If you read the story of Jesus you’ll see how he was just pummeled with all of it. And yet he loved those who murdered him. He fought for the weak, he opposed the law and the only thing he got really pissed off at was at religion. OMG! Like me! He stood up for women. All. The. Time. Because back then women had absolutely no rights. None. A champion of every underdog. And he asked his followers to show that unconditional love to…strangers? Hell yes, he did. Mmmkay, I’mma do my best. I fail. I do. But, I believe in it; the message of love.
I subscribe deeply to the profound, wisdom of the Bible, deeply to the Jesus of Christianity (he’s cool as fuck) <—–see that’s why I got in trouble.
But I don’t subscribe to the way humans have interpreted the Bible. Or the way they represent my cool as fuck, Jesus. Because of that I was often labeled a Christian criminal or heretic. I’m okay with that. I have found people who represent what I believe, who live out their beliefs. I have other spiritual gangsters in my life. I am a spiritual gangster. See…my shirt even says so. Click on dat link if you’re a spiritual gangster too. I linked the cheap jeans and the expensive jeans.
