WHY SHOULD I LET YOU INTO MY HEAVEN?
Why? Come on, Lord! You KNOW why. Didn’t I walk down an aisle and recite a sinner’s prayer? Didn’t I get water baptized – all the way submerged! - and join the church? Didn’t I do everything that the preacher said to do?
Didn’t I graduate from a Christian school and then go to a Christian college? Didn’t I major in religious studies, and wasn’t I very religious? Didn’t I keep my hair cut short and not listen to rock music, including Contemporary Christian Music? Didn’t I marry a Christian girl in a Christian wedding in a Christian church?
Wasn’t I in church every time the doors were open, not just Christmas and Easter? Didn’t I put money in the offering plate every time it was passed? Didn’t I tithe over and above the 10%?
Didn't I sing the great hymns of the faith with gusto? Wasn't I moved to tears when worshipping? Didn’t I always have Christian music or preaching on the radio around the house or when I was driving?
Didn’t I take our children to Sunday school and the Christian school, get them baptized and drive them to youth group, send them to summer camp and then on to Christian college themselves?
Didn’t I read my Bible every day, and not just ANY Bible, but only the King James Version? Didn’t I memorize verses out of the KJV? Didn’t I memorize the 66 books of the Bible, the ten commandments and the names of all of the judges and kings of Israel? Didn’t I know the names of all of the disciples as well as the seven churches in Revelation?
Didn’t I shun drugs and smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and going to R-rated movies? Didn’t I never curse or take Your name in vain?
Didn’t I keep missionary magnets on my refrigerator and remember to pray for them every day?
Didn’t I go out of my way to give money to poor and homeless people? Wasn’t I active in a jail ministry, asking inmates to also repeat a sinner’s prayer and giving away Bibles?
Didn’t I live like a Christian in my community, voting Republican in every election and supporting Supreme Court candidates who I knew would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade?
Were not my mistakes and errors in judgment small and inconsequential? Was I not better than those who sinned against you constantly and in egregious fashion?
BUT WHAT DID YOU DO WITH JESUS, MY SON?
Uh, what do you mean, Lord? I just told you.
DEPART FROM ME. I NEVER KNEW YOU.
