A Pretty Port-A-John

Is there such a thing as a pretty port-a-john? They have to be the nastiest things I have ever encountered. They are filthy, stink beyond belief, are tiny and have no windows. The word claustrophobic pops into mind. In fact, as I am writing this, that smell has entered my senses even though I am sitting outside breathing the fresh country air. Gross!

But again, have you ever found a pretty one? Believe it or not, I have actually found two!. One was located down the street from my house where there was construction being done at my neighbors. They were closing in a two-car garage and adding another room to the house. Since the workers had set up shop for, what seemed like, several months, they obviously needed someplace to use the restroom…so up goes “the john.” No body wants one of those ugly things gracing their front yard, so they cleverly disguised it and, to be quite honest, they did a really good job. It took a double take for me to figure out just what was masquerading behind the vine covered latticework. Clever.

The other one, I have seen nearly everyday of my life and it too has had a great disguise. In fact, it was just recently that I made this startling discovery. Me! I am the other port-a-john. Sure, on the outside I am somewhat attractive (I have the advantage of you not being able to see me), nice, respectful, moral, yadda yadda yadda. But if you spend any length of time with me, you will find that I start to stink, figuratively speaking, of course.

I spend my day trying to pretend that I have it all together. I make sure that my hair and makeup look nice and the clothes I am wearing don’t have holes. A distraction.

I don’t cheat on my husband. I love my family, and I pay my taxes every year.
If I were completely honest, I would have to say that the person I pretend to be most, is all too often far from whom I am. It reminds me of the saying “fake it until you make it”.

With all the imperfections and sin going around, most Christians will have to face the most dreaded question of all time: “Do you believe in a hell?” or “Do you believe that all the non Christians are going to hell?”

These questions strike terror in the hearts of many a Christian folk. I, on the other hand, love this question. I almost get an adrenaline rush when I hear it asked.

What is the answer to this question? The way I see it, there are many different types of responses, none of which appeal to the truth seeking person. You could simply reply yes. You can then choose to elaborate or not. You can even throw in some scripture that will back up your response. Don’t get me wrong, these are good choices and clearly the answer is yes, you can only get into Heaven through the blood of Jesus Christ. Each and every Christian has their own way of dealing with this question. However, I like to take a different approach. You can call it the easy road out, but I have found it to be the most difficult way of dealing with the question at hand.
When faced with the question do you believe that all non-Christians are going to hell? I reply, “If it wasn’t for Jesus, I would be going to hell. You are looking at the most deserving person of them all”.

If you respond like this, be prepared to reveal the port-a-john you’re disguising. Usually the person just stares at me for a couple of minutes, obviously unprepared to hear that. Most people don’t go around saying that they deserve Hell. In fact, today most people have been so convinced and put stock in the works philosophy. The more good you do and the more you help people, the more “fire insurance” you have. Unless we do something “worthy of hell” like murder, don’t we deserve heaven? Some people today simply don’t believe that there is a hell. I mean how could a just and loving God send his own creations to such a dismal place?

Just because I have not killed someone or embezzled money from a poor elderly couple or had some scandalous affair, does not by any means assure me a place in heaven.
In reality I have done much worse. I have hated, said hurtful things, lied, stolen, I imagined what it would be like to be married to someone else, gossiped, failed to forgive, envied, been selfish with money, quick to become angry, been impatient, and self- absorbed. None of these things can get me arrested (the stealing one is debatable). I cannot go to jail for these things or be taken to court and held accountable.

Some people call that just being human, and they hit the nail on the head. I am human, I am not perfect and at times can be disgusting. If you are really honest with yourself, you too will see that you have done all the above. Have you ever accidentally taken someone else’s pen? You have stolen. Have you told someone you would pray for them and never did? You have lied. Ever hated.. Murderer!

I can do nothing good of my own accord. If that is not worthy of hell then I do not know what is. Everything that is good in me comes from Christ. So yes, without Christ there would be no heaven for this girl.

The world, deceived by Satan, has taught us that being a good person is something that we can meditate towards, self reflect, or something that we just are. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. It is only by Christ that I gain patience, turn hate into love, have an awesome marriage, focus my attention towards unworldly things, forgiven, turned my ears away from gossip…you get the picture.

The grace that God gives through Christ does not in any way give me an excuse to keep on living in this horrible way. It does not give me a free pass to use him as my vine covered latticework. Through Gods grace I strive to be a better person relying on him to do good through me despite my stinky state.