Cookie Cutters- pieces of plastic or metal that are predesigned and premade, they are designed for the purpose of creating something (usually cookies) to all look the same. To make it easier for the baker and to ensure that all the pieces look the same. Now, while this is wonderful for baking or making molds or houses or any stuff like that, it is boring and mundane.
So, what I want to know (kind of) is who had the genius idea to create cookie cutters for people? I suppose that I could be more specific: why have we (society) created a cookie cutter Christian? Think about it. When you think about a person who is a Christian – you have a certain set of ideals, actions, activities, likes, dislikes, attire and music that initially pop into your mind. On the one hand, that is understandable, you take in the people that you know and you create stereotype: that is pretty natural.
However, what is not natural, is the cookie cutter that comes from within the church. When a church makes you feel like there is a list of things that you need to do in order to be accepted. When it makes you feel that you need to act a certain way, say certain things, hang out with certain people and on and on and on. It makes my heart hurt. There is no cookie cutter for people!! There is nothing that you have to do- just love the Lord and believe in Him and Jesus. And even if you don’t believe that, you should still be welcome into any church – there should not ever be a cookie cutter scanner at the doorway of a church that only makes certain people feel welcome. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it. That being said I want to apologize and stand in any gap for any time a church or a Christian has made you feel that you are not good enough, or worth their time, or made you feel uncomfortable with your life, or anything. Really, I’m serious. I know that I can’t take anything you’ve been told, called or felt back. I can’t change it, but I want to apologize anyway. And if there is something that I can do, just let me know.
Life is messy. Cookie cutters can’t handle messes. Some days are bad and you struggle to find the good in them. People will make you angry, they will hurt you and make you never want to trust them or anyone else again. Sadness is real. Events in our lives don’ t make sense. We will never, in this life, understand why justice seems so far away. It is impossible to help everyone, and some days it feels like it is impossible help anyone. Hearts break. Loved ones are lost. Breaks can seemingly take forever to be caught. What happens to you might not be fair. When life gets messy you might want to swear, hit things, run away, cry, scream, have a drink, smoke something, be alone, sing, dance, be surrounded by people, be angry with God or goodness knows what else. And in all honesty, your reaction, whatever it is, is okay. Your reaction doesn’t make you any less of a person or any more of a person for that matter. More importantly, I think, is your honesty.
All that to say, forget the cookie cutter. Forget that it might have once existed. Forget the people who told you or made you feel you ever needed to fit into one. Just forget it. There’s no place for cookie cutters in this world :-)
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