One of the frequent arguments against Christianity is the idea that it involves, at its core, a pathological need for adherence to a code which serves dang near just about literally no other purpose other than to appease the wrath of a supreme being who is arbitrarily over-sensitive about a great many things, and that it should take only the slightest measure of common sense for a person to realize that such a premise indicates the operation of significant mental illness, and perhaps very little else. While this analysis may be accurate in describing psychological patterns that a vast swath of the nominally Christian population have commonly descended into, it does not represent a clear understanding of the way Jesus Christ processed and applied the Scriptures, and it therefore cannot be fairly said to represent the religion itself. I do not intend to explain this at length. I mostly just wanted to say it.
I also want to say that the only official requirement for Christians is an authentic desire to love God. It can be buried under a mountain of pain, and Jesus will still see it in your heart, and He will pursue you, and He will keep calling to you, and you will reciprocate.
Alcoholics Anonymous frequently cites that their only requirement for membership is a sincere desire to quit drinking. They have all these other things that a person will need to do if the person wants to work their twelve-step program, and actually see the results of getting free from addiction, but in order to be a member, the only thing you actually have to do is to want to stop drinking. Jesus is the same way. We love Him because He first loved us. His goodness led us to repentance, and He promises not to cast out the one who comes to Him. He sees the ones who have strayed, and pursues them, and when He finds them he invites them. A lot of people have had a lot to say, in order to unpack statements like this so that they have fine print to explain how a believer must also do so on, and so forth, and behave thus and so, but actually what they are doing is adding their own disclaimers to the established word of God (usually because they haven’t liked the results that they’ve gotten from simply sharing the Gospel).
I am very sorry that there were no mice. I did want there to be mice.
