The People’s Revival

By Jamye Semons

I was a Full Gospel pastor’s wife. I was evangelical, anti-LGBTQ+, “pro-life” and pro- Second Amendment, and voted for my favorite conservative politicians thinking they would surely turn things around and give our country back to God. 

Then, my marriage fell apart. I found myself in the home and arms of a preacher I had looked up to for over a decade. Imagine my shock when I realized that this preacher I had followed for years was a stinkin’ liberal socialist. Now, I knew God spoke through this guy and performed miracles through him, so I let it ride. He opened up scripture to me in a way I had never seen before, and my spirit bore witness that everything he was showing me was true. 

One of the first people I met in that town was his trans neighbor, a someone he had known as Ray who now went by Mora. Mora was one of the sweetest, most genuine, loving people I had ever met. I had thought people like her were sick and deceived. No, I was the deceived one. 

Over the course of a few months, I met people who were different from anyone I had ever encountered. There were alcoholics, thieves, drug addicts, and women I would have categorized as whores and sluts just months before. The veil over my eyes started lifting. These were actual human beings with lives, love, and souls. They weren’t monsters, and they weren’t out to pervert my Christian kids and grandkids. Their kindness, their acceptance, and their love changed my heart completely.

I had had the same thing happen before. My daughter had been impregnated at 16 by a 23 year old manager at the fast foodrestaurant where she worked. I wouldn’t admit it at the time, but I hated him. He had used my sweet baby, who was wearing a purity ring, as a trophy. She thought she was in a relationship and that he loved her. He won a bet with the other shift managers: Who could do the new girl. I saw him in a parking lot once, and my rage made me want to run him over. One day, my younger daughter and I saw him at the fast food place. For some reason (I know it was God) we sat with him. He told us about something he was going through with his four-year-old son. The child had been abused by the mother’s boyfriend. My heart changed. This was no monster. This was a human being fighting his own demons. I forgave him. 

Through the years, my love and I went through many struggles from homelessness, labor trafficking, and his alcoholism to trying to deal with losing who we thought were the loves of our lives. I learned that anyone at any time is one circumstance or two away from homelessness. Just one missed paycheck or one cruel landlord can change a person’s life in untold ways.

Everything I have ever judged anyone for has come knocking at my door. Lessons learned, Lord. I do not judge. People are people; human souls with bodies made in the image of God. I don’t see a bum. I see someone the system failed. I don’t see a whore. I see a woman forced to make a decision that puts food on the table for her babies. I don’t see a junkie. I see a person who didn’t have the resources to get the help they needed to manage their pain – physical and/or emotional.

See, I’ve been there. I’ve walked the road. God forgive me that that’s what it took to get me here. I’ve deconstructed the Christianity I once lived by and would have died for. The red letters are all that matter to me, now. I love more. I judge less, and when I find myself judging, the Lord checks me on it. I am grateful for the hard, lonely, uphill road that led me to be who He always wanted me to be. I’ve stumbled, I’ve crawled with skinned knees and bleeding hands. Now, I stand in His love.

God loves me, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.