What's so scary about a social justice ministry?

Why is it I feel such trepidation about becoming a minister? Or about doing religious work of any kind? I firmly believe that it is arrogant to pronounce someone damned, which wouldn’t be a part of my ministry anyway. But is it equally arrogant to pronounce someone loved, or forgiven or to in any way presume to know the mind of God? Do I slide into secular humanism when I work to build bridges between one faith and another? Or when I embrace the notion of universal salvation? Can I justify any of it? Do I need to?

Maybe it’s just as arrogant to say “God loves you” as it is to say “You’re going to hell for your beliefs.” But I’m willing to err on the side of love. If when I die I am condemned to eternal hellfire for believing that non-Christians also go to Heaven, or for trying to heal the divide between religions, this will be my defense:
I John 4:16: “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” I did my best to abide in love, and to see the love in others.

Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” I gave others the room to be wrong about God, and now I’m asking for the measure I gave.

Luke 17:20-21: “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was coming, and he answered “The Kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is.’ For in fact, the Kingdom of God is among you.” I have done my best to love this world as the Kingdom of Heaven, and to see others as angels, even when they're annoying. Please give me some allowance for following some part of Christian scripture, even if imperfectly.

For those of you UU’s who cringe at scripture, please understand: my interpretation of scripture isn’t merely a part of my Unitarian Universalist faith. It’s the source of it. For those of you who are more conservative Christians, inclined to site passages like John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” I can only respond with this:

Micah 6:8 “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

The truth is, becoming clergy of any kind implies that a human is qualified to speak on behalf of The Ultimate.  That seems arrogant to me.  Nonetheless, I feel called to share the love that flows through me, and to acknowledge my belief that its origins are not mine, but rather divine.  Erring on the side of love is how I walk humbly with my God. Maybe it is as arrogant to speak of God’s love as it is God’s judgment, but if I have to err on one side or the other, I choose love.

Blessed be.