Basically, I'm sick and tired of hearing about people who appear to having everything together and then out comes this dirty little secret and suddenly its as though life falls apart. Friends and family disperse and you're left thinking maybe it was better to keep the secret rather then tell the truth.
What makes me even more upset is when within "Christian" circles we treat a person as if they have leprosy. It's like we have this thought that if we ignore the issue (or the person) it will just go away and our community can go back to normal...until another dirty little secret comes out.
But maybe it's not a dirty little secret, maybe it's a husband and wife who separate for a time (which by the way isn't always a BAD thing...in some cases it could probably a really GOOD thing). Or maybe one of our good little Christian girls date non-Christian boy (and that is usually no secret).
I think the church has screwed up pretty darn bad at being the hands and feet of Jesus in some cases. We look down on people, we judge them, we gossip about them (although that should come as no surprise).
Remember that story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11)? Didn't Jesus say "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her"?
I'm pretty sure each of us has sinned (if you're not sure read Romans 3:23). Meaning no one is in a position to judge.
I'm not by any means saying that sin is ok. However, who the heck am I to judge and condemn a person?
And as far as the way Christians treat other Christians...how the heck do you think you'll reach someone who's not a Christian if you can't even act like a Christian to another Christian?
Basically my point is this, my job is to love God and love people (Luke 10:27). Not to love God and change people...to love people. When I (and the rest of the Christian community) can get this right, I'm pretty sure we'll see some amazing things happen.
2 comments:
A couple months ago I had a friend who gave up on Christianity. Her reason is that everyone is perfect and she could never measure up. She thought if people ever found out how messed up she was they would never hang out with her.
She told me some of the stuff she is struggling with and it really wasn't that bad stuff.
I think in Christian culture we create such a facade of being perfect that it makes anyone who doesn't feel they measure up (which realistically is everyone. What I mean to say is that basically no one measures up to the standard the Christian church sets.
So people who don't measure up feel discouraged. Often (but it's fair to say often not too) those who are honest get shunned. And the facade continues.
I recognize that in the church context (or any context really) we can't air all our secrets for the world to hear. However, I wish we could communicate better that we are a community of broken people who are dealing with issues, you don't need to know what the issues are but know that we are dealing with issues. And then be a community that loves people through the issues they face.
That would look a bit like heaven to me.
I do not believe that it is the 'church' as a whole that teaches us to look down upon others, but our own insecurities and the select few people *of* the church that reflect that harsh judgement. It is not doctrine in any church I know, and many churches' basic beliefs are still sound with their desires to love others as God has loved us. But, with that being said, *people* do run those churches, and therefore are liable to sin in judgement upon others all too easily.
If you ask around to fellow parishoners (how the heck do you SPELL that?!) I can guarantee that you'll get the majority of responses saying that we cannot judge, we are all with sin, we don't deserve the love that God gives us and that all are welcome. Yet people still 'feel' turned away, judged and completely misunderstood. Is it from the church they feel this or from their own insecurities and doubt about the grace of Jesus Christ through reconciliation to our fellow man?
Wow ... deep.
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