Growing-up in the Church, I was taught that the worst thing one could be was a non-believer; that nothing was as tragic as a doomed soul that condemned itself by rejecting God. The religion of my childhood drew a sharp, clear line between the saved and the damned. All that mattered was making sure someone found themselves on the better side of this line—and the Atheists and Humanists didn’t have a shot.
In light of this supposed truth, the heart of the faith (I was told), was to live in a way that reflected the character and love of Jesus so vividly, so beautifully, that others were compelled to follow after him; that a Christian’s living testimony might be the catalyst for someone’s conversion. The Bible called it “making disciples” and it was the heart of our tradition. As the venerable hymn declared, we Jesus people were to be known—by our love.
What a difference a couple of decades make.
Just ask around. People outside the Church will tell you: love is no longer our calling card. It is now condemnation, bigotry, judgment and hypocrisy. In fact, the Christianity prevalent in so much of America right now isn’t just failing to draw others to Christ, it is actively repelling them from him. By operating in a way that is in full opposition to the life and ministry of Jesus—it is understandably producing people fully opposed to the faith that bears his name.
In record numbers, the American Church is consistently and surely making Atheists—or at the very least it is making former Christians; people who no longer consider organized religion an option because the Jesus they recognize is absent. With its sky-is-falling hand-wringing, its political bed-making, and its constant venom toward diversity, it is giving people no alternative but to conclude, that based on the evidence of people professing to be Godly—that God is of little use. In fact, this God may be toxic.
And that’s the irony of it all; that the very Evangelicals who’ve spent that last 50 years in this country demonizing those who reject Jesus—are the single most compelling reason for them to do so. They are giving people who suspect that all Christians are self-righteous, hateful hypocrites, all the evidence they need. The Church is confirming the outside world’s most dire suspicions about itself.
These people aren’t stupid. They realize that bigotry, even when it is wrapped in religion or justified by the Bible spoken from a pulpit is still bigotry. They can smell the putrid stench of phony religion from a mile away—and this version of the Church, frankly reeks of it. People are steering clear in droves, choosing to find meaning and community and something that resembles love outside its gatherings.
With every persecution of the LGBTQ community, with every unprovoked attack on Muslims, with every planet-wrecking decision, with every regressive civil rights move—the flight from Christianity continues. Meanwhile the celebrity preachers and professional Christians publicly beat their breasts about the multitudes walking away from God, oblivious to the fact that they are the impetus for the exodus.
And one day soon, these same religious folks will look around, lamenting the empty buildings and the irrelevance of the Church and a world that has no use for it, and they’ll wonder how this happened. They’ll blame a corrupt culture, or the liberal media, or a rejection of Biblical values, or the devil himself—but it will be none of those things.
No, the reason the Church soon will be teetering on the verge of extinction and irrelevance, will be because those entrusted to perpetuate the love of Jesus in the world, lost the plot so horribly, and gave the world no other option but to look elsewhere for goodness and purpose and truth.
Soon these Christians will ask why humanity has rejected Jesus and we will remind them of these days, and assure them that they have not rejected Jesus at all—they just found no evidence of him in the Church.
9 comments:
The collapse of Christianity is to be blamed on the unbridled greed of the most evil people on the planet. The ministry. They corrupt those who follow them, turning them into sons of hell instead of followers of the son of God.
There are no righteous works in these people, only condemnation. In the end it is those of the church who are children of the devil. They serve no purpose other than that of destruction.
If we are to find goodness and love among humanity we must look to those who embrace a higher morality than those of the church. You can find them if you just stop and look.
The collapse of Christianity is to be blamed on the unbridled greed of the most evil people on the planet. The ministry. They corrupt those who follow them, turning them into sons of hell instead of followers of the son of God.
There are no righteous works in these people, only condemnation. In the end it is those of the church who are children of the devil. They serve no purpose other than that of destruction.
If we are to find goodness and love among humanity we must look to those who embrace a higher morality than those of the church. You can find them if you just stop and look.
Hey, I thought real persecution was the Christians in Egypt being killed off. No LGBQT people in the West are being killed. Why do these wimps keep whining just because people don't agree with their lifestyle and stupid ideas?
The interesting thing is, a pastor friend of mine called me last evening, and expressed much of this same material. Different perspective, but the problems were stated almost verbatim. So, it is something that some of those on the inside actually know about.
On the other hand, critique by a relatively small percentage of the general population can set off a self-loathing trend within the group that is being critiqued, realization, and unwillingness to be identified with the accurate-appearing strawman that has been created, then ultimately nowhere left to go. It's almost what happened to our national perception as US citizens during the height of the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. Then suddenly, John Travolta got us all dancing again through a series of his movies, and Ronald Reagan's more positive vision of America transitioned us away from self-loathing, even rebirthing disaffected hippies into yuppies fully invested in capitalism and democracy.
For every problem, there is a solution. I feel confident that Christianity at this point in history will address the issues and perceptions currently confronting it, and there will be change rather than death. Unfortunately, because we were all part of an extreme distortion, it is very difficult to view the current state of affairs either positively or objectively. Much easier to sit on the sidelines and throw peanuts at it.
BB
The real bad guy was a man the COGs still admire. He wanted to start a nuclear war to keep his rich friends rich.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2826980/Winston-Churchill-s-bid-nuke-Russia-win-Cold-War-uncovered-secret-FBI-files.html
One of the best churches I have ever attended was a Sunday keeping congregation. Every year at Thanksgiving they would feed the needy in our community, they would donate shoes/clothing to the needy in our community and I knew of a family whose house burned to the ground and the church gave a financial contribution to the family to help them get back on their feet. That church never asked for anything in return. If I hadn't moved away and ended up in the church of Garner Ted Armstrong, I would continue attending that Sunday church. Just because a person has had a bad experience in church does not mean that all Christians are bad.
how true it is, and the worst thing evangelicals do is legislate their version of christ and strip others rights how don't agree with them, modern day Pharisees.....
When I was growing up I knew some Pentecostals who went out of their way to help others throughout the county. Churches going above and beyond to help the less fortunate are a rare breed in this day and age
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