3/5/11

Why I Don't Go To Church


I have never written about this for the pure reason that I have not wanted to offend my other Christian friends but I think its time just to put it out there and be real about it.  There are some things about church and my fellow Christian brothers and sisters that really disturb and upset me.  It upsets me so much that I would just rather stay at home on Sunday than be around them.  I feel I get more out of the connections with my friends in AA than I do with my Christian brothers and sisters anyways. 

Here's the number one reason I stay home.  I find that other Christians are terribly judgemental of everyone.  If I remember from what I read in the Bible the most important commandment was to love God and then to love our neighbor.  This is what the Bible says:
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV, Mark 12:28-31).
Also in 1 Corinthians 13 it says in verse 4-6 it tells us that love is not arrogant or boastful and that it is patient and that it hopes all things.  To me that sounds like the opposite of judging.  And then it goes on to say its the most important thing and that without it we are nothing!
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [2] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Yet when I am around my Christian friends I find that they are terrible judgemental.  Have you ever noticed that when you walk into Church late everyone turns and looks at you.  I can guarantee they are not thinking how wonderful it is that you made it to church.  They are probably thinking something along the lines of how wonderful they are for making it to church on time when you couldn't.  When I am late for an AA meeting people are genuinely glad that I made it.  They even say you are never late for a meeting.  Its a shame I can't be accepted like that at church.
Also, there's this lady I work with.  She goes to church every Sunday.  She professes to love Jesus more than anything in the whole world.  Yet if someone comes in the door and they smell bad or are dressed bad I can guarantee you that she is the first person to talk about that person and how horrible it was for them to leave their house like that.  Well, excuse me I think its horrible for you to leave your house without the compassion of Christ.  Don't claim my saviors name if you are going to hurt people with your words.
Jesus came for sick people.  If we were well he would not have had to die.  Why is it when you go into a church everyone insists on acting like nothing is ever wrong in their lives.  You know that on the way to church in the car they were screaming at each other.  You can see the tear streams still etched on their face.  Yet when you ask how they are, they respond with life is wonderful and God is blessing us.  Don't lie.  Let your brothers and sisters in Christ help you.  That's why people go to drugs and alcohol to fix their problems instead of churches.  Churches don't seem like a place where sick people go.  To me that's sad.  That is exactly why Christ died on the cross.  To save the sick.  Not to be a resort club for the perfect.
I just wish there was a little less judging, a little more honesty, and a little more acceptance in the body of Christ today.  Do you want people to come to Christ.  You have to show them love first.  If you judge them first they will die before they come to Christ and they will die in their sins.  No one ever became a Christian because someone told them that they were scum.  You've got to show people love.  The Bible says they will know us because of our love.
"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

I try to ask myself would someone be able to identify me as a Christian based on this statement.  

1 comment:

joepainter said...

Wow, that was a powerful observation of others. I know that some of the same things keep me from going to church, and one of them is my sexuality. People want to fix something that is not broken, for god made me this way. And many churches and their followers believe that I am broken. And that if I believe hard enough, I will change. I want the same things from a relationship with god as any one would. The same goes for my sexuality and a relationship with a special person. This instinct is not broken, just missunderstood. NOthing tramatic or life changing caused me to be gay, God made me this way, and god doesn't make mistakes.