The Church as a Repellant
And I thought it was just me.
Turns out that many, if not most Americans have had similar feelings, some stronger than others – that the churches in America repel people away from the very message they are trying to convey.
Why is it that – – –
– statistics show that kids who are entertained in church during their formative years leave the church when they get out on their own?
– if the message is supposedly the “Good News”, then why do most Christians look as though they are perpetually mad?
– most Christians are so judgemental, when Jesus’ message was one of forgiveness and compassion?
– the “body of Christ” seems so dysfunctional?
Jesus did not use orchestras or praise and worship teams. He did not preach a feel-good message. Seems to me we are more about “show” and less about “go”. Florence Nightengale once replied to a reporter’s question, “You ask me why I do not write something….I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.” This is the problem with the church in America. We spend too much time on words, and not enough time on works. There needs to be a balance, one that equally demonstrates Jesus in words and deeds.
Instead, we SAY we have the Good News, but don’t act like it. We preach love, forgiveness, and compassion, but condemn any group that thinks or acts differently than we do. EVEN within our own Christian community, every denomination thinks they have all the right answers and interpretations. We bad-mouth any denomination that thinks differently. Even within a single denomination, it is easier for one group to split off from their congregation to start a new church rather than to resolve the differences within the congregation.
It seems to me that the one person who most closely reflected Jesus’ teachings on this earth was Gandhi, a Hindu! Not that he got everything right, but his life was all about compassion and lifting the lowly up, giving them hope and improving their self-worth. He publicly and deliberately modeled his life after Jesus’ life. He rejected Jesus as messiah partly because of the way Christians treated him.
Though the church repels many of us – I am coming to realize that somehow, I must transcend the failings of the church, and focus on God as my ultimate authority. I must learn to separate God from the church that is supposed to represent Him. I’m not there yet, but I am laboring down that path. I must tend to the words of that old hymn, “Keep your eyes upon Jesus”.
Frank