Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” –Mark 9:13
I get sick and tired of hearing things like this…
“You can join our church if you allow me to baptize you again.”
“If you’re a Democrat you have no moral standards at all.”
“You can’t believe the Bible and believe in evolution.”
“Your body is a temple. You desecrate God’s temple when you get piercings and tattoos.”
“You can’t serve here. You’re divorced.”
“We can’t throw your daughter a baby shower. She’s not married. How would that look?”
Somewhere along the way, Christians have gotten this crazy idea that they are the ones who pass judgment on mankind, not God. They open their arms to everyone…that is, everyone who has ink free skin, wears ties on Sunday morning, and believes everything the preacher says blindly, because it’s “from the Bible.” And if someone doesn’t fit into that category, well then they just need to change before they can be part of this family.
I’ve seen and experienced it all. My aunt was put to shame when no one showed up to her baby shower, because she was pregnant outside of marriage. My wife, because she wasn’t baptized in a Baptist church, was humiliated by a former pastor when she tried to join my church. My sister was the target of lecture after lecture at another church, because she thought there was some merit to the idea of evolution. My friend was alienated at a BCM Bible Study because he didn’t agree with 5-point Calvinism. My wife’s friend has been rejected by church after church because the man she wants to marry was raised Catholic. I’ve been told I’m not saved because I don’t speak in tongues or because I was baptized “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” as opposed to “in Jesus’ name.” I’ve seen churches next door to black communities be filled with white people, and I’ve heard sermons where the black preacher calls for an offering so they don’t have to “pay the white man interest.”
At first, I was naïve enough to believe that these were isolated incidents, just a few bad apples in the otherwise good bushel. I mean, after hearing what some of these preachers are preaching about unity and togetherness, surely it can’t be right that the people who say “God is love” are as a whole prejudiced and judgmental against anything that they are not familiar with. But time and time again I face the consequences of a church that has become much like the Pharisees Jesus spoke so strongly against. For months, my wife felt like she was the unwanted step-child of the church, “sneaking in” so she could be a member. Her friend feels like a heathen because she can’t find a church willing to marry her. And my sister has written off God as a non-priority, because the people that claim to follow Him made her feel evil.
When I look in Scripture, the only people that Jesus treated this way were the Pharisees, and it was mostly because they were proud and arrogant. He called tax collectors to be his disciples, befriended Samaritans, and was seen socializing with prostitutes. He challenged centuries of tradition and made the established religion shake with fear. I’m beginning to think we need another visit from Jesus, just so he can shake up the arrogance of the churches today, and start reaching the hurting and lost again.
Well, obviously if Jesus does come back, we’ll have more important things to worry about than the proud and arrogant. But until He gets here, he’s left us to do the best we can. And that’s what this blog is all about.
Before I get too involved in this, I want to clarify some things. I want to explain what this blog is not.
First of all, this blog is not trying to form a new denomination. That would defeat the purpose of removing prejudices and judgment. Denominations are good. They attract different types of people to different types of worship. They’re not wrong, and separating from them won’t fix any of the problems that denominations have. It would only further propagate the problem.
Second, this blog is not meant to judge others. Yes, there are people out there who are the embodiment of the Pharisee, and yes, what they have done is hurtful and horrible and detrimental to the function of Christ’s body. But the minute we look down our noses at them for what they are, we become the very thing that we are trying so hard to get rid of.
Lastly, this blog is not a sugar-coated, feel-good blog. We’re not going to water down the Bible so that it doesn’t offend anyone. The premise behind the entire book is that we as humans are evil and wretched and deserve eternal punishment. That’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s what the Bible says, and to deviate from that is to teach what is wrong. Leading someone down the wrong path is just as bad if not worse than shunning them for what they are. But know this, whatever truth that is taught, if it is really truth, can stand to be debated and discussed. We won’t always agree on everything, and that’s ok. We’re not trying to start fights and get people riled up. But we’re not going to hold back on something because we want to be non-offensive.
Now, I want to clarify what this blog is.
First, this blog is for all people, regardless of religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or favorite NFL team. We are going to teach the Christian Bible. We are going to discuss its truths and its lessons. But we’re not going to turn away anyone, even if they don’t believe in it. We are open to discussion and debate, to challenge each other’s beliefs and discover what it is that we truly believe. If our faith in the Bible is based on truth, then it should be able to handle questions and disagreements without threatening the person questioning or disagreeing.
Second, this blog is a place to get support and learn to get past the hurt. My guess is if you’re coming to this blog, it means that somewhere along the line a person claiming to follow Christ hurt you, and did it while he/she was waving Christ’s name around like a banner. Almost everyone else here has been in the exact same situation. We’re all trying to figure things out, to understand who Jesus really is, not who Baptists or Pentecostals or Catholics say he is. This place is safe, a haven where you can heal. And if you ever feel like that is changing, let us know and we’ll put a stop to whatever it is that’s threatening that safety. Our purpose is to lift up, not tear down.
As for what we talk about here, the answer is simple…we talk about everything. If it’s important to you, it’s important to talk about. The Bible doesn’t speak to every particular situation that you could possibly come across, but it does give us some guidelines as to what to do in those situations. And, as with most guidelines, there is some room for interpretation as to what exactly those guidelines say. No topic is inappropriate. We will talk about everything from politics to faith to sex to ice cream flavors. Is it a sin to drink? We’ll talk about it. What does God think about obesity? We’ll talk about it. God and His word are big enough to handle any topic, and we’ll discuss each one until we either find a consensus or agree to disagree.
Ultimately, what I want to do is create a sense of family where one has been lost. People should never feel scorned or shunned by Christians, and sadly that has happened all too often. So, hopefully, this is a place where people can go to see Christians as they are supposed to be, not as they appear to be. Thank you for reading.
Keep Soaring,
B
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