Some of what they are saying is undoubtedly true. Religions officials caught up in sex scandals. Pedophile priests. Ministers stealing money form their own churches. Preachers preaching Love and going home and beating their wives and daughters. And then there is what the body of Christ is out there doing in His name. Blowing up abortion clinics, homophobic tirades on public transits, militant anti-god-only-knows-what rallies by the Westboro Baptist Church. Ministries teaching hate to youth in the guise of good Biblical indoctrination.
And I know the arguments. Not the ones trying to defend the actions, but the ones trying to defend the people;they're only human, they make mistakes, they're trying just like everyone else. "They're not perfect, just forgiven," (That one's my favorite.)
What happened to my God of Love? What happened to the "Greatest Commandment upon which the whole of the Law and the prophets hang"? (Matt :36-40) Is it being slowly ground under? Is it being lost to an ever increasing sense of secularism based on the wanton desires of the flesh?Sex, money, power? I don't know about the rest of you, but I want my God back!
AN OPEN LETTER
To all Priests and officials of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, all the way up the the Pope: You are the oldest traditional body in Christianity! You are the face of Christianity to the majority of the world. You don't get to be human, you get to be more-human-than-human! It's not that you aren't allowed to make mistakes, you just are not allowed to make THESE kinds of mistakes! I am not Catholic, but I look up to the Catholic Church like a big brother.
To the Ministers of the protestant and other modern church movements: Same goes! You are God's rep's here on Earth. Either step up, or step back. You are meant to be leading His people to salvation in and by the Love of God. If you are not doing that because you are caught up in this other nonsense, then you need to step back, take a long hard look at yourselves and what you are doing wrong, and make it right!
To the Body of Christ: Learn to think. Learn to discern. You know deep down inside what is right and what is wrong. Someone told me recently that the problem with the Church was not with the people but with the leadership. I called BS. The people ARE the leadership. Rise up and be responsible Christians. Be prophets in your own Church if needs be. Get back to the Greatest Commandment at all costs.
All-in-all, you are the Servants of God! Grow up and act like it. Quit making it so damn hard for the rest of us to profess our love for God and Christ!
+BLESSINGS+
A Post-script to all non-Christians: I am sorry to and for those of you who have a poor opinion of Christianity. I suppose we have earned it. But I tell you, 1500 years of screwing up the truth doesn't change the truth into something screwed up. It just makes it harder and harder for the next generations to find. The good news is that it is out there. Christianity has a mystical tradition at it's core that has been overlooked and ignored for too long. It is a beautiful tradition, and worthy of of redeeming the whole of Christianity's broken history.
Eloquently put, as always, my friend. I can certainly commiserate and sympathize with what you say: in some ways, the problem with Christianity isn't the doctrine, but with the Christians themselves. And yes, much of what you outlined in this post is part of my problem with "The Church" (The religious movement, not the '80's band). If only more Christians were like you, and my wife: accepting, faithful, kind, and attempting to live in Christ's image. Unfortunately, the quietly faithful are hidden by the din of the misled and the misleading masses.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind and sympathetic words.
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