I am going to veer from the usual in this blog and talk more about something that I came across in a couple YouTube videos.
So, I stumbled across a couple videos as I was searching through some videos on YouTube which brought to my attention how the church, in general, has failed us. Now, by the church, I mean in a general sense as one unit, not any specific denomination, or church group.
The first video was about a woman who was Protestant (mainstream Christian) and had done some research into church history and had come to the conclusion that the Catholic church is the church that is currently most accurate to the original church structure in acts and the beginning of Christianity. This was not the issue for me, but it was the second video, which I didn’t really watch, but the title alone was all I needed to see to know that the comments to this woman becoming Catholic would be…. well…quite “unchristian.” The second video I watched was about a woman who converted to atheism because of the church. In this video, she commented that the actions of the church is the reason she turned atheist.
One thing that I have learned through my years as a believer is that we have failed the world. This sounds harsh, I know, but search on YouTube for videos from atheists. Many will have a “beef” with the church, and that is why they are “atheist.” In truth, I don’t believe they are truly atheists, only angry at the church for something.
So, this first video I mentioned about the woman turning to Catholicism wasn’t offensive to me, and I don’t think it should have been offensive to any Christian, for that matter. One reason I don’t think it is a terrible thing that this woman converted is that I don’t believe that Catholics are “not Christians.” From what I understand (according to the Catholics that I have known), they do believe in the salvation power of Jesus, and that He is God. Yes, there are many, many practices that I would have to say they err in their beliefs…. but they would say the same about us. The problem I have with this situation is the mainstream Christian church’s response. Not necessarily to this particular video, but the response to a plethora of events and ideas in which there is absolutely ZERO expression of LOVE. This is exactly the opposite of what Christ would want for the church. An example from personal experience of such Christians falling short in the love of others is the fact that when someone does wrong, we are so quick to condemn and show our hate. I remember years ago a prison transport bus flipped over in which a couple guards were killed, and several inmates died. I remember reading posts on social media by so-called Christians expressing their joy that these criminals were killed, even in hell! This, my friends, is not the attitude Christ EVER had toward ANY unbeliever. I had confronted this attitude, which I don’t often do on social media because it is really a waste of time. A long discussion developed to which I was told I was going to hell because I preach love over sin and I side with sinners…. well something to that effect….it was actually quite a funny conversation. Christians spewing hate….sad. Let me point out that the Gospels (and Jesus in the Gospels) show how we are to love the SINNER. The epistles (Acts and after) show how we are supposed to treat each other…. confronting the sin in our brother’s and sister’s lives. You see, every epistle starts with a salutation to a specific group of believers, not unbelievers. We should never expect anyone who DOES NOT CLAIM TO BE A BELIEVER to accept the morality of a believer. We love the SINNER INTO SALVATION (as Jesus did with Zacchaeus, the woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery). The point of this is that we Christians as a whole have failed to properly minister to the unbelieving world. We cannot expect unbelievers to think like us!!!! Did we think like us when we were sinners……NO!
The second video speaks a lot of the spirit of religiosity and legalism. To specify more on what this woman had talked about, she claimed that she went to a Christian school and that the legalism toward the women’s appearance was offensive. She pointed out that in this school teachers would line the hallways with rulers to make sure their skirts were of the proper length. She mentioned that she was called out of class (where she missed important schooling) to be lectured about modesty and not helping the boys to “stumble.” I can definitely see her point. Not once did she mention anything about boys being held to a high standard of modesty (which we men never are.) She was told it was her job to make sure men didn’t lust after her. This is definitely not true! Yes, I do believe women should try and help us to not lust. However, it is our job to NOT LUST after these women. They cannot, in the end, be held accountable for our actions. I also think we men should help the women not to lust after us. How often does the church comment on men going around topless? Yes, I understand there is a big difference there, as men are generally attracted by the physical and women topless is different than men topless, but women can lust after men too. Especially if these men are the stereotype of masculinity…. six pack rock hard abs, pecks of steel, and powerful arms. Women find these things attractive too, so why don’t we ever get on to our men like we do our women? It is both sexes responsibility to not lust after the other. It is our responsibility to try and help keep each other accountable too. No one would ask a recovering alcoholic to hang out at a bar with them, no believer should wear the clothes that they know will make the opposite sex lust after their body rather than lust after their mind!
Well, this is all, I know it was a long one today. I hope you enjoyed it, I hope we all learn to love more, and simply be less religious…as Jesus was never religious…. but the Pharisees were. Do we want to be like Jesus or the Pharisees?