Last night my friend told me some disturbing news...that she was asked by her minister to make a choice between her fiance and the church that she attends. It's a long story, but basically she decided that she chooses God and her fiance and if that means leaving the church...so be it.
This is my conundrum with religion. Here you have a person who made a mistake but was open enough to admit that, ask for forgiveness and make changes, but in the other corner you have a minister who is being very critical and talking about how he took a lot of flack for letting her go away and how he prayed for her so much and she disappointed him. My first thought was "this is not about you". This is a about a person and a decision she made and her desire to be close to God, which is still there or she wouldn't be sitting there talking about it with the minister. And his reaction is to be mean to her and talk down to her and think about how he will look in this whole situation. It makes me mad right now just thinking about. When I heard all this I teared up. That someone who claims to be so close to God and portends to lead an entire group of people closer to God would react to this situation in such a way...I was appalled! Literally wanted to cry. I have never been so worked up for a friend in my entire life.
But do you know what this shows me? It shows me that God is God and Churches are human. Churches are run by people who are inherently flawed and prone to make mistakes. We make mistakes in how we react to people, in seeing situations clearly, in thinking of others best interests before our own, in nearly every aspect of our lives. It becomes dangerous when people think they can guide you and influence you by pressuring you to think things that may or may no be true according to the Bible. When they take out the Bible to correct and admonish you by manipulating the scriptures. That's when I can't take it anymore. I may not be a Christian by certain standards anymore, but I read the Bible and I know what's true according to it, and I know when people are using the scriptures to achieve their own means instead of Godly ones and it makes me sick.
I wouldn't encourage my friend for a second to continue going to that church. It is not a place where she can grow spiritually and be encouraged by those around her. Its a place where people are waiting for her to fall...waiting for her to make that mistake that they warned her about so they could say "I told you so". Its not the kind of environment anyone deserves to be in to be honest. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I hope she finds a better church home that encourages her more and uplifts her where her and her fiance can grow closer to God and to each other.
Apologies for the rant, but there are two things I can't stand for in this life - people hurting my friends and family, and people manipulating the Word of God. Just don't go there. You may not believe in God or you may think you know everything about the Bible, but just be sure you use it wisely and keep it in context.
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