My Heart Breaks

So this is one of my more serious blogs but God definitely laid it on my heart.

Today in my Introduction to Counseling class my teacher mentioned something that practically brought me to tears. “If I have a problem, the church is the not the first place I would go… The church is really good at shooting down our fallen comrades,” she stated. How saddening is this? But it is so true! My Christian professor admits it and I see it in my own life. If something happens that doesn’t seem like it would be the “right” thing I am prone not to take it to the church. As much as I hate admitting it, regarding things that would be considered “secular,”   it is easier for me to talk to my best friend who isn’t as tight knit with Jesus than it is to talk with my best friend who has loved Jesus her whole life. It seems like for most people it is easier to talk to non-Christians than it is Christians.  This shouldn’t be! The church needs to be just the opposite. We get so caught up in what is the “right” thing to do or say that we forget about the love. We forget that people are people. Each and every one of us is full of mistakes and sin. If someone has a problem or something is bothering them the church should be the first place that people feel comfortable coming to. It should be a place free of judgment and stereotypes. It should be a place embodying the true nature of the one we say we serve. Jesus was all about love. That is the only thing that he has called us to. God simply tells us to love Him and love others. When talking with my friends I mentioned we need to “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” Daniel Jones then mentioned that he has heard it as “Love the sinner, love the sinner.” That’s what we need to do! LOVE THE SINNER, LOVE THE SINNER! That’s what we need to be about! LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

Why is it that we are so good at “shooting down our fallen comrades”? We are so quick to compare, measure, or size someone up. This shouldn’t be! This breaks my heart! That even within a congregation my own heart doesn’t long to run to the church in a time of weakness! How then can we expect others, anyone, to even consider the idea of opening up?

Especially as brothers and sisters in Christ we need to be building up and empowering each other; the church. Back home in Oak Harbor I worked as a swim instructor for many years. After every session each kid receives a progress report that tells them if they have passed or not. I’ll never forget one moment when I saw the greatest example of how we need to love each other displayed. In the water there was an older brother and sister. Their younger brother had ended his lesson, received his report card and found out that he passed. In his excitement he told his sister of his success and she simply said unexcitedly, “Oh yeah, that’s cool. Good job.” However, when the younger brother told his older brother, the oldest jumped for joy. He started exclaiming wildly, “My brother passed, my brother passed!” He even got the attention of the boy next to him just to tell him that his brother passed. He then proceeded to exclaim across the water to the sister, “Our brother passed! Our brother passed!”

I think often times we have the attitude of the sister. We simply say, “Yeah, good job” to the accomplishments of our fellow brothers and sisters. However, I believe that we need to have the enthusiasm of the older brother. We need to be so excited and bewildered at our brothers’ and sisters’ undertakings; acting as if they were our own accomplishments.

I don’t want the church to be the last place that we come to. I don’t want the church to be known for shooting down even our own members. When this world chews us up and spits us out (which it often does) let us simply pick each other up and continue in love. Please church, please, please, please let us stop our judging and let us stop our “sympathy.”

Let’s turn this around. I’m not trying to say these things to discourage or bash the church, but we have a lot of work to do. I know most of us, if not all, mean well. We have great intentions of loving on people and showing how awesome God’s love is. Why then are people not coming to the church, to Jesus, for sanctuary? Why then are Christians labeled as hypocrites? We want to incorporate or give advice pertaining to God and Jesus. And this isn’t bad. But it is so essential for us to quit the “Christianeze” that is so easy to speak and start loving on the individual. We don’t need to pretend things are alright. We don’t need to always be “right.” We don’t need to always give advice. We simply need to be real. We simply need to listen and care. I want an authentic church. I need a real church. Sometimes this world just sucks. Are we able to listen openly and love unconditionally? The church isn’t a building. We are the church. Let’s turn this around!