A friend of mine named Joel, a more mature brother in the Lord (a nice way of saying older and more experienced than me) recently confronted me on my Facebook wall (search stephen.james.johnson@gmail.com) regarding my attitude towards the Church at large. He stated that my Facebook and blog posts have become more and more critical of the Church and that despite its flaws, I ought to be respectful to the bride of Christ. (For those of you unfamiliar with religious jargon, "bride of Christ" is the illustration the Bible uses to express the intimacy that Jesus has with His people.) And he's right.
My comments have been increasingly more critical lately, not because I think poorly of the Church but because I am incredibly frustrated with so much of my family (the church). Sometimes when I read about Christians in the media or think about the stances we take publicly, I feel embarrassed. I feel like I am at family dinner and my crazy uncle says something really outlandish or rude and my new girlfriend is right next to me for her first family dinner (illustration only, that didn't happen). I now have to convince her that he doesn't speak for my family, that his statement does not accurately reflect the core values of my family or who I am as a man. Now imagine in that illustration, my imaginary girlfriend (as oppose to Lauren) breaks up with me and then tells all of our friends that I am nuts just like my pretend uncle (as oppose to my not-so-crazy uncles Ralph and Mike). I run to her and my friends and say that I am not like my uncle, my family isn't crazy or rude and that it stresses me out so much that I want to change my last name. This imaginary situation captures my feelings about the church.
In this imaginary story, let's pretend that my brother comes to me and says, "Stephen, I know your frustrations, but denying your whole family because of one crazy uncle is equally as dangerous as acting like your uncle. Use this as an opportunity to promote change, not just trash talk your family." In that portion of my imaginary story, my brother in Jesus is my friend Joel who lovingly confronted me on my Facebook wall. It did not take much time and reflection for me to recognize that he was right.
I would like to apologize for being overly critical, for failing to add a dose of love to my truth and for forgetting that the Church is precious to Jesus. I do not want be to hypocrite or a liar, so I will admit that I will probably mess this up in the future. Furthermore, it has been spoken to me prophetically through so many believers (and through my own prayer life) that Jesus is pushing me to serve Him in a way that openly confronts problems in the Church. I am not apologizing for answering His call, but apologizing for failing to add love and encouragement to the message. I think of the prophet Jeremiah, who though he prophesied judgment and wrath, wept openly for God's people and shared love and compassion with them. It is my prayer that the Lord sensitizes my heart and helps me love others. It really is God's kindness that leads us to repentance, not necessarily His admonition.
I prayed for humility and God gave me a dose. True story.
My comments have been increasingly more critical lately, not because I think poorly of the Church but because I am incredibly frustrated with so much of my family (the church). Sometimes when I read about Christians in the media or think about the stances we take publicly, I feel embarrassed. I feel like I am at family dinner and my crazy uncle says something really outlandish or rude and my new girlfriend is right next to me for her first family dinner (illustration only, that didn't happen). I now have to convince her that he doesn't speak for my family, that his statement does not accurately reflect the core values of my family or who I am as a man. Now imagine in that illustration, my imaginary girlfriend (as oppose to Lauren) breaks up with me and then tells all of our friends that I am nuts just like my pretend uncle (as oppose to my not-so-crazy uncles Ralph and Mike). I run to her and my friends and say that I am not like my uncle, my family isn't crazy or rude and that it stresses me out so much that I want to change my last name. This imaginary situation captures my feelings about the church.
In this imaginary story, let's pretend that my brother comes to me and says, "Stephen, I know your frustrations, but denying your whole family because of one crazy uncle is equally as dangerous as acting like your uncle. Use this as an opportunity to promote change, not just trash talk your family." In that portion of my imaginary story, my brother in Jesus is my friend Joel who lovingly confronted me on my Facebook wall. It did not take much time and reflection for me to recognize that he was right.
I would like to apologize for being overly critical, for failing to add a dose of love to my truth and for forgetting that the Church is precious to Jesus. I do not want be to hypocrite or a liar, so I will admit that I will probably mess this up in the future. Furthermore, it has been spoken to me prophetically through so many believers (and through my own prayer life) that Jesus is pushing me to serve Him in a way that openly confronts problems in the Church. I am not apologizing for answering His call, but apologizing for failing to add love and encouragement to the message. I think of the prophet Jeremiah, who though he prophesied judgment and wrath, wept openly for God's people and shared love and compassion with them. It is my prayer that the Lord sensitizes my heart and helps me love others. It really is God's kindness that leads us to repentance, not necessarily His admonition.
I prayed for humility and God gave me a dose. True story.
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