I just thought I’d let you guys know why I have the mindset that I do.
Number 1. I don’t hate the church. I have been to several great churches that are run the way churches are supposed to be run, and I love seeing that. I will always support biblically operated churches. However, the majority of churches I have been to aren’t operated the way God explains in his word, and because of this, way too many people around me are being hurt and misguided. I know way too many people who hate God and don’t want anything to do with Him because of these churches. Obviously something is wrong here. Too many people walk into these churches and feel totally left out, they feel isolated and judged simply because they look a certain way or they hang out with so-and-so or they used to be into this or that. Since when are followers of Christ supposed to pick and choose who can be in the congregation? Are the normal church-goers supposed to be more welcome than the new faces? Why does Mr. Smith shake a thousand hands on a Sunday morning while the poor pregnant teenage girl gets blank stares? I’ve seen it a thousand times. We all have I’m sure. And this problem isn’t isolated to a single church or ministry. We need to take action and make our churches the refuges they’re supposed to be. We all need to go out of our way in every opportunity to make people feel loved. Until we do, our churches will continue to do harm without even knowing it. Until then, we will breed a generation of people who are stagnate or cold to anything with the name “Christ” attached to it. We also need to stop letting the leaders pour our tithes into buildings. Around 85% of all tithes go right back into the infrastructure. I have no problem with expanding your church to fit capacity, and buying things that the congregation truly needs, but I am not okay with churches that look like they were just featured in Dwell Magazine. My God has little use for beautiful temples. He does, however have many uses for a body of people that gives and gives and gives, and gives some more until it hurts. He does have a use for a body of people that is on a never-ending mission trip, a body of people that does SOMETHING for the non-congregation around them. Sure, God can use anything for His glory, but think of it like this- if you had a choice between constructing a new beautiful temple or sending 20 missionary teams out to do the Lord’s work, which do you think He would want you to choose? We shouldn’t pour all of our money and efforts into those who already know God, we should pour all of our money and efforts into those who DON’T know Him. Simple as that. BUT, in the end, none of this really matters, sure these things make me really sad to see, but if people are getting saved, and being shown how to grow closer to God and sustain that relationship, pushing it’s members to live as Jesus did, and speaking TRUTH, then the church is doing it’s job, and that church is blessed. I simply say these things to urge you to find a church that harbors your spiritual growth, gets you involved, and solely exists to share Christ’s love, believe me, such a church exists.
Number 2. I’m not against having nice or new, reliable things. But, I will not ever be okay with blowing $50,000 on a freaking automobile. Or, for that matter, living in a $500,000 home. I could never justify buying either of those things when there are people out there who don’t even have clean water or a pair of shoes. If you don’t claim to follow Christ then by all means, buy that Porsche and that sick house. But if you claim you are a Christian you must realize you are claiming to be like Christ, that’s what “Christian” means for crying out loud. You are taking on the role of a sacrificial, selfless, humble, and loving human being. Now, excuse me if I’m wrong but dropping that much money on a car or a house when people are out there dying of starvation doesn’t seem very sacrificial or humble or selfless or loving to me. But, that is just my opinion. I don’t hate you if you have nice things. You can, of course, still love God and spend your every dime on stuff. My view of the Great Commission is just a bit more radical than most… I think we all need to step back and look at our lives. What are we sacrificing? What are we doing for God on a daily basis? I know I don’t sacrifice or do enough for Him.
I’m out.
