My husband is a Pastor. I've spent more time in church over the past 20 years than most people will spend in a lifetime. In fact, I work at the church too(fairoakschurch.org), so I've spent more time at church since Monday than some people will in a lifetime. I'm okay with that. I like my church. I like my job. I like the ministry we're a part of. (I know I shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition - I notice every time, I just don't care). Anyway, both my husband and I grew up in very conservative homes. Those FLDS folks aren't too far removed from my background. Seriously. Eliminate the polygamy and the child brides and we're there. King James version of the Bible, dresses and long hair for women, women don't work outside the home - my parents were criticized for sending me to college - Bob Jones University no less - because since I had an education, I would always be tempted to step out and make money thus undermining my husband as Head of our Home. I wasn't allowed to go to movies, school dances, or date and was allowed limited time with friends who didn't attend the same church we did.
For the record, it's not how I'm raising my kids, and I'm confident they'll make far fewer stupid choices than I did because they're better informed and have more balance in their lives. Will they make mistakes. Oh, yeah. Will they break my heart? Possibly. Will I still love them? Definately.
In fairness, my parents were new to faith and got off on the wrong foot. I sincerely believe both my parents and the leadership of the church had pure motives. But, and there's always a big "but", they were sincerely off track. Waaay off track. My dad has since passed away, and my mom has found a balance.
This whole post was inspired by a YouTube video I watched yesterday. I was looking for Newspring Church(newspring.cc)but when I typed the pastor's name into the YouTube search engine, a pastor with a 10 minute rant against him was at the top of the list.
Now, I'm all about freedom of speech, everyone is entitiled to their opinion and for me to criticize & mock that man makes me no better than him. But, (there's that big but again) what is the point? How can he possibly think God is pleased with any of his ranting? Honestly. It's individuals like this guy that makes people think Christians are ALL narrow minded freaks muttering imprecatory Psalms and rejoicing every time an abortion clinic is blown up or someone dies of AIDS. "Smite another one Jesus!" we pray as we wring our hands and dance - actually we don't dance - that's sinful - as we walk through life.
Don't get me wrong, sin is sin, I belive God is very clear about what pleases and displeases Him. As a "survivor" of Fundamentalism, I realize have a biased opinion of that movement and should take care passing judgement. I simply believe God would be better served by us fighting the devil than each other. That's all.
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3 comments:
Seriously. As a woman who chose this "Christianity thing" very carefully , I have to say I am not what this man claims to be. And (I started a sentence with and. AND I don't care)I will proudly say that my Jesus would never preach against Paul for giving the EXACT same message he gave in a different style. Truly - how sad is it that the same brain God gave that man to articulate His glory is being used to articulate such stupidity.
As sad as this is, I believe that many Christians do our faith more harm than good when on soap boxes. There are many people in the world (and even a few in my daily life) that I want to look at and say, "You are the reason that my non-Christian friends think we're all right wing lunatic nut jobs. Stop it."
Oh, and I am also very bothered by ending a sentence with a preposition and yet continue to do it because quite frankly sometimes it's just better that way.
I have heard more negative/damaging/biased/etc things from self-proclaimed "christians" than most anyone else. And that sounds truly horrid, doesn't it?
I personally don't believe it matters which branch of christianity you choose to follow, as long as you follow with your heart, not just your mouth.
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