What Should a Church Be?

For those of us that live in the gray, we are left with few options when it comes to spiritual support. We either seek out a church that is all accepting but run the risk of unsound doctrine being preached... Or we try to gamble and find a church that is hopefully open enough to see past the exterior and focus on the heart. 

What church has mostly become is a place for standards to be preached with no real solution how to uphold those standards. And though we know the grace of Christ and that His depth of love is endless, the depth of love in many churches is shallow and surface and alienating. 

I saw a post on Facebook a couple days ago that really rubbed me the wrong way. Not verbatim but it looked close to something like this:

Satan's Plan

-normalize LGBTQ

-normalize transgenderism

-normalize abortion

-normalize peadophilia

Firstly, putting LGBTQ issues in the same category as abortion and pedophilia is truly wrong and cruel and counter productive. The church has sown seeds of ignorance and division for anyone that fits on the LGBTQ spectrum for many years, disqualifying the worth of a person because of a struggle they've had since their earliest memory. I say this because I've experienced this. And as I've started to accept that God can still use me, and that maybe He made me for this very thing, to be a voice pointing to the Savior despite how we are often treated like refuse by the more "legitimate" followers...

Church should reflect the heart of our Savior instead of the conditional nature of man. It should be a place where struggle is okay and where gray living is given the understanding it deserves. A place where open arms are offered regardless of lifestyle because the heart of the person still longs to house The Savior; and the spirit still wants to grow.

Church has become too much about outward presentation: "If it looks a certain way and creates certain feelings, it's doing a good job." And maybe on the surface you smile and sing along... But inside you're longing for more, longing to not hide your struggle any longer, longing to be out in the open and still be told, "You have great value in His eyes".

You may never find a church that tells you this. But I will continue to tell you this constantly. Keep seeking Him in the gray. He's still holding you close to Him, because he loves you as His child. 



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