I grew up in a church that attached great moral significance to such cultural customs as: wearing a suit and tie to church, women covering their heads in worship, arriving on time, men not having hair that was longer than their shirt collar. And while many of these practices were beneficial to the solidarity and highly zealous environment of the church–there was a tendency to elevate these practices into spiritual imperatives, to the exclusion of other factors.
In other words, if a man had longish hair or if a woman wore pants to meetings, they were looked upon as having a defective moral character. We used outward signs as measures of inner reality–which is not entirely a faulty measure–but it can easily become unhealthy, prejudicial and unloving.
I’ve seen the same sort of dynamic at work among newer, bigger, hipper churches. The issues are different, but the underlying problem is similar. In these churches you might find folks highly committed to social justice, eco-awareness, pacifism, holistic approaches to education and non-traditional relationships. Again, these are all good things–except when they are elevated to worship-worthy status.
The negative impact this has is that it leads to missing the point of the Gospel. Once we identify ourselves by anything other than Christ, we diminish the Gospel. It’s easy to stop seeing the image of God in each person and instead see only their outward manifestation: the clothes they wear, their facial expressions, the cause they support.
This is not a tendency unique to church going folk. This is inherent to being human, I think. We seem programmed to view people through an ancient, hardwired bias: friend or foe? We instinctively seek our own kind. If we recognize something familiar—manner of dress or speech–we can let our guard down. But we’re still looking for secondary clues: does this new person have the same belief system, values, morals? We don’t allow ourselves to love until we are assured that this person is worthy of our love.
But as Christians–as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ–our allegiance is not to causes, lifestyles, diet, dress codes or social customs. Our allegiance is to Christ and His great commandment to us is to love God and love our neighbor.
If we are not primarily committed to that, then we run the risk of building churches that are nothing more than glorified social networks filled with people who look like us, talk like us and act like us.
What if Christ had only loved the lovely? What if Christ had only died for those who homeschooled, ate organic diets, saved the rainforest, wore suits to church or were literate enough to write blogs?
Didn’t Christ also die for those who have nothing to offer but their messed up, broken lives?
I don’t know about you, but I need a church that welcomes sinners.
Because although I might put on a good show, I know how messed up I am.
I need grace that is greater than all my sin.
{ 76 comments… read them below or add one }
Elizabeth, this is SO good! Amen!
thank you for this so much!
A former pastor was told he was unwelcome at our church after he got out of prison. The church where he and his family ended up was considerably more conservative–and attentive to the gospel. We need so much more grace with one another!
Absolutely wonderful post!
This is pure awesome-ness. Yes, yes, and yes! Thank you for sharing.
I say this all the time… We(christians) have what the sinners need. But they will never receive it cause we’re to busying pointing out all their sins and flaws and not pointing them to Jesus, they all their flaws n sin…thats why they come looking for the one that loved them so much he gave his life for them. They must frist come are. So we have to stop with all the judging cause we too were them at one time or another. I always say im nothing more then a sinner saved by grace, living to be a worthy servant To the Lord.
The whole idea that judgment would be our key into heaven astounds me. It’s very junior high-ish to me… let’s knock her down so we look better and cooler. Great post.
The amount of garbage this post brought up in me is astounding and far too much to share here. But I will say this, and please know this comes from a deep, dark, old and ugly place……
“What if Christ had only loved the lovely? What if Christ had only died for those who homeschooled, ate organic diets, saved the rainforest, wore suits to church or were literate enough to write blogs? Didn’t Christ also die for those who have nothing to offer but their messed up, broken lives?”
Those who seem to have it all together, with the homeschooling, organic diets, the trendy causes, appropriate church attire and formal education……they are broken too. They only appear lovely and hip and “right” and together.
From a very young age I have preferred the broken and messy to the “fixed” and “clean”. Give me a prisoner covered in tattooes and piercings who knows where they’ve been, knows the wounds they carry and have instilled on another versus a properly dressed, Bible toting, educated know it all.
Ouch. Told ya this comes from an ugly place. Thank you for letting me share.
Thank you for this Elizabeth!
“From a very young age I have preferred the broken and messy to the “fixed” and “clean”. Give me a prisoner covered in tattooes and piercings who knows where they’ve been, knows the wounds they carry and have instilled on another versus a properly dressed, Bible toting, educated know it all.”
heck. yeah.
this right here. I am with ya.
AMEN Rebekah. I prefer the broken as well. I have never been hurt by someone that was broken. Only loved.
And, as ugly as this sounds, I have mostly been hurt from those who feel that they are not broken, and almost never loved by them.
I understand. We attended a church that if you didn’t “fit in the box” you weren’t right with God. I think we learned from the experience. The perfect, fixed people are not always so perfect. But, if they make you look bad, they look better. We try to do our best for Jesus. That is all we can do. We try hard to love everybody.
Thank you for sharing this. I felt a twinge of conviction, as I, professing to love Christ, do judge people for not sharing the same convictions or the same lifestyle or the same fashion as I do. Thanks for pointing this out.
I hear ya, Rebekah! I have a much easier time loving the “freaks” of this world than I do the straight-laced, conservative types. But Jesus died for everyone!!
Beautiful reminder, Elizabeth!
{dink!} You hit the nail on the head. “Didn’t Christ also die for those who have nothing to offer but their messed up, broken lives?…Because although I might put on a good show, I know how messed up I am. I need grace that is greater than all my sin.” I’m so relating to this. And needed it too. This is how I feel so many days.
Love this post.
This. is. awesome.
I have too many words about this whole topic to fit them all in this tiny box and I’m excessively wordy today, so it’s best I just tell you that, as always, you find words for the things I think and can’t figure out how to say.
I’m so tired of anything labeled “spiritual” that isn’t actually about Jesus.
So Hindu spirituality, sufi spirituality, any other culture’s spirituality you’re tired of too? You’re tired of diversity? How ethnocentric and sad.
Hi Sarah. I think you might be misreading Ashleigh’s comment, here. I’m fairly certain (knowing Ashleigh’s background) that she’s not making any commentary on other religions or spiritual practices. My guess is that her comment is directed at Christians who elevate certain preferences and call them spiritual–even if those things have nothing to do with Jesus. In essence, Ashleigh is remarking on her own brothers and sisters–not on any other group, people or ethnicity. Just my thoughts…
Thanks for this. My husband and I recently moved back to my hometown, after being gone for 17 years. Everyone assumed I would jump back into the church I had grown up in, but it has become a megachurch and feels so false to me. I don’t need fancy lighting, a large orchestra, powerpoint, video messages, etc. I need the Bible. I need broken people testifying to what God is doing in their lives. I don’t diminish the effect the above things have on churches. Some people really love that stuff and I know lives are being shaped, changed, etc. in this particular church, but I need more teaching and less visual aid. I am at a place in my life where I want to attend church to be learning to see God, not worrying about what I’m wearing or who will be there. This was a great message for me today.
” I need broken people testifying to what God is doing in their lives.” <<that's it right there, Tracie.
I appreciate this article, especially the bit about us being hardwired to judge others. I think it’s important that we train ourselves to prejudge others not by our own bias but by the way God looks at people (with love!). I wouldn’t, however, include social justice and pacifism alongside social customs and non-traditional relationships. Taking care of the poor and being a peacemaker are much closer to the heart of the Gospel than homeschooling and dress codes and can very much be an act of worship.
Eric: you make a solid point. If more Christians *were* dedicated to social justice, our very actions would preach the Gospel, yes? My only reservation is a trend I’ve noticed for planting churches that are founded upon or primarily defined by social causes. The heart of the Gospel is Christ and what He accomplished for us on the Cross—He is the source from which all our service flows. Am I making sense or just convoluting this?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Thanks for the reply. I really can’t speak to what new church plants are doing, I’m just not that informed on the subject. I do agree with your other points, I just wouldn’t include social justice and pacifism together with the others, since they are spoken to specifically in scripture and the early church and modeled by Jesus himself. Of course, if there are church plants that specifically declare their cause to be Christless social justice or secular pacifism… that would be a problem (Unitarian Universalists?).
I am curious, however, are there specific church plants that you know of focused around environmentalism, for example? Are they replacing the Gospel with environmentalism in some way?
Thanks for the thoughts.
I can’t speak for Elizabeth on this, but I know in my life I believe so strongly in social justice that it can become a new form of legalism for me. I figure if someone isn’t focused on that then they are not following Jesus. It was becoming the standard by which I measured people. I was seeing them for their works, not their worth in Christ. I am guessing this is what Elizabeth is getting at.
It’s not that social justice is bad, it’s awesome and we should all be working towards it, it’s just that the Gospel must be central or that stuff just becomes another work we do.
Happy Geek: YES YES YES! you nailed it! That’s exactly what I meant! Thank you for articulating what I was clearly having trouble expressing! YAY!
Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense and I agree.
I think that idolatry is a good way to explain this. Anything can be worshiped as an idol, even pacifism and social justice.
Eric, why can’t homeschooling be an act of worship? I set aside my days to home educate out of a deep desire to follow the Lord in how we raise our children. We chose to homeschool so our children wouldn’t be indoctrinated by either the anti-god schools nor the pro-legalism of private schools. It’s not easy to home educate. I don’t think people are less than for not home educating nor do I think home educators are better than the others who don’t. But I think it’s unfair to dismiss homeschooling as not an act of worship to the Lord.
There are a great many things that become idols in our lives today..from which pew one sits in to what kind of shoes they wear to church…but each person has their own reasons for doing so..and as we all learn to grow in Christ, we come to more mature places in our individual walks with Him.
Furthermore..not all Unitarian Universalists are Christ-less. From what I have seen among those who do fellowship with that group, they are on a journey like everyone else, trying to figure things out and some Universalist groups are the most welcoming and grace filled places for wounded people to be able to ask questions without getting slammed by legalisms that further divide people. From what I have seen among these lovely ladies and their readers and other bloggers as well..there are multiple denominations represented, but what is the most amazing and glorious thing I keep seeing is these women who truly love the Lord, blog together, and love each other no matter which denomination they fellowship with. Last I checked Christ said to love one another…to love our neighbors as ourselves. I don’t recall seeing him say that Unitarian Universalists were Christ-less and not doing anything good for Him. Social justice..is social justice..imo… and with all my ministry work in the court systems I can say without hesitation that many ‘secular’ judges show far more mercy and grace WITH justice than many ‘Christians’ do. I think the labels of denominations get a lot of people mixed up into judgementalism and that tends to get people quite sidetracked from loving one another. I think we’ll all be quite surprised when we get up there and realize that the ones who loved their neighbors as themselves were a bunch of ‘Samaritans’ that most religious people frowned upon.
Lisa,
I never said homeschooling couldn’t be an act of worship, I said that it wasn’t as close to the heart of the gospel as pacifism and social justice, which are pointed to in scripture and adhered to in the early church.
I never said that Unitarian Universalists are Christ-less, many, however, don’t believe in the deity of Christ and doubt the resurrection, some are atheist or agnostic. Social justice according to scripture isn’t dolled out by a judge, it’s a worshipful act of serving the poor, downtrodden, outcasts with the love of Jesus that leads to transformation… without the love of Jesus, it’s secular social justice… i.e. doing good for some other reason. I’m not saying that non-Christians having mercy & grace is bad in any way, it’s just not the same thing.
Thanks for your comments, I agree that we’ll probably be surprised by the number and type of people in heaven.
Perhaps I misunderstood this then? When you said this: ” Taking care of the poor and being a peacemaker are much closer to the heart of the Gospel than homeschooling and dress codes and can very much be an act of worship.”
I guess I don’t understand how homeschooling is not as close to the Gospel as taking care of the poor? and being a peacemaker? How can we measure what is closer to the heart of the Gospel? Wouldn’t that be in the eye{heart} of the beholder? To be able to homeschool our children so they can hear the Gospel clearly from their parents instead of mixed up in legalistic church schools?
Again maybe I misunderstood the reason for needing to bring up UU like you did with this statement? “Of course, if there are church plants that specifically declare their cause to be Christless social justice or secular pacifism… that would be a problem (Unitarian Universalists?).”
Perhaps you misunderstand UU? I know that not all people within their fellowships agree on Christ..but there are some who do and who are trying to minister to people there..to introduce Christ in a different non traditional way. Wasn’t it the apostle Paul who said he became all things to all people so he could save some?
I personally feel the negative statements and insinuations against people of varying fellowships causes more division in the Body that unity.
Colossians 3:14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
How sad it would be for any brothers or sisters in Christ to so quickly dismiss a person who attends fellowship with Unitarian Universalists or any other denomination as ‘Christ less’. Isn’t Christ..God? Are they not One..and isn’t God omni-present? Therefore who is ever REALLY Christ-less?
Lisa,
I feel like you’re wanting to argue about things that I haven’t said.
Homeschooling isn’t mentioned by Christ, being a peacemaker is. Dress codes aren’t demonstrated by Scripture (perhaps they are discouraged in Js. 2:1-13), taking care of the oppressed is. This is my point; culturally-bound things like homeschooling and dress codes are not nearly as crucial as universal imperatives like helping the poor and reflecting Christ by peacemaking. They may be important, they may be a form of worship, but they are not mentioned in scripture and not practiced by Christ, hence, not as close to the heart of the gospel.
As for Unitarian Universalism, I never condemned anyone or advocated for division. Sure, some Unitarian Universalists are brothers/sisters in Christ, many, however are not. Paul specifically addresses the importance of the resurrection and I would be hard pressed to call anything “Christian” without including the resurrection or the deity of Christ. Even more than this, several Unitarians wouldn’t consider themselves Christians, others still don’t even believe in a god. I haven’t “dismissed” anyone, my mention of Unitarian Universalism was to hint at the difference between secular social justice and Christian social justice, perhaps UU was a poor example since some adherents probably practice Christian social justice.
You’re argument pertaining to the impossibility of “Christlessness” completely misunderstands my intended meaning. Christless social justice simply means non-Christian social justice.
Honestly Lisa, I don’t really know what else to tell you. I think that you’ve missed my point(s) and instead have picked apart pieces of the conversation that aren’t really there. Anyway, perhaps my original tone wasn’t as refined as it should have been, I can come across abrasively on occasion and I apologize for that. I guess at the end of the day we’re both messed up and need grace as the OP says.
I hope you have a happy mini-Easter this Sunday.
“I need grace that is greater than all my sin.”
YES.
YES.
ABSOLUTELY, YES.
Thank you so much for this post Elizabeth! It is beautiful, and a much needed reminder for the church. It is NOT the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. And that doctor doesn’t come looking down His nose, dressed in a hazmat suit. He comes with gentle hands and sits with us exactly where we are.
Love.
I found myself grunting at the universal experiences you presented here. Those that use their power to preserve a presentation rather than present the persevering power of God ruin so many. It saddens me, and I have to watch myself because sometimes I turn the tides on them rather than practicing what I know to be right and taking the high road.
Excellent post, thank you.
Very good!
Amen.
I just wrote about a very similar thing yesterday. I tend to want to run to a place FAR away from Christians who look more like the pharisees than the Jesus they proclaim! Thank you for sharing this.
I got to sit down with Anne Lamott yesterday when she came to speak at Baylor. She talked about how during her conversion she attended a small parish church that welcomed her as the hungover alcoholic she was for a full year before she got sober. When she talked to me about my writing, she emphasized my need to have a person, someone who I could be completely honest with without a sense of fear or worry. And I have that person, but these two ideas coupled together made me reflect a lot on church.
I like high church, I see a lot of benefit and beauty in it. Aesthetically it captivates me. But I like the wilderness church to, the open windows and old piano. I’ve found it hard to articulate the tension that I feel, the unrest to explain that I love being in a space where I can light a candle to pray, but I love being in a space where the sound of old hymns o’er the years have stained the walls. And both of those spaces, both of them have to be places of welcome, where people can come in and search out what it means to be made whole. Holiness has to be something that draws in more than it rejects.
Yet not through the greeter-laden attack, get-you-in-a-program response that is often part of a church so conscious of the “other” that it overcompensates in the extreme. Rather, it needs to be as simple as Jesus at the well, inviting a conversation. Most people, most terribly fallen, burdened and broken people just need someone to listen and then, at the end, say “Thank you. I understand what you’re saying and why you hurt.” Jesus did that more than anything else. And the conversions because of that, because of that love, because of that welcome, were staggering.
This kind of holiness puts to death the battles of denominations fighting for the best way to reach people, that a Mass is more holy than a prayer service. Instead, it is a practice open to every Christian, in every church, in every style, in every form, because it’s about acceptance and welcoming. The rest, by God’s goodness and grace, sorts itself. … And now I’ve ranted. But this was a wonderful post to reflect on today.
Oh, what I would GIVE to sit down in PERSON with Anne Lamott! You lucky man, you!
oh now that is truly beautiful..you speak my language!
Thank you for speaking truth. I agree wholeheartedly: Didn’t Christ also die for those who have nothing to offer but their messed up, broken lives?
None of us are perfect. Our righteousness is like filthy rags. FILTHY RAGS. Better that we come broken and humble, ready to be cleansed and filled.
Wow! My husband and I were just discussing this subject this morning. I grew up in a legalistic environment where if anyone looked, behaved or believed differently from us, we questioned their salvation. Now that I look back at that, I’m appalled by it; yet, at the same time, I still struggle with those things. I’m so grateful God loves ALL of His children, despite our messiness (and/or pride). Great post!!!
Because although I might put on a good show, I know how messed up I am.
I need grace that is greater than all my sin.
Oh, yes. This post is so good. Thank you for challenging us. Your comparison to social networks seems very appropriate. Sometimes it seems that it’s all about who’s “in” instead of loving on everyone like Jesus loves us. The prejudice is not of God. It shows a partiality that has no place, because there is no partiality with God. It seems that in the mix of “I’m this” and “I’m that” we’ve lost the simple ideal: I’m a Christ-follower. I’m an awful, evil person who has a desperate need for the love and blood of Jesus. The church teaches us how to fake it, how to put on the beautiful facade, but “nothing but the blood of Jesus” will do any of us any good.
You have explained the same experience for many of us very well.
I grew up in a church that seemed to my teenage eyes as legalism – there was a moral code that was too restrictive for me. I saw how the church folks were small minded, Sunday only people. It didn’t help that hollywood depicted Christians as legalistic, mean, bigoted, hypocrites. I rejected Christ for years because of those views.
Then I became a Christian and we joined a mega church, I was so broken I was willing to take anything. There many folks looked shiny and happy, which was infuriating at times. We got beneath the surface with some folks to see the real story, but still the beautiful Christian picture persisted.
After 8 years there we needed more solid Bible teaching, so we moved to a small church, family integrated church. After 6 years of personal/spiritual growth in a church that focuses on expository Bible preaching (and not topical sermons), I now look at all folks in the wider church with easier eyes.
I returned to both my home church and the mega church and I see that there is good even in the legalistic folks. They were trying their best, albeit misguided in ways. It was my guilt that made me mad at the legalists and reject God. It was my uncomfortableness with my brokenness that made me uncomfortable with the beautiful Christians.
I have folks to be real with now, and that has made it easier to not be affected by other versions of Christian walk. I know that everyday people leave the church and reject God because His representatives on earth are so awful. I wish I could make that better, but only reading His Word and working through our own sanctification with give us any real freedom – freedom from our own darkness and freedom to understand others. And be gentle towards even the legalists who played a part in our damaged past.
Sorry, just had to add to my comment above…. I don’t want to sound like I think I am all sanctified…. not at all, the more I go on my journey with Christ I am more aware of my sin nature and so I think that has given me softer eyes for my fellow church goer, even the legalists…. how can I blame them for what I have been guilty and freed by Christ, not by my hand.
not that I don’t wish the judging/legalistic brand of sin was missing from the line up!
Shona.. this is a wonderful honest quote..” It was my uncomfortableness with my brokenness that made me uncomfortable with the beautiful Christians.”
“Didn’t Christ also die for those who have nothing to offer but their messed up, broken lives?”
AMEN! I wish I could YELL this at the top of my lungs. I wish I could put this on a t-shirt and wear it to church.
He did. He most certainly did. And, yet, I have yet to find a church that emulates this. I continue my search, however, I wont become a regular attender until I find a church that does.
Once we identify ourselves by anything other than Christ, we diminish the Gospel.
this struck hard.
very very interesting EE!! I just need some clarification please,,,when you say “the Church” do you mean the33,000. independant from each other protestant christian church’s, or do you me The Holy Roman Catholic Church founded on St Peter (the rock) the apostale appointed by Jesus Christ in (see Matt 16;18-20) under the current leadership of Pope Benedict the 16th?
http://www.catholic-convert.com/2007/08/27/look-for-yourself-how-many-denominations/
I’m not Elizabeth and I’m not answering on her behalf at all..but when I think of “church” I think of the entire Body of Christ that is built upon the Cornerstone Rock(Eph 2:20) which is Christ. There are certainly many flavors of local churches that have spread their congregations all over the world and in my opinion, we are all a part of that ‘church’. Just as the Roman Catholic Church has been established by it’s followers, on St Peter, there have been many other saints of God who have established churches all over the world. As we all learn to understand that we’re all a part of the Body, we can grow and mature in Christ and appreciate the varying blessings and perspectives each denomination adds to the multi-faceted view of our Lord. He is so exquisite in so many different ways. I love viewing Him through the eyes of others from other churches, cultures, and languages. In the most orthodox definition of ‘catholic’ which means universal..as in.. we’re all over the world and we are one in Christ.
three cheers for churches who welcome misfits like you and me.
LOVE this post, Liz.
@sarah make that 4 cheers for churches who welcomes us misfits! *love*
Have you ever read Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches? I have always felt that the moral of the story of the yellow bellied sneetches was applicable to church folk..I kid you not.
Oh, and a big AMEN! to everything you said!
So well put Elizabeth, I couldn’t agree more! Open the doors and let everyone come in, all are welcome. I’m afraid that sometimes our churches are filled with the self-righteous and judgmental. Those who seem to come to look at others more than they look upwards. Great post!
Elizabeth…way to just lay it out there plain straightforward and highly potent…I LOVE this post, it cuts right to the heart of a significant matter, while exposing such a common deception, directly, but kindly. Very Nice.
What a delightful and enlightening conversation this wonderful post has fostered. Thanks so much for articulating so well a major problem for Christians and the church and for rightly focusing on our all-too-human tendency to draw lines of acceptance around ourselves and our group. Jesus spent a whole lot more time and energy warning the religious leaders about their sin of self-righteous judgmentalism than he did condemning people who were identified as ‘sinners’ by those same leaders. It seems to me that knowing you’re a broken, messy person in need of a Savior is key to a full understanding of the gospel, especially as we attempt, by God’s power and grace, to live it out in the various worlds we inhabit. Thanks for these wise words.
Yes! My dad often reminds us that Jesus did not come to sit with the Pharisees but with the tax collectors, sinners, and prostitutes.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this today!!
I pretty much agree word for word
A lot of church put far too much emphasis on ‘standards’ and they turn out to be all about legalism rather than all about Jesus.
How do you do that? You put into words what I’ve been grappling with. You nailed it for me. I’m spreading this little gem around! XO
Amen & amen to this!
These are some powerful words, lady!
Can I come to that church with you, because I’m a sinner.
Beautiful!!
Amen!
THE best article on this site, and one of my favorite Elizabeth Esther articles ever. I can’t wait to link to this over and over and over.
Resting in Him Alone,
Karen
“if a woman wore pants to meetings”
My friend’s southern Missouri granny thought this. Until she visited us in Montana. In November.
She quickly saw the error of her ways.
Great great article!!
So much truth!
Amen. I was a member of a church for 18 years that did not practice grace. How do you look? Do you watch movies? Is your skirt length here or here? etc. It was so discouraging and I never felt that I measured up to things for God to love me. Thankfully, I am now a member of a church where I have actually learned the meaning of “grace.”
Grace that is greater than all my sin! me too. I know how messed up I am. thanks for posting. blessings to you this day.☺
EXcellent! So, so true. I think in trying to get away from the more conservative forms of Evangelicalism, the hipper, newer churches are making it about those things you listed–but it’s not more grace, just a different form of legalism. We DO need to be identifying ourselves with Christ, plain and simple. Loved reading your thoughts!
I’m a homeschooler, organic co-op organizer, blogger Christian, and I’d love to find a church that didn’t treat me like a freak outcast.
But I get what you’re saying.
Can I just say Amen. thanks for sharing this
AMAZING !! Finally someone who GETS IT ! Thank you so much for the insight that so many Christians and/or Christian organizations today need.
Much Appreciated !!
Pam
I was taught from my fundamentalist background that Catholicism and other mainline denominations were wrong and that these followers weren’t “true” Christians. These so called fundamentalist “true” Christians didn’t show the love of Christ much but demanded that everyone look alike, talk alike, and believe alike. I knew as a 9 year old child that I wasn’t able to be like them so I surrounded myself with people that wanted to have fun and enjoy life. Unfortunately, many of my childhood friends (friends that rebelled against the establishment called fundamentalism) suffered from addictions and many have also turned their backs on God! The “true” Christian example in my life was my little Roman Catholic grandmother, who prayed faithfully for family. She walked to church several times a week to pray and take communion. She smiled often and demonstrated her love for her family and friends through her kind words and actions. As an adult, I am just finally starting to see the difference between what is just religious junk and what is “true” Christianity.
Where’s the Like button for comments?? Like Like this BetteJo
I think that God is calling me to become this praying grandma. I was (quite mistakenly) thinking that like with growing up children was about to “calm down” when my adult children started having adult problems and babies (ok, only 1 baby so far but the process has begun). My family’s challenges are maturing and the family will (likely) continue to get bigger….it was then that I saw my future…I will be praying for them daily until my last breath.
When my grandson was born, the words out of my mouth to his tiny ear surprised me “August, you will carry my box”… the tiny arms so soft to the touch would someday be the arms that placed my casket in its place…but until that day, my task on earth is to be his prayer warrior.
hmmmm Mass starts in half an hour…gotta go : )
Grandma Tammy -August is so fortunate to have you in his life-praying for the battles that he will have to fight. This is an awesome love story!
I wonder if Jesus weeps… to know that his house, where our brokenness is supposed to be ok to share and show…has become, essentially, no better than a house of Pharisees? “Glorified social network”– wow, that statement… but I’ve seen it and I know what you mean. It’s heartbreaking. No wonder people don’t want to go to church and it looks fake; so often it is. I hear the cry for authenticity. It’s been ironic to notice that one place we can actually be “ourselves” is in this virtual online world and find like-minded friends, where we can share our real selves, while faking it on Sunday.
Your voice in this article is a gift to me. I am glad someone understands