Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Christianity: the good and the bad

Two good friends have been - how to describe it? let's be polite - threatened with having their names taken off the membership list of their church. Why? Because they smoke, drink, swear and really need to take their responsibility to the church more seriously and attend more often. In other words, they need to be moulded into the 'right' shape for a proper Christian.

I would like to tell their church that these two people are the living embodiment of Christianity at its best. They are devoted to God and live their lives for others. They care, share, help, listen, take action. They are reliable and trustworthy; they are there when those in pain need them. They don't hide their faith in God: they celebrate it. They are doing what Christ did, going where he would have gone, befriending those he would have touched. They are Christ-centred not denominationally-fixated.

They are the right shape for a proper Christian: they are Christ-shaped.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

I know what you mean about churches like that. I think they just find it easier to exclude those that don't conform rather than broaden their narrow minds to think like God about what it is that make a good person. CLUE: It's no longer about following the ten commandments!

Devonshire Dumpling said...

The clergyman responsible for the church needs to take a serious rain check as to what Christianity should mean and what it stands for and is all about. Obviously, some of his Church members have got it right and he needs to learn by their example.

Furtheron said...

can churches do that? Amazing!

One of the reasons many years ago I turned my back on religion in an organised sense.

Mike Tea said...

I thought Christians came in all shapes and sizes and that the one thing we all have in common is that we are sinners saved by grace.

Hang on.

I'll just have a look...hmmm.

Yes, yes, there it is in John 3:16


"whoever"

I knew it was something like that. In fact something exactly like that.

Stu said...

Ah, that explains it, I don't smoke, which is what makes me an unXian ;-)

Mauigirl said...

That is really a shame that a church can be so narrow-minded especially if the people in question are such good people! Churches don't do themselves any favors by acting this way, that's for sure.

Leslie: said...

I found it amazing when I realized that churches all differ on what they consider to be "Christian" - years ago, in "my" Baptist church you weren't supposed to smoke, drink, dance, or play cards BUT it was okay to go out for lunch or go shopping in the afternoon. Another friend who went to the Christian Reformed (Dutch background) told me they all smoke, drink, dance, and play cards BUT you couldn't go out for lunch or do anything but be quiet and listen to religious music or read the rest of the day. Also, I was brought up to believe in the rapture, but she told me they don't believe in it.

HUH???? So what exactly are we supposed to believe in? How exactly are we supposed to act?

It's become so confusing to me that I don't even attend anymore, even though I still have a strong faith and worship in my own way.

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

Hi Liz, I would find another church. I go to a Christian church and do all that your friends do, no one is judging me, and they except me for who I am!!

CherryPie said...

That Church has a very un-Christion attitude!

Berni said...

Maybe it would be a good thing to leave such a church and join one that has their priorities more scripturally based.
I don't smoke, but I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner and a swear word or two has been known to slip from my lips, sometimes frequently.

What I would like to know is if the person making this judgment at this church has an ounce of fat on them, gluttony is a sin as you know and practiced quite religiously in most churches I have attended.

Liz Hinds said...

THanks all.

Some people don't seem to have grasped that, chris.

A clergyman learning from his flock, DD?! I wish.

But we're not all like that, furtheron!

Precisely, Mike Tea.

So which planet are you from, stu?

They don't, mauigirl.

I think if we take Jesus as our example, leslie, then how to act becomes clearer.

Yours is a good church then anne.

Tell me about it, cherrypie.

You're right there, berni.

Unknown said...

Such pontification is probably one of the reasons for falling attendances at church. Providing they are 'good' people, what difference does it make if they smoke or drink or swear? (providing they don't do it in church of course!)
Gary

Rose said...

If God only wanted perfect people in his church, then the churches would be empty.

Seeker said...

I love this post!