Mithmeoi

Over the last few days I have been thinking a lot and been discussing this a bit with my husband, just some of my observations about Christians and the church in general. I used to be very closed minded, I used to get caught up in the stupid things, I stayed in my safety bubble. That has changed a lot from my first real major move. I was uprooted from the place I called home for thirteen years and that changed my view on life a lot. Not quickly mind you but over the next couple years I met people, got acquainted with different views on life and just got to see how others live. Some of it good, some of it bad. I’ve also seen the good and the bad within the body of Christ as well. Which can get downright ugly sometimes.

I think a lot of us get so wrapped up in the smaller less significant things in life and we lose focus. I know so many Christians that get so involved in the evolution debate that they start to get mad and rage about it.  They start getting cocky saying they ARE right absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt.  What kind of impression does that leave on people who are not of our faith? I can guarantee it’s not a good one. It’s good to have a firm belief, and it’s good to not be swayed, but do not force it upon other people and don’t lose your cool.  Stay open to hearing the other party out otherwise they will not give you a chance to state what you believe.  Even Christians which have differing views about old earth new earth clash badly.  We need to accept that not everyone’s gonna see things exactly like you want them to.

I’ve observed many Christians that get anal over even more petty things that just revolve around church. They don’t wear the right kind of clothes, sing the right kind of music, and such things like that. It’s all so very petty but sometimes it can cause huge rifts within the body of Christ.  I think a lot of times people need to refocus on why they are Christian and why they believe in God.  Example of this in an extreme is the baptist church somewhere in the south east of the states.  They were burning Pokemon games and Harry Potter books.  They picket at military funerals saying the reason our men are dying is because there are gay people in our country.   These people are filled with hate, not love.  God IS love so when all you show is a hateful spirit you do not represent God, but Satan.  They leave a foul impression of what a TRUE Christian is.

I do not attend a church and I probably won’t return to one for a long time.  I’ve found most to be routine, they are spiritually dead, the people put up a false front.  It’s oh we go every week, we are good people, we socialize, get a does of preaching and singing and then we continue our lives.  The singing is boring and repetitive, the preaching is usually always about how to accept Christ or the most common stories, and if you’ll notice younger people tend to never attend these days.   Most churches I have been to say the same things over and over, that’s all fine and dandy but I don’t learn much that way.  I prefer more of a one on one or small group, and honestly I feel that churches today are not what God had intended in the beginning.  The mega churches, sure they do some good but they don’t give time to each individual, which I know is hard.  I had someone get annoyed with me for saying this because it’s “selfish to think someone can share all their time with everyone”.  Which wasn’t my point.  I just find small groups better, they are welcoming and you can bond with people that way.  Churches these days are the same as they have been for decades and they are losing their audience as the older ones go out the younger ones are not coming in.  The church needs a revival and a serious change.  Not all changes are bad, most churches think it is, they are stuck in their comfortable routine, their safety bubble, it needs change.

On to another thing that just annoys me to no end are arrogant Christians.  They are very common, sadly, and they force their beliefs on everyone.  They will not stand still and listen to an opposing view, they are judgmental and not open to much of anything at all.  They usually end up offending people more than leaving good impressions, by preaching at them or forcing their thoughts on people who do not want to hear them.  I find this is a horrible way to witness to people.  Maybe it worked in the decades gone by but it doesn’t work so well today.  People don’t want to hear about how they are gonna burn in hell and they’re not gonna listen if that’s how you talk.  They want to hear positive things, they don’t want to be told what they can or cannot do.  IE Catholic church with their list books they hand out of what someone should or should not wear if they wish to be a believer.  I could say more about how wrong I think this is but I think you get my point.

Christianity is not about how many times you pray a day, it’s not about how you dress, it’s not about what music you groove to, it’s not about the amount of times you go to church.  It’s about Christ, it’s about God and it’s about showing His love to others regardless of whether they agree with you are not.  It is a personal relationship, it’s not something that needs to be acquired through a man made establishment.  You don’t need to ask forgiveness through a pastor, that’s something private between you and God.  If someone is gay, so what?  God loves them just as much as anyone else, why should we be the ones to judge?  Someone who’s strung out on drugs, or a pregnant teen, yeah God loves them just as much and those are the people that need to be reached out to the most.  I think the best witness is to just show God’s love.  A true Christian will stand out from the rest of the people just by being who they are, there is just something about them that will be attractive and others will notice.  Other people won’t know why, and they will start to inquire as to why you act so differently from the rest.

So those are a few of my thoughts down in text now finally.  I hopefully didn’t give a wrong impression with them, my wording is not always the best.  haha Anyways any comments or thoughts on it, even opposing views are welcome.