Why The Church Makes Me Sad

I just watched a film documentary called 'Jesus Camp' and it made my heart...sad. If you want to watch it yourself it's on Netflix, I don't really want to summarize it. What I walked away with was a feeling that the children focused on in the film were being taught very strict ideas of what is 'right' and what God 'wants.' What stuck out to me was that throughout the whole film when children were being preached at or were preach-ing, no one smiled. The kids seemed genuinely distraught - crying, sobbing, really upset. They were being taught about all of this sin and the devil in their lives and at one point were literally told they needed to 'clean up their act.'

I have some problems. The big problem for me is, I was watching this and thinking, 'What God are they talking about?' Because the God in 'Jesus Camp' and the God I know? They sure sound like different guys. The God I know doesn't want me to clean up my act and then come to Him, He doesn't want me to cry and feel distressed, humiliated, embarassed, afraid, or ashamed every time I talk to Him.

The God I know is a God of grace and compassion. I know He is a God of justice, but if He was a God that gave us what we deserved, He would be the most hope-less thing I can think of. 

The issues of abortion and homosexuality come up constantly in churches. In a world that's already dark enough it makes me sad that the need to condemn most often outweighs the need to show compassion, grace, understanding and forebearance for one other.
 

Church makes me sad. Not so much the physical building we call a church, but 'The Church' meaning those who refer to themselves as Christians and part of the body of Christ.  I have an aversion to the building and people that keeps growing in me because I don't want to condemn people different from me. I'm not a judge and I don't deserve to be handing out sentences because I have a rap sheet longer than both my arms already. I need compassion and grace as much as anyone.



I don't want to kick someone when they are already down - it hurts their ribs and my foot and neither one of us is going to get up and walk away from that changed for the better.

People Are Beautiful

My Dad's always telling me that the biggest lessons you learn in college won't happen in a classroom, and he's right.  T-minus two months until graduation - college over. Naturally I've spent a lot of time lately reflecting on my last four years and thinking about the lessons and what-not that I've learned. The biggest lesson I have learned:

People are beautiful. 

One of my classic pass-times on campus (not as enjoyable without my creeper-in-crime, Meghan Johns, but I digress) is watching people because there is always something new because everyone is different. And difference is a beautiful, beautiful thing to me.

For as long as I can remember I have had this weird magnetic pull for random people to talk to me (one of my favorite things about me). I collect stories from people - a lot of the people I talk to I see once and will never see again, many times I don't even know their names they just....talk. Lives are beautiful and everyone has a different story and I am privileged that people are so willing to tell me about some of the pieces that have made up their own little life puzzle.

This is all at the forefront of my mind tonight because I met a random lady at my favorite coffee shop and we struck up a 20-minute conversation and she was so unique and totally different from me and just...it was so naturally, beautifully orchestrated. It's so refreshing and awe-inspiriting to realize how many people are in the world that aren't me.

Try it - strike up a conversation with someone different. Listen. I know it's natural to compare someone to yourself, but when you do that consciously recognize that it isn't to determine "who is better," but rather "how are we connected?" We aren't in competition with each other, we are in complement with one another. And it's beautiful.