Lately I've been having a chain of really deep thoughts, but all the chain is doing is dragging me around. I have done nothing to make sense of these ideas, and this is why I'm grateful for a blog.
I find myself disagreeing with a lot that people say in my church. I attend a church of Christ and a lot of times I get extremely frustrated with some of the doctrine being taught. I have no doubt of why I'm a Christian and where I'm going when I die, but during services I get so uncomfortable I am literally squirming in my seat, looking for someone who may be realizing some of the things I'm realizing.
There is no doubt that there must be leadership in the church with a solid foundation of beliefs. Without that, the church would fail. But why must we separate ourselves from others by calling our leaders "elders"? I simply do not understand how it is a valid point to discourage someone from attending another church because they do not call their leaders, who do the exact same thing as elders, elders. Is "elder" not already a translated word in the first place? Is the entire Bible not a translated book? Why then, must we look down upon The Message, or "deacons" when what we are putting so much faith in might already possess certain fallacies? I just do not understand it.
Along with, but more significant than, the simple nomenclature is the very nature of the Bible Belt and American Christianity as a whole. Do not get me wrong, there are many, many amazing Christians doing amazing things, but I believe that there are some things that we are just missing. Why in the world is it so important that our church has a gym, kitchen, ping pong table, $90,000 sound system, and so many unnecessary things when there are people that have nothing, including Christ? I think that if we all realized that a church is not a facility, but a body, then we'd be able to give up the mundane things that we "need" so badly. If we gave up our buildings and met in a public place, open for everyone, I think there would be less intimidation for people to approach the church.
The intimidation factor is a separate issue itself. I was reading an article on the reaction of a Christian university after the students discovered a classmate was gay, and someone commented on the article and made a valid point. They wrote that American Christianity has made villains out of sinners, especially homosexuals. Let us not forget that a liar is no better than someone struggling with their sexuality. Let us not forget that there is not a point system for sins, and that there is not a single person on Earth who does not "deserve" forgiveness of their peers, because after all, none of us deserve the forgiveness provided by our Creator. We should make it a point to be transparent with one another, as well as erase the judgement from our minds, because it is simply not our job to say that someone is better than another just because they do not struggle with that particular sin.
These are just a few ideas that have been swimming around in my mind and I just needed to take them out of the pool and dry them off, so that I will be able to word what I am thinking a little better. Not everything needs to be agreed with, but everything certainly should be acknowledged and considered, just for the growth of perception and open mindedness.
