Original Post: 2013
I think it’s important for us (Christians) not to stay in the bubble
of our own churches and that it’s important to fellowship with other
people…so I like to visit churches. I hate standing up as the new person
during the welcome part, but I love every other aspect of it. Hearing
different teachings and being a part of different worship experiences.
It’s awesome.
I visited a Christian church once the name of the church doesn’t
really matter nor does the denomination matter. I had never been to the
actual building before but the congregation used to know me because I
used to visit a lot when I was younger. The worship was nice, the Word
was nice. After church while members were eating together and
fellowshipping I got to connect with people that knew me as a child. It
was great until…this man came along. He was an older man, probably 50s
or 60s. Came up to me to say hi. We small talked until he asked me where
I have been all this time and why I don’t come to that church anymore
(it had been at least 8 years since they last saw me). I told him I went
to a different church. He seemed pleased to hear that I was at least
still in church. He asked me what church and I told him the name of the
church that I attended. At first he seemed confused as if he didn’t know
which church I was referring to. So I let him know the location of the
church and the “lights” came on; He finally knew which church I was
talking about. His entire demeanor changed right in front of my eyes
from warm to coldish. Then he said “oh. You go to church on Sundays”. I replied “yea!" with a smile (I clearly didn’t get what was going on at this point). His response was "well I’ll pray for God to save your soul" then walked away…
O…..M….Gosh!!!!! Have you ever wondered what you
would say to someone if they said something like that to you? I mean
REALLY sat down and thought about it? I thought I would have the
smartest come backs for anything like that if a non Christian ever came
at me like that. However, I had no comeback for if another Christian
said that to me. I was so shocked. Shocked speechless actually. I stood
in the same spot for an additional few minutes by myself just stared
with my my mouth dropped. Once everything started to sink in and I was
able to start closing my mouth I realized how offended I was and hurt.
Not mad. I mean, the nerve of this guy. He didn’t know me, my life or my
heart but since I went to church on a Sunday I was automatically a
heathen!
Now this blog isn’t about specific denominations of the Christian body. The fact that this happened to me, made me think about Christians as a whole…the body of Christ. It just HAPPENED that this guy was from a specific denomination, but what he did to me is what we…yes WE
do to others. I didn’t realize just how hurtful it was until I was the
victim. Now, I personally try my hardest not to judge people or treat
them as inferior just because God says we shouldn’t and knowing that HE
is the only judge. I will include myself in this grouping though because
I AM a part of the body. Why are we so judgmental?! We
seem to forget that we also have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God and it was by His GRACE and MERCY
that we have been saved and allowed to commune and build a relationship
with Him. Even AFTER we are saved, we are still flesh and we still sin.
We fight sin and the flesh for the rest of our lives, so who are we to
look down on someone else and judge instead of stepping up and helping a
brother or sister in Christ? We should be pouring into people, not
judging them.
We are representations of Christ to those that don’t know Him as their personal Lord and Savior. That’s a huge
responsibility to have. Do you even know what that means? If we treat
people with kindness and love, then they will think that our God is a
kind and loving God (which He is). If we are mean, they will think God
is mean. If we are judgmental, guess what? Their view of God will be
that He too is judgmental. We CAN’T do that! Don’t do that!
There are broken people in the world who are out there looking for
something or someone whether they know it or not. We need to reflect
Christ as He truly is; loving, kind, forgiving, caring, helping etc.
Thankfully I was already in Christ and had a deep foundation in Him
before this encounter. After I stopped being offended I said a little
prayer for him and anyone else that might have that same thought
process, that God would open their eyes. It made me really think though.
What if I wasn’t saved? What if I didn’t know Christ for myself.
Honestly, if I didn’t know Christ and was attempting to come back to
church that alone would stop me dead in my tracks. I would NEVER
go to that church again, I probably wouldn’t go to any church at all.
My perception would be that all Christians were judgmental and the last
thing I needed was to be judged. The church would have lost me. Think
about it. The church would have had a chance to reach me and they would
have lost me. That’s my soul! That’s the difference between heaven and
hell. That’s TOO important. Winning souls for Christ is too important
for us to stand on a high seat and look down on others like we are
better than them. So if that was an unsaved person, you could
unfortunately have lost that person. So:
1. If there is a homosexual/gay population in other people’s
churches, stop judging that church wondering what’s going on saying that
that church is going to hell. Ask yourself why they’re aren’t
homosexuals at YOUR church. At least other churches environments are
WELCOMING enough for them to go there. That’s a good thing. They are
just in the right place for God to start working in and through them.
2. If there are sinners in your church, stop judging. Stop giving the
unwed pregnant girl the side eye, stop snickering at the transvestite,
stop gossiping about the girl who comes in with her dress to short or
skirt too tight. Let them LIVE! Christ said “come just as you are”. You
are there to bring glory to His name, not look at others.
3. Stop talking badly about others of other denominations. Some
people go to church on Saturday, some people go to church on Sundays,
some people speak in tongues, some don’t. Who cares?! We’re all
Christians. We all believe in Christ. Fellowship with one another. Visit
each others churches and be a part of the worship. The reason we aren’t
as effective as a body of Christ as we could be is because we are
divided. It’s not that serious people, get it together!
Yes our charge is to spread the gospel and win people to Christ. You
won’t win anyone by judging them. You will win people by understanding
their struggle and where they are coming from. You will win people by
pouring into them. You will win people by simply loving them. We aren’t
called to save people, that’s God’s job. We are called to plant a seed
in any way God tells us to and sometimes even “water” the seed. God will
do the rest.
Prayer: Lord I thank you for what you allow me to go through good or
bad because I know there is always a lesson involved. I thank you that
you have shown me what others feel when they are judged by your people. I
am sorry and repent for every look I have given, every thought that I
have had, every comment I may have made and every person I have judged
by looking at them. Break our hearts as Your body to look more like you.
To reflect You and only You. Let us see what you see in others. Let us
love and not judge. In Your name we pray Amen.
xoxo
Tasha
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