(As if you need any more responses..!)So you're ready to leave Christianity? Welcome to the club. It happens (or ought to happen!) to every Christian. As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living," (Apology 38a) and that applies to the Christian life as well.
However, please don't miss out on the teaching moment that God has prepared for you. Here are two wise voices to consider:
Eugene Cho, "Why I am not quitting Christianity"
Keith Drury, "Beheading Christ"
A friend recently said to me, "The reason Noah stayed in the ark, with all its stench and filth, was because there was a flood going on outside." Anne, please don't jump ship; look before you leap. But if you leap, and discover that the waters are too rough, don't hesitate to call for help. Someone will surely complain about it, but I'll be happy to throw you the Anchor.
Yours in Christ,
Beth
Words to ponder: John 6:66-71
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."
70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
1 comment:
I so appreciated Keith's words, Beth. Thanks for posting them! ISTM there are far too many men/women in ministry who, when they've failed to learn to love the real church with real, broken, problematic people, become specialists in manipulation and domination of people they despise in order to pursue their own ambitions. I think that's how Pharisees and Sadducees mature -- they "loved" the idea of church in their immaturity, and then failed to grow in maturity and wisdom.
Keith wrote, ...I want young women and men to learn to love the church before they marry the lifetime vocation of ministry. Does seeing Christ’s bride bring an involuntary gag to your throat? If so, wait a while to be ordained. If a ministerial candidate does not love the church—with all her warts and sores included—I think they should simply say “pass” and wait another year for ordination.
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