A Message To Those Hurt by Church Goers

 

This is an apology. It’s an apology to any and all who have been hurt by “Christians” when they attended a church, or in some other way came in contact with those that call themselves “Christians”.  For the purposes of this discussion, let’s just call them “church goers”.

Have you ever been to a doctor and found that even with the degree to be an “M.D.” he or she apparently did not know what to do to help you? 

Have you ever taken your car to an auto mechanic, and even though they said they knew how to fix your car, you get it back and it’s still messed up? 

Have you ever gone to a restaurant to get a good meal only to later wish you hadn’t?

Church and the people that go there are no different I’m afraid.  But you can’t stop going to the doctor, you can’t stop getting your car fixed, and you can’t give up on eating out just because there are those that aren’t what they claim to be.  So PLEASE don’t give up on us all just because of a few who “the enemy” has sown among us.  Jesus explained it like this:

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;  but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares [weeds] among the wheat and went his way.  But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’  He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’ – Matthew 13:24-30

You see, we do sometimes know which ones are the weeds in our church families.  But we can’t tell them to leave because of their bad attitudes and lifestyles because they would take with them their friends and family.  The ‘tares’ can’t be taken out of the family yet.   But one day, God will harvest us all.  He will be the one true judge of which were weeds and which were good crop.

So please, know that not everyone who sits in a church or calls themselves a Christian is a Christian, just like not everyone who sits in a garage is a car.  There are a lot of frauds out there.  We sometimes even know which they are.  But we have hope for them to change, just as we hope for ourselves to change as we learn more of God, and allow our relationships with Him to change us.

And know that not all churches are the same, just like not all doctors are the same, not all auto mechanics are the same, and not all restaurants are the same.  If you like Mexican food, you don’t go to a seafood place.  Find one that fits, and then realize that not everyone there is Mexican…if you know what I mean. 

And now a message for the church-goer:

God will hold you accountable for every action and every word.  Straighten up or stop calling yourself a Christian and misrepresenting the Christ you are to portray.  Some of you know you’re a fraud, just as God knows you are.  What you may not have realized, is that you’re chaining those that would come to Him to your ankles and dragging them into Hell with your criticisms, un-Biblical lifestyles, ungodly mouths, and your finger pointing.  James 3:1-6 says that your tongue defiles your whole body, and “sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” 

And finally, a message for Christians, from God’s own words and not my own:

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 

“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”  - Ezekiel 3:17-21

Correct each other in love and gentleness, because the Kingdom of God is at hand!