Sunday, June 12, 2011

Wrestling With Hard Core Faith Issues

I haven't written in a while, but honestly, I haven't felt up to up because I have a confession. Some major life changes - good mostly, but some bad - have put me in a hard place. One of those involves an ongoing conflict. But it is the main source of tension with me right now. Everything I have ever been taught about grace has been shattered. As a result, I am starting to lean toward the direction of apostasy. Not saying I would abandon God, that is, if this picture of God is correct to start with. Just abandon the church. Who needs it when the outside world is less judgmental, less pompous, and sometimes more gracious and forgiving and safer? You see, Christians, as a whole, have a bad habit. They often unintentionally push babies in the faith AWAY from God. They either say or do something that brings up questions like the ones I'm struggling with now. Sometimes they do them with good intentions, but it backfires and is seen as negative, hurtful and harmful, spiteful and hateful, and rather than drawing someone closer, the actions or the words or the lack of actions or words at the right moment pushes someone further away. So, to anyone reading this post, you now have an insider's perspective on what can cause someone to end up wanting to leave the church and maybe even God. How are you going to step up your game and prevent more people from feeling like this? Because from the inside, right now, things are not looking good either way.