I found this on the internet. Thought it was interesting.
Please bear with me, this is long overdue and theres lots of ground to cover. I want to make sure that I get it all out. Not just for me, but because I think you need to hear it. Maybe there are other Christians out there as well that need to make apologies and will find courage here. I appreciate your time, I know its valuable.
Dear Members of the World,
Im just a guy, nobody really. Son of a preacher and missionary. Years and years of Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps, youth ski trips, puppet shows, revivals, choir trips - you name it. Even went to a Christian college and got a degree in religion. I ended up in the business world, but I spent two decades tithing, sitting on committees, teaching Sunday School, going to seminars and conferences, etc. I even met my wife in the singles class at church. Im not a bad guy, Ive been mostly behaving myself and everybody seems to like me. I do some good stuff here and there.
But lately Ive been trying to understand Jesus more and stuff I never noticed before has really started to bug me. Ive been taking a look around and Im having a hard time making sense of what it is weve built here. So, it just seemed like, whether anybody else says it or not, I need to take responsibility for the part I played and say what I have to say.
Here we go ...
I know you think that Christians are a big bunch of hypocrites. We say were more religious and were going to heaven and youre not, and then we drive our big shiny cars with little fishies on the trunk and cut you off in traffic as we race by the homeless guy on the corner. We average just 2% of our money to church and charity, despite that we say the Bible is the word of God and it says were supposed to give everything. On average, we buy just as many big screen TVs and bass boats and fur coats and makeup and baseball cards and online porn as anybody else. Maybe more. Youve seen leader after leader end up in jail or court or a sex scandal of one sort or another.
Well ... youre right. Were guilty of all of it. Weve done it all. And, Im really sorry.
You see our cheesy TV shows and slick guys begging for money and you get that theres something seriously sneaky and wrong here. A high-pressure call for money so they can stay on the air? Were we supposed to use Jesus as just another form of entertainment? Who do we think were kidding? Wheres Jesus in all this? Arent we supposed to rely on him? Isnt He going to meet our needs if were inside His will?
What happened to sacrifice and suffering and helping the poor? Im just sick about this. I mean, the church leaders, theyre not all bad guys, there are lots and lots of really hard-working well-meaning folks who love and care and are meeting real needs in the community. Some of them understand and love Jesus - but Im just real sure those pastors dont drive Bentleys, have multi-million dollar homes and their own lear jets! I mean, what god are we worshipping? Money? Ego? Power?
You see our massive shiny new buildings all over the place. Heck, maybe we even kicked you out of your house so we could expand our parking lots. You cant figure out why we need four different Christian churches on four corners of the same intersection. Weve got playgrounds and bowling alleys and basketball leagues. Weve got Starbucks coffee in the sanctuary. Weve got orchestras and giant chandeliers and fountains out front. Weve got bookstores full of jesus junk with every imaginable style and flavor of religious knick-knack. But wheres Jesus? Is this what HE wanted?
Oh, sure, there are good folks all over and not every church is such a mess, but Christians are the ones that say were supposed to be One Body. So even the good ones are guilty of not putting a stop to it sooner. We were supposed to keep each other in line and not tolerate factions and dissensions and greed and idolatry and all this other bad stuff. Man, we really blew it! Weve got 33,000 denominations and most of them wont talk to the other ones. We lose over $5 million a day to fraud from trusted people inside the church! We spend 95% of all our money on our own comforts and programs and happy family fun time shows and we let 250 MILLION Christians in other countries live on the very edge of starvation. Not to mention the billion or so that have never even once heard of Jesus - or the homeless guy downtown we almost ran over when we cut you off.
Were as guilty as we can be. All of us. Nobody is exempt. We should have put a stop to it a lot sooner. But I cant apologize on behalf of anyone else. This is about me.
I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going as soon as you could. I know that you might even have been abused by somebody in the church! Maybe we got you all fired up and then just let you drift off like we didnt really care. Maybe you just dont fit our profile. You might have piercings and purple hair or tattoos or been in jail -- and somewhere inside you just know that even if you wanted to go to church one Sunday, it would not go well. Im sorry for that. Jesus loves you. He always hung out with the most unexpected people. He had the biggest heart for the folks everybody else tried to ignore. What have we done? Weve told you to put on a sweater and some loafers or you cant go to heaven. I just want to throw up.
Look, I know youre mad. And you have a right to be. Weve done you wrong for a LONG time now. Theres some things about Jesus that people need to hear, but weve buried a beautiful masterpiece under hundreds of layers of soft pink latex paint. If you have a Bible handy, look up Matthew 23. (If you dont, you can look it up here - www.BibleGateway.com .)
Find it? Read it carefully, the Pharisees were the religious people of the day, the leaders of the faith. In this chapter Jesus SEVEN times says how pitiful and wretched and cursed they are for what theyre doing to the people theyre supposed to be leading. He even calls them white washed tombs of dead mens bones and a brood of vipers! I dont have time here, but read it and see if were not doing EVERY single one of those things. Jesus cant possibly be happy about what weve done to you.
Sure, we like to kid ourselves and pretend everything is OK - but its not. Were hated. Now, please understand, Jesus was hated, too. But that was because he said hard things and sometimes people dont like hearing the Truth. And he promised we would be hated if we were like him. But thats not why were hated at the moment. Were hated right now because were a giant pack of lying hypocrites that say one thing and do something else altogether. If we were hated because we were like Jesus, that would be one thing, but thats not it at all. You see right through our happy music and fluffy services and you can tell theres something desperately wrong here. Were no different than anybody else - except that we say were better than you.
It was never supposed to be like this. Jesus asked us to care for the widows and orphans, to feed the hungry, care for the sick, visit those in prison, reach the lost. He wanted us to love our enemies and pray for them. He cared about human justice and suffering, the lost and lonely. But I dont think He would have marched on a picket line - He had His mind on much bigger problems. He wanted us to focus on the eternal things, not the everyday. He never once said to go into all the world and build big buildings and divide up into factions and buy Bentleys. Just the opposite! I get that youre mad at us and I think you have a right to be, but please understand, youre mad at what weve made under our own power, youre mad at Churchianity. Thats different than Christ and what he wanted. Dont be mad at Jesus! This mess wasnt His idea!
Look, Im really sorry. I accept responsibility for my part in having hurt you. But Im committing to you all, dear Members of the World, that Im not going to do it any more. Not a single penny more. Im not going to put my faith in Churchianity or any leader or program or TV show -- but in Christ Jesus and His salvation. Thats when I was set free and began to see that God wants and expects more of us than this. And Im not helping anybody thats not fully committed to the same thing.
It took centuries to build this monster, so its not like its going to just turn around overnight. But the times are changing and were way overdue for something new. Big bad things are happening - like the tsunami in Asia - and I think more are coming. I dont want any more time to go by without having said this. Im sorry for all the time and money Ive wasted. But Jesus saves. Really. The church itself isnt even the point. Jesus is the real deal. He lived and He died for my sins and He rose again. He is who He said He was and He cares about me - and you. Hes our only hope. We need places you can go that will only teach Jesus and will not be swayed or tempted or distracted by anything else. God willing, thats coming.
Please dont think all Christians are just posers. Some of them really mean it when they say they belong to Christ. The problem is mostly in the West where were all comfy and complacent and seem to like it that way. The Christians in China and other places are deadly serious. Theres no room for anything but Jesus when youre on the run from the government. They are dying every day for their faith and doing crazy hard things because theyre absolutely committed to Christ. These are martyrs. People willing to crucify little pieces of themselves every day to be more like Christ. People willing to set aside everything they want, to do what Christ wants. People willing to rot in prison or take a beating or die if thats what its going to take. People that act in pure love and never back down. Im not worthy to tie their shoes. And there are some like that here, too, and I hope we can get a lot more people to start living that way. Its way overdue.
If youre talking to someone and they tell you theyre a Christian, ask them if theyre the kind of Christian that really means it all the time or the kind that just means it on Sunday. The Bible says well know them by their fruits - by the faith and purity and love in their deeds and words. When you find one that proves Christ is in them by how much they love you, ask them to tell you all about Jesus. If you know one of those fearless martyrs that speaks nothing but pure, clean, hard Truth - ask lots of questions. Truth is a lot more rare than you would think. But dont settle for soft, fluffy and comfortable anymore - thats not in the Bible.
If you are reading this and you are already in the church -- DONT LEAVE! Pray hard. Listen to Gods leading. Try to stay and fix it. Seek accountability from your leaders. Make sure earthly treasure is being converted into heavenly treasure as efficiently as possible. Speak nothing but Truth in love. Demand meat, not milk. Seek His face. Stop conforming to the world. Read Judges 6. We have to fix the altar in our own backyard before we can take on the larger armies rallied against us! He wants to restore His people. He wants the Bride spotless. Find others willing to help and start a little tornado of revival inside your church.
As for me and my house, were really sorry. From now on, were going to serve the Lord, not Churchianity. Were going to try to call together as many of those martyrs as we can and start doing what Christ wanted. If I run into you someday, please give me a chance to shake your hand and apologize in person. Im going to try harder from now on, I promise. I think there are lots of others feeling the same way, so dont be surprised if you start hearing stuff like this more often. Thanks for your time. I hope it helps.
Doug Perry www.FellowshipOfTheMartyrs.com
[email protected]
_________________ tina
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