With all our dogma, rules and strict traditions we are certainly not open for “outsiders”. If they act like us, believe like us, then they are welcome. How many times have we turned people away in the name of Christ with a loving smile telling them that because they experience Christ in a different way from ours, it differs from our beliefs and unless they do like we do, they are wrong.
I am not at the point where quitting Christianity is an option for me, but I am a log way passed quitting dogma, church tradition and rules. Some days I wonder if Jesus ever considered quitting Christianity?
The Church cannot and may not decide who may belong, and who may not be a member. It would be like a grade 3 child deciding who else may be in the school and who must be expelled. If he then try to chase away those, who according to him, do not belong, he would be summoned to the headmaster's office and the Headmaster would probably ask him “Who the hell do you think you are?”
So what is our task if it is not to make sure only those living and believing the way we think could be part of the church. Our task is to live love to every single person and welcome them in the house of God. Even if they see things different than us. If they confess their love for Jesus, then let them be.
Anne Rice: 'I Quit Christianity'
In a dramatic series of Facebook posts, novelist Anne Rice declared that she is no longer a Christian.
Check it out: "I quit being a Christian. I'm out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of ... Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."Rice wrote Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession, a memoir about her own conversion to Christianity--making the post a bit more surprising. UPDATE: Our readers respond to Rice's post.
In another post, Rice also admitted, "I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity." So far, her posts have drawn nearly 2,000 comments and well over 3,000 "likes." (ViaGawker)
At what stage is it better to quit Christianity so that the world can
As a disciple, we tolerate behaviour against Christ (ie "not love" actions, example gangs). At what point is the "against Christ" behaviour of Christians not tolerable? (Implied - at what point is non-Christian's behaviour not tolerable). How do we apply for example 2 Pet 1:7 (in the context of verses 3-7) as disciples?
ReplyDeleteI have a brother with the same view. They have a few valid arguments.
ReplyDeleteI found the following comment from a minister/dominee/pastor, which I thought might be relevant(no references are given as I don't want to distract from the content):In the early part of my ministery, most of my sermons were evangelistical sermons, because I believed that the primary purpose of the church was to evangelize the world. It was only when I began a careful study of Ephesians and read Eph 4:11-12, that I came to the conclusion that the purpose of the church is to equip for ministery, to build the body of Christ. The problem with evangelical messages is that they don't help the people to grow and mature. I kept church members in a state of perpetual infancy by preaching the same basic sermons to them over and over and not taking them into maturity in Christ. I have discovered that the real need in the church is solid, systematic expository teaching of the Scriptures. That is what leads to spiritual growth and equips people to go out and do the work of the ministry. If I do my job, all those who listen and learn will then go out and evangelize and minister in many other ways, which will lead to the body of Christ being build up. It just works.
ReplyDelete