{"id":1230,"date":"2014-02-07T15:56:50","date_gmt":"2014-02-07T15:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=1230"},"modified":"2014-02-07T15:56:50","modified_gmt":"2014-02-07T15:56:50","slug":"churches-be-full-of-haters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=1230","title":{"rendered":"Churches be full of haters*"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_20130728_075046\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I recently read this blog <\/a>forwarded to me by my cousin, Amy. The incredible message was that Christians forget that their actions can lead people . . . far, far away from the church doors and even farther away from a God they profess to love.<\/p>\n

From what I know, churches are full of liars, cheaters, misfits, and condemners.<\/p>\n

Each and every seat or pew is filled with . . . sinners.<\/p>\n

Hypocrites, Bertha-better-than-you\u2019s, and judges \u2013 lots of them \u2013 can be found in every nook and cranny in every church, synagogue or house of worship.<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s eyes: haters!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And I am one of them.<\/em><\/p>\n

That was a difficult thing to write.<\/p>\n

For years, I have watched as God\u2019s people have become known not for what they stand for, but more for what they stand against.<\/p>\n

Christian brothers and sisters \u2013 Whatever happened to love and grace?<\/p>\n

If as the author of Pearls and Grace states, we turn away the unsaved (and we do), then what are we doing to those Christians with whom we share the pew?<\/p>\n

I really hadn\u2019t spent a lot of time thinking about this until the weapon of judging was launched at my own family.<\/p>\n

Basically, we heard that some people were complaining that we sit at the back of the church in the section that is loosely reserved for Families of Small Children<\/strong><\/em>. The chatter kept coming back to us in such a way that the message seared into our hearts was \u2013 we weren\u2019t welcome in our own church<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>

Picture found at thatreformedblog.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Et tu, Brute? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Our baby is nine. She can sit perfectly still and quiet during Sunday morning services. We don\u2019t sit there because of her. We sit there because of me.<\/p>\n

Taking a line from the aforementioned blog:
\n“She will reach to the back row and encourage and minister to the hearts of the women who can’t get past the grief and sorrow of their own life.”<\/p>\n

That describes me perfectly. My grief, not my child\u2019s behavior, a few Sundays a year, prevents me from making it in the door let alone to any pew.<\/p>\n

I know I am loved by God, but sorrow strikes every cell of my body on those days. I do not want to bolt past the whole congregation with mascara tracks streaming down my face from a front pew.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. I know people love us there, but I don\u2019t always want to share those moments with others.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m pretty tough, but attacking my baby girl for my comfort zone insecurities pushed us out the door for a while.<\/p>\n

How many others have left for similar reasons? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Gossip and judgment allowed us to feel alienated.<\/p>\n

When we did return, every time I saw the people who had hurt us, I bristled and walked away. My hurt heart hardened.<\/p>\n

In the last few days, God reminded me that my reaction to their hurt was in every bit as much of a sin as their words against us.<\/p>\n

Anyone who doesn\u2019t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don\u2019t go together. 1 John 3:15 (MSG)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had to ask God\u2019s forgiveness for being one of the haters up in here \u2013 my actions were in direct opposition of his words and his commandments to love.<\/p>\n

One of those sinners sitting in those pews . . . is me.<\/p>\n

The one who is learning graciously with God\u2019s gentle ways that love is what, and only what<\/strong>, he has called me to do. <\/em><\/p>\n

Imagine how Christians would be perceived if we did just that \u2013 Love our brothers and sisters – period.<\/p>\n

What a revolution that would be!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Special Note \u2013 * I apologize to every English, Language Arts, or grammar teacher I have ever had for using such bad grammar for my title. But if Mrs. Langemoe taught me one thing in Junior High; it was shock value goes a long way. Funny how her shocking revelation was to tell us every day in a public school that she loved us!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently read this blog forwarded to me by my cousin, Amy. The incredible message was that Christians forget that their actions can lead people . . . far, far away from the church doors and even farther away from a God they profess to love. From what I know, churches are full of liars, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[104,855,856,268,857,312,380,858],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}