Continued from I'm Done with Playing Church:
I've gotten such a response to this article, I thought I'd add a bit to it. I'll let the Word of God speak for itself:
That's right... I'm done with playing church. Now what?
I'm done... with the plastic smiles. I choose to be real.
I'm done... with Christians who walk into church like they are walking into a Country Club. I choose to enter His gates with thanksgiving.
I'm done... with Christians pretending they are perfect. I choose to be transparent.
I'm done... with churches saying "that's the way we've always done it". I choose to hold onto the commandments of God and not the traditions of men.
I'm done... with Christians who say healing services in these modern days are fake. I choose to believe By His stripes we are healed.
I'm done... with Christians who avoid fasting. I choose to go deeper through fasting.
I'm done... with people who sit in church waiting for the pastor to "bless" them. I choose the fullness of God's grace, knowing it is through this grace that we receive one blessing after another.
I'm done... with those who think pre-schoolers are too small to learn about Jesus. I choose to believe, "Let the little ones come unto Me."
I'm done... with Christians who mock pastors that cast out demons in the name of Jesus . I choose to believe these signs will accompany those who believe: "In Jesus' name they will drive out demons."
I'm done... with Christians who complain about their church but have never given a dime to God's kingdom. I choose to give sacrificially.
I'm done... with people who stand and cheer at football games on Friday nights but walk into church like they are at a funeral. I choose to come into His courts with praise.
I'm done... with Christians who can sing Madonna's latest hit but can't recite the 10 commandments. I choose to hide His Word in my heart that I might not sin against Him.
I'm done... with Christian fathers who push their sons to play football, but have never taught them to read the bible. I choose to train up a child in the way he should go.
I'm done... with Christians who go into deep debt to "keep up with the Joneses" who sit next to them in Sunday School. I choose to not covet my neighbor.
I'm done... with fake "Christian-ese" on men's lips. I choose authenticity.
I'm done... with deacons who complain about an unsaved teenager wearing a ball cap into the sanctuary. I choose to believe God says, "Come unto Me all who are thirsty, and I will give you living water."
I'm done... with Sunday morning being the most segregated hour of the week. I choose to love my neighbor as myself.
I'm done... with Christians who think they are better because their skin is white. I choose to love, because Christ first loved me.
I'm done... with Christians who think organs are holy and drums are not. I choose to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.
I'm done... with Christians who say, "I'm fine" when really their marriage is in shambles . I choose to bear another's burdens.
I'm done... with people who think their past should be a secret, lest they be judged by the church. I choose to bestow grace because God has bestowed it to me.
I'm done... with churches who think worship is for Sunday morning. I choose to believe my body is a temple of the Living God.
I'm done... with Christians who have swallowed the lie that we can and should control how many children God gives to us. I choose to believe God is the Author of Life and children are a heritage of the Lord.
I'm done... with Christians who don't believe in supernatural healing. I choose to believe God is the Great Physician.
I'm done... with Christians who don't believe in the unseen warfare all around us. I choose to believe we are not fighting against flesh and blood but against the powers of this dark world.
I'm done... with Christians who believe miracles only happened in the Bible. I choose to believe God still moves in the lives of His people.
I'm done... with Christians who call on God like He's a cosmic genie in a bottle. I choose to believe God is "El Elyon," the Sovereign One.
I'm done... with American Christians who think somehow they have attained all they have . I choose to believe "every good and perfect gift is from above."
I'm done... with this "little religion box" that some Christians have put Jesus into. I choose to believe that to obey is better than sacrifice.
Also, check out the "I'm Done With..." Website, a blog where frustrated followers of Christ can share what they're done with.
Lorie is a busy homeschooling mother of six children, including twins and two children who were internationally adopted -one from Haiti and one from Liberia. She has taught and ministered in Bible Studies for over ten years. She and her husband Duane are founders of Reaching Hands Orphan/Adoption Ministries. Through a partnership with Children's HopeChest, Reaching Hands Ministries enables nearly 300 impoverished African orphans to receive regular food, clothing, and education. You can visit her website at lorienewman.com.
Its one thing to say that you're sick and tired, and its one thing to choose to change, but to actually do the change is a whole other trick.
"They Like Jesus but not the church" by Dan Kimball is a must read. It speaks to this issue and Dan has done a lot of research about it. These people who are leaving the church aren't rejecting Christ, they are rejecting what the church has become. Many of them are now meeting in homes instead (returning to the early church model of sharing lives, food, etc...).
The other comment that I have to make has to do with a renewed call to missions. Americans, in part because of it's isolation and also in part because of the war in Iraq, want less and less to be concerned about the world. I go to Mexico every year to build a home for a homeless family. The past couple of years, I have heard more and more people (including Christians) ask me questions like "Why do you go there when there's so much to do here?" My response continues to be that until we see ourselves as a world community we won't be doing much of value either here or any where else. One of the answers to this issue of the self-absorbed, materialistic Christian is a renewed focus on reaching out to the world, starting with "hanging" out with non-christians here at home and also with going into all the world.
Great discussion!
I admire your passion and authenticity. The values you lift are good. The actions and ideas you are denouncing are right to denounce.
And yet you do it with the bluntness of a hammer. It concerns me to hear the words, "I'm done with Christians," from such a strong person of faith.
It seems to me that while Jesus says, "Woe to you..." he also says, "Despite all, I'm not done. Despite all, I'm here."
I think this is what you're saying when you say, "I choose to bear another's burdens," but that's not the overall message I get from the piece.
My question, and I truly would like to know ... what is it that brought you from point A to point B ... did you read an article like this and suddenly see the light? Was it other's frustration and judgment of you that caused you to want to change? This would have been a truly incredible article/declaration if each sentence had said, "I am done with being ... I choose to be ... " As it is, to me, you come across as the Pharisee.
Luke 18:9-14
"Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other menextortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'..." Luke 18:9-12
Please don't be done with these people ... you don't know their hearts, you don't know where they are on their journey, you don't know their struggles, their motivations, their fears, their upbringing, how far they've come already and how far they may yet go if people will love them. You don't know how "one glance of their eyes," no matter how plastic they look to you, causes Jesus' heart to be completely ravished. (song of solomon 4:9) This article criticizes Jesus' Bride ... this article demeans your brothers and sisters in Christ who aren't at the same place you are. We can choose transparency, to believe in healing, fasting, the teachability of pre-schoolers, etc., but if we have not love, are we not just noisy gongs? Instead, let us intercede on our brethren's behalf and love them as Jesus does.
1 Peter 1:22
"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart."
I am not done with those in the church whose behavior I find frustrating because my Lord told me:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35
And He made it clear I am not just to love those who agree with me but even those I disagree with when He told us:
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. (Luke 6:32-33
I will not judge them, though they may judge me, because God's word tells me:
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:1-4
I choose instead to love those God places in my church and my life and do my best to be Jesus to them… That means:
I cannot be "done" with them even when they deserve it because Jesus never gave up on me when I deserved it! And, believe me, I deserve it sometimes! I am willing to bet you deserve it sometimes too… just like those you are "done with"…
Blessings
RevJonG
It is very informative and has a very good quality in it.
I like it...
www.Squidoo.com/MPI
mliragana.blogspot.com
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Thank you very much for your time.
kayla
It's too bad that a lot of posters didn't take the time to see the kind of life you lead before making comments.
I would be willing to bet that many of the so called Christ followers who slammed your writing have not contributed half as much to the Kingdom, and should probably re-read their own replies and then apply them to themselves. I saw no ego or arrogance in your post at all. You were simply saying, I have had enough of the talking, it's time for the doing. We should not have to tell people we are Christians, they should see it. There is nothing judgmental about being weary about the sad sad condition of the Church in it's current state. Feel free to show me anything that the Author said that was incorrect. If you have taken offense to one of her "I'm done with...." examples then you should probably ask yourself why that is. If you turned around and criticized her for feeling frustrated about the way things are, and spat scripture at her, calling her arrogant, maybe you should check yourself. Since when it is the duty of Christ's followers to publicly slam a brother or sister in Christ for caring about the state of the Church? It's OK if you didn't understand what you were reading, got the wrong impression and then made a fool of yourself by getting offended and replying with gibberish, it happens to the best of us. Now get over your selfish need to badger this woman and re-read the post with an open mind. Try to think about things other than yourself and you may gain better insight into what the Author has written.
www.simplechurch.com
"SimpleChurch.com is a Social Networking site for those involved in or interested in simple expressions of church."
I respect the fact that you feel tired of the hypocrisies and those who are in church "for show". That's a good reason to be tired. However, if we are not loving those people as if they never heard of Jesus, how can we possibly follow what God has clearly told us to do...love one another as God loves us...the church.
Those who "play church" simply have no concept of what God and Jesus are all about. We must love them in. Too many people are dying in an unsaved condition. That is the horror. We each need to come to a point where we see the need to witness regardless of what these people are like or doing. They NEED THE LORD! Those who play at church or are acting like pew sitters or pew owners, regardless of how obnoxious they can be, are the very ones who need the Lord the most.
While I admire your passion, I cannot agree with all the sentiment.
I will not sit here and quote line after line from scripture though many feel that is the way to fight such posts. It is obvious that you are loved. God loves you. Kids love you. And you can love all of those who violate your list too. Thank God He showed us how.
Thank you for putting these lists up. I think we all need to be reminded from time to time how far we have come and how far we still have to go.
One is naked without the other.
The latter is powerless without the former.
"I'm done with" feels like Confession...acknowledgement that my status quo doesn't cut it. But we can only be "done with" the stuff we can do anything about.
Which leads to Repentance...a godly change of heart that turns our "being" into "doing." Its far easier to say we're done with certain things than to actively and consistent do the right things for the right reasons.
"I'm done with..." is an awesome start. Now, let us all, by God's grace and the power of his Spirit, begin to produce good fruit in keeping with repentance.
and my book about the benefits spectators miss, instead of entering into Worship...book is called Plugging Into Real Worship with biblical examples showing how people worshiped, and how He responded.
Visit http://www.aplogansr.com for more information or to order the book.
God bless!
A man told me he was an atheist because he didn't believe in Christians. If someone goes to worship and all he see are Christians then he is as short sited as the atheist.
We cant sit back and just complain about the speck in each others eyes but we must assemble ourselves so we can encourage each other and build each other up as God intended.
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