A Puzzling Observation
There is a scene in the Simpson movie I just love (because it contains a lot of truth): it is the scene where the crisis in the town of Springfield has reached epic proportions ans all the people in the church run to the bar and all the people in the bar run to the church.
People often seek God or the church in a crisis. It is most likely the one thing that brings people to church or back to church. But also a crisis may be the thing that takes people away from church. I am really puzzled by the later. The time people should be seeking God the most is the time they turn away. Any crisis can cause it, a death, an accident, loss of a job or just a disagreement with another member have all caused people to leave church from my observation.
One reason for such action is the person going through the crisis may fear judgment. I have heard it said by "well meaning" church folk that the crisis would not have occurred if they would have been closer to God. I have to admit when going through my recent health issue I asked myself the question why did this happen to me? I have been eating right, exercising and taking care of myself what did I do wrong to deserve this? The answer I came up with was nothing. If I had not been taking care of myself the cancer would not have been found so quickly. It happened to be because it happened and I don't know why but since it did I needed to deal with it. We need to remember that the rain fall on the just and the unjust and as a result we need to not make spiritual judgment which may not be the case and be supportive to people in their situation.
A second reason is embarrassment. For some time the church has tried to shed its image that Christians are perfect people but somehow we as the church are not always the most patient with people who are going through difficult times, especially our own people. We may not want to tell anyone what has happened because we do not want people to see our life as imperfect. Let me share with you a little truth. My life is not perfect and neither is yours. We live in a culture in which we feel we need to put forth the image we are perfect. If we can not hold up that image of perfection we draw back from life until we can bring that image back. We just don't want people to see us when we are down. In the church we need to be the place people can come when there is a crisis for support, for help and for nurture. It is difficult to go through a crisis but it is more difficult to go through it alone. We are reminded we are to bear one another burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Another reason that goes along with the embarrassment is people because of the crisis are not able to give like they were accustom to giving before the crisis. Being a part of a church means to be a part in good times and bad. We have been taught it is better to give than to receive so if we are not able to give we feel guilty. But there are times when I need to remind myself that when the need arises I also need to be a person who is not afraid to ask for help when I need it. For a long time I had the idea that asking for help was a sign of weakness. Strong people can handle things by themselves without help from anyone. I have since learned that is not true. Strong people are aware of situations when they need help and are not afraid to seek it. That has been one of the greatest lessons I have learned in life.
The church if it is to be the Body of Christ is a place where we help and support each other, we rejoice when others rejoice and hurt when they hurt. We help when they need help and we receive help when we need help. We are here for each other.
People often seek God or the church in a crisis. It is most likely the one thing that brings people to church or back to church. But also a crisis may be the thing that takes people away from church. I am really puzzled by the later. The time people should be seeking God the most is the time they turn away. Any crisis can cause it, a death, an accident, loss of a job or just a disagreement with another member have all caused people to leave church from my observation.
One reason for such action is the person going through the crisis may fear judgment. I have heard it said by "well meaning" church folk that the crisis would not have occurred if they would have been closer to God. I have to admit when going through my recent health issue I asked myself the question why did this happen to me? I have been eating right, exercising and taking care of myself what did I do wrong to deserve this? The answer I came up with was nothing. If I had not been taking care of myself the cancer would not have been found so quickly. It happened to be because it happened and I don't know why but since it did I needed to deal with it. We need to remember that the rain fall on the just and the unjust and as a result we need to not make spiritual judgment which may not be the case and be supportive to people in their situation.
A second reason is embarrassment. For some time the church has tried to shed its image that Christians are perfect people but somehow we as the church are not always the most patient with people who are going through difficult times, especially our own people. We may not want to tell anyone what has happened because we do not want people to see our life as imperfect. Let me share with you a little truth. My life is not perfect and neither is yours. We live in a culture in which we feel we need to put forth the image we are perfect. If we can not hold up that image of perfection we draw back from life until we can bring that image back. We just don't want people to see us when we are down. In the church we need to be the place people can come when there is a crisis for support, for help and for nurture. It is difficult to go through a crisis but it is more difficult to go through it alone. We are reminded we are to bear one another burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Another reason that goes along with the embarrassment is people because of the crisis are not able to give like they were accustom to giving before the crisis. Being a part of a church means to be a part in good times and bad. We have been taught it is better to give than to receive so if we are not able to give we feel guilty. But there are times when I need to remind myself that when the need arises I also need to be a person who is not afraid to ask for help when I need it. For a long time I had the idea that asking for help was a sign of weakness. Strong people can handle things by themselves without help from anyone. I have since learned that is not true. Strong people are aware of situations when they need help and are not afraid to seek it. That has been one of the greatest lessons I have learned in life.
The church if it is to be the Body of Christ is a place where we help and support each other, we rejoice when others rejoice and hurt when they hurt. We help when they need help and we receive help when we need help. We are here for each other.
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