It seems like everywhere I go, I get complaints about churches and how people are so turned off by certain 'church people' and end up not going to church anymore.
'So disappointing, the way they have cliques and exclude others, juz coz they think they're better than others.'
'Dunno what happened also, next thing I know I'm pressured to do all sorts of volunteer work I'm not even interested in!! Siao, cabut la better~'
'Where got people like that wan, one minute speaking in tongues and raising their hands, another minute adi scolding the newcomer for taking the communion when they're not baptized yet.'
And the classic, everyone say it with me -
'Just coz you go to church every week doesn't mean you're a good christian anyway.'
[I always try to tear this sentence apart and hope to come to terms with it - whether I agree with it or not. But up till now it's stil inconclusive, I'm afraid.]
Sadly, they're all true stories. And when I hear about stories like these, and I hear the hurts and bitterness in the 'victim's' voice, I just feel like throwing my hands up in defeat. I want to tell them that nothing should stop us from going to our Father's House, coz He's the heart of our worship, the very reason of our existence - why allow these negative things to clog up their relationships with God?
But I also see how much pain and unhappiness their church experiences have caused them. But y'know, it's just like what our parents always told us -
we bought you out of a free catalogue there'll always be good people and bad people - if we can't find a way to deal with that, we'll always be bitter and disappointed.
It's human instinct to protect ourselves from physical or emotional harm.
It's divine instinct to hold onto the One and protect ourselves from spiritual harm.
Parables of the weeds among the wheat
Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a field that was planted by a farmer. The farmer and his workers planted good seeds all the over the field. But in the middle of the night, when they were asleep, an enemy came to the fields and planted bad seeds of weed in it.
Later, when the wheat stalks started to ripen, the workers realized there were weeds among them too. The farmer explained that an enemy must've done that, so the workers suggested that they pull out the weeds now.
The farmer refused.
"If we pull up the weeds now, some of the good wheat will be pulled up as well," the farmer explained. "Let's wait till harvest time, then we'll collect all the weeds, tie them into bundles and set them on fire."
"Then the wheat can be collected and stored up in my barn."
