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I've got to get something off my chest that's really been bothering me and if people unfollow me so be it. I was born into the evangelical Christian world and was exposed to its faith at a young age. As I grew up I initially struggled to reconcile faith with intellectualism 1/
Eventually though I was to realize that faith and science/reason/logic need not be enemies, that actually they should all come together in constructing your world view. So at 17 I adopted a faith of my own, heavily influenced by my upbringing but with my opinions and POVs /2
I even eventually went on to get a bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies and Christian Ministry. I over time realized that I'm not going to agree with all other Christians on everything, not even within my own sect or group. We don't have to agree on everything, just big stuff /3
I often remember the quote most often attributed to Augustine "IN ESSENTIALS UNITY, IN NON-ESSENTIALS LIBERTY, IN ALL THINGS CHARITY." Which basically means if we can agree on the few core tenets of faith that we should graciously agree that we can disagree on the rest /4
So all that being said I'm not often one to tell others how to live or express their faith but I'm currently experiencing a crisis of faith like I haven't experienced since my teen years but it's not the same struggle I felt back then. This is something different for me /5
My current struggle is one that I feel most former Christians turned atheist have gone through and for me it's been amplified by the events of the past year. The top thing that's been turning me off from my faith is others that call themselves Christian. It's a big problem /6
I just don't understand how people that claim to believe in the same wise, just, loving God that I do can so easily push aside wisdom, justice and kindness for the sake of American politics. They ignore a real plauge and allow it to kill others just to spite science /7
They either falsely believe the plauge is fake despite the piling of dead bodies or falsely believe that God himself will protect them from it (which is nowhere promised in scripture I assure you). Meanwhile innocent people are infected by their negligence. /8
They spurn justice by refusing to believe that the very blatant racial injustice in America does exist and continue to blame the victims themselves instead of looking at a broken and corrupt system. The claim claim to be "pro-life" but are very selective about which lives /9
Speaking of corrupt, people that claim to follow Christ continue to support and vote for a man so vile, corrupt and full of hate that I fully believe Jesus himself would call him out as a viper. Many of whom solely because this evil man claims to care about unborn babies /10
I assure you that man values no lives, only his own ego and has as much in common spiritually with Christ as I do athletically with Lebron James. I see all this and it makes me sick. Even sicker when I figure I'm a Christ follower and it turns me off. /11
If I as a Christ follower am this put off by American Christians in 2020 how much more are non-believers put off of Christ (maybe for good) because of the actions of those that claim his name but actively oppose his values? It almost drives me to despair /12
I my self have been driven to the edge wondering how the incredible, loving God that I have worshipped the past 15 years could allow people claiming his name to act so opposite to everything I know and believe him to be. I'm surely not the first or the last to question this /13
How many have abandoned their faith for this very reason? For me I had to reconcile that this is not God but the free-will actions of either mislead or evil people. Scripture speaks of false prophets, I think we see millions every day in America /14
I know this thread is long, if you're still with me I'll endeavor to try to wrap up. So what does this mean for me? Well in 2021 I'm going to recommit to seeking God in his word and his creation and attempt to divorce him from the actions of these false prophets. /15
For non-believers I'd like to apologise and say what you largely see in American culture is not representative of my God and I hope you can someday look past that and see what I and I'd pray that you'd see his true love acted out firsthand. /16
If you are a non-believer feel free to check out at this point because this last bit is going to be what they refer to in the church world as a "family talk."
So now on to Christians and Christ followers:
I know many of you won't take this seriously, or will be angry with me /17
So now on to Christians and Christ followers:
I know many of you won't take this seriously, or will be angry with me /17
If that's you're reaction I feel genuinely sorry for you and I'd pray that you'd meditate on my words and really take it to heart. If the church truly is the body of Christ we have some serious health issues to address. Let's make 2021 a year of healing and introspection /18
I'd ask you to pray, look at yourself, what causes you support publicly and then to scripture and ask am I really representing this God accurately to the world. Nobody is perfect, God knows I'm not, but we can do much better. Let's make 2021 a comeback year /19
In 2021 let's all people of the Christian faith put aside our partisan politics and look hard at our learned cultural values and instead try to take up and live the values Christ taught. Happy New Year everyone and God bless!
