What's Wrong With Us?

So I was reading an article the other day in a popular mainstream Christian magazine.  Christianity Today, actually it's called.  It's a pretty good magazine I find that it's articles are generally open-minded within the limits of Christianity.  Not fanatical or anything, just plain informative.  What bothered me about the article were the attitudes that were being evidenced by my "Christian" brothers and sisters in regards to this subject, including learned clergy members.  Who one would expect to know better. 


The article was about sex offenders and whether they should be allowed in church services.  Not if they should be allowed to be Sunday School Teachers or Youth Leaders, no the question presented here is should they be allowed to attend services, period.  Seriously?  Why, is that even a question?  The first thought that went through my mind was the old cliche "What Would Jesus Do", with this question, with them?  Oh, that's right.  He would embrace and accept them. 


So that being said I have a couple of issues with the attitude of my spiritual siblings, towards so some of my other spiritual siblings.  Regardless, of what crimes they committed in the past, when they accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts and submitted their lives over to Him they became part of the body, part of the family. 

1.  When did God become too weak to take care of our natural children and families?  Many times questions about the welfare of our children and families are not left to God.  Christians become like the rest of the world and immediately think that they are the only one's who can protect them, then when something goes wrong, they want to blame God for not protecting them.  How hypocritical is this?  Like the Pharisees, they practice a form of Christianity or religion that is for the masses to see, but in reality it is only surface stuff.  There is nothing real about their faith, where is the action that the book of James calls for.  According to this scripture faith without works is dead.  "So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions to of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead)." James 2:17  

If you fall into this way of thinking it's like saying you believe that God can move mountains, but He can't move the heart of a man never to harm another person.  If that's true than you are also saying the story of Saul converted to Paul is a lie.  

Let's put that story into modern psychological terms.  People haven't really changed we just understand more about the mind and motivations of the human condition now.  

Saul was a sociopath, plain and simple.  He never killed anyone, yet he incited the masses to stone Stephen to death.  He was on fire to catch, persecute, and have executed any of the "Christians" or Christ followers because they were teaching something that did not support the teachings of the traditional Rabbinical ways. Please make sure you note I italicized traditional on purpose.  


What is a sociopath?  According to definitions for psychology.  A sociopath is a person who fits in with their "social group" but not anyone outside of that.  They are often violent, especially to anyone who is a threat to their way of thinking.  Sounds a lot like Paul doesn't it?  He was having people killed for their way of thinking, regardless of what age they were.  Yet, he is one of the greatest teachers of Christ an wrote 2/3's of the New Testament.  Including Romans 12:17-18, Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone.  If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  This is the same man who incited the Jews to riot and kill Christians.


If God changed him, why can't he change a sex offender?  Has God changed?  My Bible says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.


2. The fact that they are saying that there are levels of sin.  That sex offense is worse than being a con artist, adultery, or embezzlement.  Or what about, hatred, anger that has not been controlled, jealousy, envy, lust, the list goes on.  All of which God has stated are offensive to Him.  We don't keep people from coming to church because they have committed these "crimes".


I did appreciate the facts that were stated in the article about the recidivism rate of sex offenders, and how low it truly is.  Unfortunately, if one watches too many episodes of Law and Order, SVU or some other programs and take what is said there as gospel they are in for trouble.  People need to remember, these are scripts and they are written to get reactions and to keep you from turning the channel.  A lot of what is said is said for just that reason, to get an emotional response from you.  However, you shouldn't make life decisions, especially when they effect someone else, based on these shows.


The other thing the article spoke truth about, which was very good to see was most sex offense crimes are committed on family members or people that are very familiar to the perpetrator, not strangers.  Again, the media is a very dangerous place to get your life decision information from.  Most of it is not correct, kinda like all blacks are dark-skinned, nappy haired, and speak as if we have just come from the ghetto projects.  I can't tell you how many times people have told me I "don't sound black" as if there was a black vernacular.  What they mean is I don't sound like what they have seen television and movies depict what black people sound like.


I will give credit where credit is do, the shows do state one truth, there is a National registry to protect "us" from sex offenders, as if this is the only crime out there that negatively impacts people.  If a person were convicted of manslaughter, served their time and then they were released from prison, there is nothing that forewarns of this person's history unless they choose to tell us.  Even if they have committed a murder and cut a deal to be released early, again nothing to "warn" us and most would be fairly open to allowing these folks into church.


The article speaks to Christians being some of the easiest to dupe.  We probably are.  Why?  Because we don't take matters to the Lord in prayer, we don't follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.  We are either swinging from one side of the pendulum or the other.  Rush in and accept them or turn our backs and deny them.  How about asking God, "How would you like us to proceed?  Is this person truly Your child or is he merely pretending?"  God will answer, "ask and it will be given to you" Matthew 7:7  That means we will get an answer.  


The other thing it said which I heartily agree with, but I don't see us handling as Christ did is that sex offenders are the lepers of today.  There are even "colonies" were they must live in some states.  However, I don't remember Jesus telling them that they couldn't be a part of the church once they had been cleaned.  They were to go to the head of the church, and checked out.  It wasn't up to the congregation.  The church leaders were not swayed by the congregation in these matters either.  This was their "God-given" duty, and they took it very seriously.


What has changed?  What Jesus said would change.  We now have church elders that are more afraid of losing church numbers than God's approval.  They preach what the congregation wants to hear, do what the congregation wants to do, and subsequently no one is really getting saved, and there is no "faith in action."


It saddens me to think that the Body of Christ is so riddled with cancer.  However, I believe it is.  Why do I say that?  Well, what is cancer exactly?  According to Wikipedia here is a simplified definition: 
"is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth(division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood)."


So think about that in terms of the Body.  Cells being each Christian.  Cancerous cells would be those who exhibit uncontrolled negative growth which causes them to become invasive to the adjacent tissues, (other Christians - brothers and sisters in Christ), and occasionally even effecting others who are not immediately in our vicinity.  (This occurs from media segments, false teachings, etc...)
No wonder Jesus spoke about removing the offending body part.  What do you do with a body part that is full of cancer?  You cut it off, rather than have it infect the whole body.


What is all this getting to?  We need to rethink the way that we are practicing our Christianity.  In fact, we need to stop "practicing" and start living it.  Living it means doing the thing that makes us uncomfortable, the thing that will enhance the other person life, and may make our's a little less easy.  Yes, that means inviting a recovering sex offender into our church community that is seeking redemption.  We often quote John 3:16 as the basis for our salvation, but let's look down a little bit further at the first part of John 3:18.  These are Jesus' own words, "Whoever (I don't see any exclusion for sex offenders or lepers) believes in Him is not condemned..."  


Another scripture to think about with every sincere part of our Christian hearts and if we are guilty cringe and repent.  Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."  (Are you not judging this person unworthy of being among you when you say they can't attend because of their past?).  7:2, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (italics mine)  Can you really stand to be judged and measured by your own rule of condemnation?   I won't expand on the rest of the scripture that goes into getting the plank out of your own eye before tackling the speck of sawdust out of your brothers.


The bottom line here is we need to have the heart for our fellow human beings with the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit, which is going to require some serious knee time, that Jesus had.  He spent a lot of time seeking God's face before He started His day.  This is how He was able to keep from becoming a respecter of persons.  He was just as much human as we were when He was here, otherwise His trip here wouldn't have meant anything.  He wasn't "God" while He was here on this earth, He gave it up to rescue us, to sacrifice Himself on that cross for us.  How are we showing our respect for that?  Call me cynical but, I don't think excluding seekers of redemption in Him from attending church is it.