Harm

I’ve been playing with this idea for the last few years that Western Christianity as we know it is harmful.

Before I lose you, stay with me just a bit longer.

We see over and over stories of people who have been hurt by churches, who have been pushed out by pastors, who have been abused by leaders—my family and I fall into all three of those categories!—and every single Christian I know has a list of people (however short or long it may be) that no longer call themselves Christian anymore.

These people may still be Christ followers, but they are not connect to any churches or other Christ followers because of their faith.

More often, the people that have walked away from churches are actually leaving the Faith completely.

For years, we’ve seen this pattern, starting in the 1980’s and continuing until today, less and less Americans and Western Europeans are self-identifying as Christian.

The popular belief, at least when I was growing up, was that it was a lack of “good, biblical teaching,” but the older I get, and the more churches and pastors I meet, the more I’m convinced that most pastors out there are doing their best to give good, biblical teaching to the people that listen to them.

I also heard that these people who were hurt in some way or other were hurt by individuals who were broken and sinful, which is absolutely true.

But I say that that is a symptom of a larger disease.

Look at this way: If someone develops a fever due to an infection, but we only treat the fever, without treating the infection, that person is still infected, and their fever will return.

Western Christianity is unfortunately a lot alike. We see these patterns of people who leave our churches, who leave our faith, who don’t want anything to do with this Jesus of Nazareth, and we continue blaming the fever.

For too long we have looked at the people who leave, never to return, as the ones who are in the wrong, but as with everything, we need to take our cue from Jesus who instructed His followers to first examine themselves.

What are we doing that causes harm?

What are we doing that makes people run?

Why is it that—as my wife said on Instagram recently—people have found hate in what’s supposed to be the House of Love?

Why is it that people have died trying get away from the places we worship, from the people who teach us how to worship, instead of dying to get into these places?

We need a shift in our theological thinking. Western Christianity is harming people over and over, and even pastors I know are trying to distance themselves from “those” Christians—Christians who are seen as judgmental and hateful. Christians who are more concerned with being correct than they are being loving.

Jesus didn’t call us to be right. He didn’t call us to make sure people leave whatever sins we think they’re committing behind.

Jesus called us to love those around us, and it’s time we started doing that.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook, and sign up for the newsletter to be the first to read the blog and get updates on my TWO podcasts! And if you like what I have to say, partner with me and buy me a coffee at this link!