“I did not leave the Church, the Church left me.”
Growing up in the conservative church I heard the message of grace preached from the pulpit and reiterated in the Sunday school classroom. The teachings of Jesus and the way he lived his life was held up as a standard to aspire to. Love, self-sacrifice, honesty, truthfulness, patience, kindness, gentleness, and empathy were promoted as good traits and a way-of-life to embrace. Identifying fundamental Christian virtues in the lifestyle and actions of a leader, (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) was seen as necessary when choosing those whom we should follow.
I grew up believing, that the pursuit of spiritual fruit was the agenda of those in leadership.
Yes, my pastors and teachers were not perfect, but the assumption was that they strived to include these attributes and actions in their lives. That assumption was my baseline. It is what I looked for in my parents and those whose authority I was under. It gave me a reason to believe I was on the right path as I engaged in Christian community.
I still believe that this sort of life direction is God’s will for all God’s children.
The Bible, in the book of Matthew, exclaims that we will know them by their fruit.1 That a good tree will produce good fruit and that a bad tree will produce bad fruit. If someone exhibits the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control)2, they have demonstrated that they are followers of the Christian doctrine. If these attributes and actions were not exhibited, then that person was unworthy of a Christian leadership mantel. This I embraced as an obvious truth. Pursuing the fruits of the spirit in my own life is what brought me to my knees and what also raised me up in hope. I assumed that I was part of a community who all sought after the same thing. Jesus was my standard and my guide, and although I came up short, I trusted that those who I shared a pew with felt and believed as I did.
To identify and encourage the ripening of the “fruits of the spirit” in others is a unifying mandate from God for the Church. This agenda of grace and hope is illuminated through demonstrations of inclusion and kindness. Honesty and integrity are critically important for any real growth of the spirit. Being fearless in the pursuit of Christ, even when it is uncomfortable or risky, is necessary for any real spiritual growth.
I still believe this to be true, even though the Church I grew up in, and trusted to promote theses ideals and attributes, apparently does not value them as it once did.
What the conservative Church promotes today, through fear and mistrust, is an agenda of exclusion and judgement. The focus has shifted off the fruits of the spirit and onto a mission of weeding out unrighteousness. These churches use a patched together Pseudo-Christian morality to identify those they wish to ostracize and vilify. Preaching division from the pulpit and identifying “who the enemy is” has dominated their agendas and teachings. Love and acceptance is not embraced as a necessary part of the church’s message. Even the inclusion of those with a strong moral code who identify as Christian and also as gay, lesbian, transgender, or queer (among others) is seen by them as unacceptable for inclusion in their community. The conservative Church believes it has a duty to judge and condemn those Jesus had, in fact, asked his Church to serve. Jesus asks our focus to be inward, “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”3
Why has this shift away from love and grace occurred? I believe that the conservative church is following corrupt and ungodly leaders who exhibit almost none of the fruits of the spirit. It holds up these corrupt leaders as men of God. It declares them to have a mandate from God to weed out undesirables and to build walls and hedges around the physical and emotional comforts they have appropriated for themselves.
Jesus encourages us to be selfless, yet they are self-centered.4
Jesus demonstrates compassion for those outside the city walls, yet they lock the doors.5
Jesus declares men, women and others to be valid and of equal value, yet they devalue and oppress women and vilify those outside the polarized gender norms.6
Jesus teaches that those we follow should be someone who serves others, yet we elect leaders who are self-serving.7
Jesus asks for us to encourage temperance and to promote kindness, yet they honor bullies without patience or self-control.8
Jesus healed the sick and gave hope to the despondent, yet they turn their back on those who are inconvenient and unprotected.9
Jesus reached out to the widows and women who struggled, yet they deny a women’s self-determination and devalue her contributions.10
Jesus helped the homeless and hungry asking us to give freely, yet they give only scraps while hoarding their possessions in clenched fists. “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren…you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.”11
Jesus gave as a clear agenda for what God sees as righteousness, yet they have strayed from that path declaring themselves already righteous.
These members in the conservative Christian church are the new Pharisees. Their agenda is not dissimilar to that of ultra-conservative Islamic fundamentalists.
They misuse the name of Jesus to promote fear and distrust of those who differ in the slightest from their idols of self-righteousness. They use the threat of hell for those who do not toe the line, declaring certain actions and desires to be outside of grace in order to keep congregants following their agenda.12
The runaway train of the conservative Church has derailed real spiritual growth. It’s a spiritual train wreck. The Church has unwittingly made itself an adversary of God. Jesus declares, “Woe to you, religious-leaders, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Woe to you, church-leaders, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven, you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are supposed to enter to go in.”
With all these warnings and clear messages, how is that the conservative Church misses what is fundamentally important? How is it that they hold in high regard those who demonstrate none of the fruits of the spirit? Distrust has replaced inclusion. Hate has been repackaged as integrity and love. Those who bully, puff themselves up, and demand places of honor are celebrated.13
When Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, he was oppressed by leaders who have now passed their mantel to the conservative Church. Those Pharisees saw Jesus as the enemy because of his radical teachings of inclusion, value, love, self-sacrifice, and his questioning of religious leadership and their misdirected idea of righteousness. Those religious leaders rejected the teachings of Jesus and helped to facilitate his crucifixion.
Today’s conservative religious leaders have defined for themselves what a righteous lifestyle looks like and so have oppressed and rejected anyone who does not follow their specific “righteous” model.14 This oppression is directed at the single parent, those who are childless, the divorced person (even those escaping abuse), women (especially those who God has called to leadership), the entire LGBTQ+ community (currently focused on the exclusion and oppression of trans people) and anyone else who does not “look” like them.15 They pick and choose who they will tolerate for inclusion offering a roadmap to congregants that they themselves don’t truly follow.16 Their Bibles have been edited with underlining, while they compile their list of “right and wrong.” They chose from a smorgasbord of scriptures, only those verses they can easily stomach.17
They have shunned the real meaning of grace which is what all of Jesus’s teachings point to; “Grace is the basis for the Christian faith. Grace cannot be earned; it is something that is freely given, it is undeserved favor. Grace is the bridge built for ALL our relationships with God.”
The primary focus is no longer on spiritual fruit and encouraging real spiritual growth and awakenings. Instead, the conservative Church has become a cultural, social, and political entity that promotes a philosophy and ideology seeking to preserve their institution, customs, values and the status-quo. Jesus spoke out against this 2,000 years ago. Jesus showed us how to speak the truth, even when it brings about conflict. His followers today need to have the courage to do the same.
DON’T GIVE UP – There is Hope
Even though the conservative church has lost its way, there are still Christians, and Christian organizations that are pursuing the fruits of the spirit and echo the heart of God. Some of these are:
Richard Rohr, a Franciscan friar, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation: Father Richard Rohr bears witness to the deep wisdom of Christian mysticism and traditions of action and contemplation. VISIT WEBSITE
Evangelicals for Democracy: “America Needs Help: Evangelicals for Democracy is the first non-partisan, faith-based nonprofit 501(c)3 organization working to empower evangelicals to preserve democracy by seeking the truth and supporting the democratic tenets of our society. Our goal is to build understanding that protecting democracy protects us and our fundamental rights.” VISIT WEBSITE
CLGS: Center for LGBTQ & Gender Studies in Religion: “The Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS) was established at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California and opened its doors in the fall of 2000. The Center serves three distinct but overlapping constituencies: the world of academic religious scholarship; faith communities; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and transgender people and organizations. For each of these constituent groups, CLGS is committed to providing programming and support for research, resources, education for leadership, and community-building/advocacy.” VISIT WEBSITE
Queer Theology: “Queer Theology has developed tons of resources over the years. The resources are organized by topic so you can find exactly what you’re looking. Topics like: “Is it’s okay to be LGBTQ” and “Navigating sex and relationships” as well as “Reclaiming the Bible.” VISIT WEBSITE
These are just some of the HUNDREDS of resources available. I believe we will see many more statements of “true faith” coming to light over the next few months and years as those who wish to pursue faith-in-truth rally together to make their collective voices heard. Many of us are hurting and it is natural to react with a “flee” response. However, if we spend time working together to encourage a Christian society that places the “fruits of the spirit” above political and social gains, we will again live in hope. This hope will grow because we have been oppressed, not despite the oppression. Let’s rally together to encourage each other in hope. “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”18
11/15/2024 – Randi Klein
Notes:
1 Matthew 7: 15
2 Galatians 5:22
3 Matthew 7: 3
4 Philippians 2
5 Ephesians 4:32
6 Matthew 7
7 Mark 9:35
8 Galatians 5:23
9 Matthew 4:24
10 James 1:27
11 Matthew 15:32
12 Matthew 23:4
13 Mark 12:39
14 Luke 20:46
15 Galatians 3:26
16 Timothy 3:2-8
17 Timothy 3:6-9
18 1 Thessalonians 5:11