Kelsey...Bitching...#4
We all know people who attend church. Some of us even participate in worship
services regularly. I'm finally out of the drinking/piercing stage which I
endorsed for several years; a time I was disgusted with some of the "church"
people in Chatham. Sadly, I used to be one. I'd go to church on Sunday
mornings, evenings, and even Wednesday nights, but never realized how
carrying the title "Christian" affected everyone in my life. You can't
imagine how many times I heard "people at Chatham Christian Church are such
hypocrites" and couldn't understand why. There were several discussions about
this among the group, but no one ever spoke of what it was. I am amazed at
how rapidly I changed in the course of a few months. Church became pointless
and I often questioned the validity of the Bible. I remember waking up in the
hospital for a couple seconds to see my pastor and youth minister standing
above me. Only minutes later they scorned me, while not to my face but to my
parents, for not attending church, saying that if I'd been going, this would
never have happened. Not knowing they'd said this, I went back to church in
anticipation of joining in worship again and making my life right for God. I
had a couple slip ups now and then but genuinely wanted to be the Christian I
was before. The pastor had agreed to me leading the congregation in song for
a Sunday morning worship service. Days before I would have gone up to the
pulpit my youth minister called and accused me of hosting a kegger and said I
would not be allowed to lead worship. He had previously called a good friend
of mine and asked her about this wild party that never happened. But,
according to her, it did happen. Funny how she couldn't have known because
she wasn't there -- "Getting drunk is wrong and I want nothing to do with
it." Also funny is how one year later this same person boasted on how she was
going to join the Century Club at her boyfriend's frat house. (The Century
Club on this particular campus required drinking a shot of beer every minute
for 100 minutes.) You know what else is funny? Leaders of Chatham Christian
Church haven't disciplined her. In fact, she's allowed to teach Sunday school
to elementary students the same weekends she drives home drunk. Maybe because
her father is an elder? Maybe it's because this church only applies certain
rules to certain people.
I didn't write this to get anyone in trouble. Honestly, I'd like to see her
change her lifestyle, but it's not my place to judge. My place is however, to
live my life according to the way God sees fit for me. My purpose here is not
to diminish your faith. I attend services 3 times a week with someone I love
dearly, and you can't imagine how thankful I am to have the opportunity, not
the obligation, to go to a church like this. I would suggest that if you
leave church feeling like you're the only one sinning, you should seriously
consider the honesty of those praying for you.
Dialogues ...
Scott ...
Leslie Lung, Exhaling ...
Todd ...
The Writings of Mary ...
Kelsey, Bitching
Valerie the Conqueror's Domain ...
Fig's Hizzouse ...
The Z Stands for ...Jerome ...
Jasmine ...
Twilight Abyss ...
Residue