Perverted Gospel

Such a strong title for a blog I know. But it caught your attention, didn't it. Anyway, I'll get to my title in a moment. 

Last night Justin and I were having a lengthy discussion about discipline and direction in the church as a whole. In ministries, we've been a part of and places we've encountered over our lifetime. His response broke my heart. He told me that he didn't think he would be cut out to be a Pastor or Assistant Pastor because he couldn't be as easy on people in ministry. 

If you have spent any time at all with my husband and I you know that we aren't going to sugar coat things. We're going to be hard on you but sympathetic at the same time. His statement has been replaying all day in my head. And I can't help thinking that we, a Christian community, have perverted the God we serve.

Look at the story about the woman at the well. Jesus wasn't easy on her. He called her sin out for what it was and didn't bat an eyelash. Why do we have this mentality that we have to be 'easy' on people? Now don't twist my words and say I'm a jerk because I don't love all people. Let me ask you this, if your child was jumping off the top of the slide would you ask them to stop or let them keep doing it? I have a boy and every time he gets on the slide he terrifies me with these no look maneuvers causing a mild panic attack. Of course, when I tell him no he throws himself onto the ground and cries.  

I'm his mother, I don't like seeing him cry but I CARE about his safety. Shouldn't we be the same way with those that we love? Honest enough to their face about their behavior or the way they conduct themselves? I can't tell one child that I watch that it's okay for them to jump off the toy box but discipline another child in that room for doing it. That's hypocritical. That's like telling one of your friends it's okay to move in with their boyfriend and 'play house' but confront someone at your church about it. You can't be lukewarm! The bible talks about that. 

We've perverted Christianity and faith so much that we don't even really know what we stand for anymore. We're not willing to search and test what we're told to make a biblical statement. We just fall back on "God is love" every time. I get that God is love. And I know that I love my son. But I don't want him jumping off the slide in our living room and landing us in the ER. I'm hard on him because I love him. 

It's sad because our leadership, coverings, and Pastors are so fearful of hurting someone's feelings that they bend over backward to the world's standards just to keep the peace. Jesus didn't do that. I'm almost positive he never did. It's unsettling to think that we are just so soft and fluffy that we aren't will to speak truth anymore. We've perverted the gospel. We've perverted the relationship that we have with Christ. We've perverted Christianity.