Jill’s Life Updates and Random Thoughts

Hey friends. Here’s the long, introspective post that I promised you.

I haven’t been to church in a long time. Months and months. And for a few months before that, I was “church-hunting” (obviously without great results). When Christians find out that I’m a Christian who doesn’t go to or want to go to church, they look at me like I’m the spawn of Satan. It also generally seems to confuse people who aren’t Christians. So I figured I should try to justify my actions (or lack thereof) in some way. Laziness is only about 27% of the reason why I don’t go to church. To explain the other 73%, I have for you today a document originally entitled “My Rambling Thoughts on Christianity”, which I have streamlined and edited for your reading pleasure. It’s still kind of rambly, and there are a lot of run-on sentences. Deal with it. If I sound overly judgmental, keep in mind that when I wrote this, I didn’t intend to publish it, so I am admonishing myself above anyone. And as many issues as I may have with Christians, I still love you all dearly (I really do).

My first problem with churches is that, however much they may say otherwise, they tend to be little exclusive “Christian clubs” that alienate anyone who doesn’t adhere to the same doctrine as they do. Really. We say we’re trying to reach non-Chrstians, but I don’t think they’re going to be turned on to Christianity by us singing bad music and preaching boring sermons and speaking in tongues (I have to admit, that still creeps me out). I think somewhere along the line we developed this skewed notion that certain people need to do things that minister to Christians (ie. singing in a praise band) while others should exclusively evangelize to non-Christians. Why do we need to separate our lives with Christians from our lives with non-Christians? Are we trying to show those who aren’t Christians some fake version of our Christianity? We should be living the best and most honestly we can together and then sharing our honest selves with non-Christians. We should be interacting with all people, whether they are Christians or not, in the same way. With plain language (none of this “christianese” baloney). With open, honest love. With compassion and sympathy. Jesus said love your neighbor. He said make disciples. He didn’t say condemn non-Christians and sing praise and worship songs to Christians. We aren’t holier or more worthy or more “sanctified” than non-Christians. Let’s stop pretending we are.

Yet another huge problem in the church is that we expect everyone’s Christian walk to look the same. As if there are certain milestones you need to reach or certain phrases you need to say or certain music you need to listen to in order to show that you are a Christian. And we show no regard for different backgrounds or different interests or different cultures or different personalities. But the world is full of very diverse people; these are God’s people, so it’s only natural and desirable that they should be walking with God and living for God in very different ways. One way is not right. Praying a prayer to “accept Jesus” is not the only way to be saved. We don’t need to go around telling people how to “do Christianity” or what their Christianity should look like. We should be loving people and letting them see how Jesus looks in our lives (imperfect as they may be), and then allowing them to work out their own salvation (I’m pretty sure it says that in the Bible somewhere). If you tell someone exactly what they should and shouldn’t be doing, how is that “salvation” going to mean anything to them? It’s not. It’s just going to be another pointless set of rules. When you give someone the facts about who Jesus is and let them see the ways that He has changed your life and allow them to try things out and make mistakes and love them regardless, then that person can begin to understand their need for a savior and what does and doesn’t work for them and how they can best connect to God.

I’m not suggesting that Christianity or relationship with God should be a solitary, individualistic thing. On the contrary, I think it’s very important to connect and have strong friendships with others who are seeking Jesus. But this doesn’t mean that all of our “Christian walks” look the same. Because I am not you. I am passionate about different things than you are and I have a different personality and temperament and brain than you. God is creative and multifaceted, and he has created us to be like him. Shouldn’t the diversity of our Christianity reflect that? Don’t you think God gets a little bored if we all talk to him with exactly the same words and phrases and if we all sing the same songs to him?

As we try to conform our Christianity to the Christianity of others, it seems like we try to separate our worship experience in church from the rest of our lives. As if church is more formal, or holier, or just different than normal life. I think it’s great to be reverent of God. Awesome. We should be. God is bigger than us, higher than us. We should stand in awe of him. But why can’t I do that and have it look like my life? Why can’t it take the form of the things I love? If I want to stand in awe of God while I’m listening to some beautiful indie rock, why is that wrong? If I want to worship God while I hike up a mountain, why is that wrong? If I want to worship God through reading or writing or painting or speaking or dancing or laughing or sleeping (yup) or cooking or blogging or working or climbing a tree or doing any of the things that make me feel alive, why is that any less acceptable than sitting in a church building for two hours on Sunday morning? It’s not. That’s why.

My dilemma: Where do I find cool, Jesus-loving people to hang out with if not at church?

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Hate mail? Bring it on; I’m all ears…

Your non-church-going, blogging friend,
Jill

…but only for a few days. Since the internet is a constant source of frustration for me, I just need to take some time to get over myself and hang out with God. And maybe I’ll read, and practice the violin, and get more than five hours of sleep per night. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even write a nice, long, introspective blog post when I get back (because I just love it when people do that). I will probably return on Friday or Saturday, so I can cast some pods. Don’t miss me too much.

mucho love,
Jill

PS - Due to a recent influx of nasty spam comments, comment moderation is on. So unless you are one of the few (amazing) people who have left me a comment in the past, your comment won’t show up until I get back to approve it. But please do leave a comment. Or write me an email (jill@earstohearpodcast.com). They make me feel loved. It doesn’t have to be anything brilliant. Just “Hi, you’re my favorite person in the whole world” is fine. Because I am, right? Right?

PPS - Since there will be no bloggage for a few days, now would be a good time to catch up on any podcast episodes that you might have missed.