"People shouldn't be good because they want God to grant them Grace. They should be Godly in their actions because they've already received Grace."
Those are words that were spoken by my pastor this morning during a message about Grace. They spoke to me in a way that a sermon hasn't spoken to me in a long time. In theory it's a pretty simple statement. My emotions, upon hearing that statement, were anything but simple.
I've struggled with organized religion lately, for numerous reasons. One of my biggest issues with it is the hypocrites that preach and judge in the name of God.** I'm a true liberal and don't feel like it's my place to judge others behavior or lifestyle. Granted, no one is perfect and I have judged, but I try not to and I try to value the person even though I may not value the behavior. I also am a firm believer in "God is a loving God". I am a sinner, just like everyone else, but my belief system allows me to still feel loved by God. Since leaving high school and the minister who helped me to know God, I haven't found a church where I felt like my beliefs were in line with everyone else’s. I haven't found a minister/pastor/priest who could deliver messages that drew me in, spoke to me, made me question my beliefs and behaviors and also made me feel good about myself. I almost didn't try this church because I held some stereotypes about the religion. I judged. Thanks to messages like the one shared today, this church and its Pastor has reminded me to live my beliefs and let my actions speak for me. It's also reminded me how valuable keeping an open mind is.
No one would ever mistake me for a happy clapper (read religious zealot) however I'm hopeful that people find at least some of my actions to be Godly. I'm a work in progress and I'm thankful to once again know that I've received Grace.
**There are a few women I know who might read this and feel like I'm referring to them. I'm not.
7 comments:
this is a great post chandra...thanks for sharing it...
i will say... that for me..it is not about judging people... i can truely say that i love all people but may not love their actions or choices... why they make those choices is up to them...
i think there is so much confusion in the world today about how christians in general judge ...
i am so with you on the first statement you made... if it were not for grace and His mercy i don't know where i would be...
i look at it this way... it is His grace that holds back all the judgement, justice, and punishment i deserve for bad choices i have made but it is His mercy that is new every morning that continues to hold it back... if that visual makes sense...
sorry did not intend for this to be such a long post...
just wanted to say that i really appreciate this post and the statement
"People shouldn't be good because they want God to grant them Grace. They should be Godly in their actions because they've already received Grace."
I totally agree! I've been struggling with the thoughts of finding a church, but feel like my beliefs my not be supported in many churches. Glad you found one you like. Would you mind emailing me the name of the church you went to?
Chandra, I'm really glad you gave the church a try!! I love feeling challenged in a sermon.
lol Happy Clapper, somehow I've never heard that!! :)
Ok I think I worded that wrong, not feeling challenged but having my beliefs challenged! Some things we just believe because we've been taught them!
That's awesome you've found a place you are comfortable and enjoy! :)
I had a lot of thoughts about the hypocrisy and the judging that Christians can sometimes do. I was very bitter prior to finding my church, and have been blessed to come across Christians who have shattered the stereotypes that I had. Sure, there will be some everywhere you go, but just know that, as Christians, we are all a work in progress and at different stages in our spiritual growth.
Thanks for all the comments. I wasn't sure if I should leave this post up because I didn't know if people would be offended.
That said, I wanted the post to focus on Grace and instead it seemed to focus on hypocrisy, or at least that's what many of you got from it. In regards to that, many of the people that I know that are very religious, very involved in their churches, etc are wonderful and stand behind what they believe in word and action. I guess the hypocrisy statement was meant to be more of a general thought about "organized" religions. Not so much about the Christians that are in my life.
Infertility caused me to question God and myself and caused me to feel unworthy. The sermon about Grace helped me to feel a little better about my religious walk as of late. That is what I meant for this post to be about...lol.
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