Today's Thought - Belonging, Part 4 - Insensitive to Others

+ Tomorrow - There are few feelings like getting ashes on your forehead or hand to remind you how connected you are to the earth. We are having service at Noon & 7pm for Ash Wednesday. Hope you will join us.

?The fourth reason Pastor Grant Skelton says that millennials (70%) no longer go to church is that church people - and the church at large - are often insensitive to others. In a program I present called "What if the Church Were Kinder?", participants are encouraged to think about the times people treated them with kindness or with a mean spirit in church. They are also asked to think of their own behavior, and whether they are part of the problem as well. The results are remarkable; they are also revealing. We all have bad days, and we all need to give and get a little more grace than we are used to receiving. First, though, we need to address the problem - why are religious people so often mean and insensitive? Why do so many of us seem to gravitate towards judgment rather than welcome?

To be clear, church is not a morality free zone. Without an understanding of right and wrong, we flounder in a sea of selfishness. We mold narcissists, not servants. The growth among churches that cater to prosperity as the goal rather than generosity to others is just one indication of how warped the Christian movement has become in the last 150 years. Too often, we hold people up (or down?) to standards that have nothing to do with God. What we wear, whether it is our clothing, our piercings, or our tattoos, seem to be of more concern than how our hearts love and serve God and neighbor. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus spoke of how we love rather than how we look 99% of the time because looks don't matter. He focused on not judging, unless you want to be held to the same level of scrutiny. He taught us that caring for an injured person matters more than the rules about getting a little blood on you in the process.?

Jesus chose mercy and grace over judgment and rules. Love wins and hate loses - unless we choose criticism over compassion. A word of hope matters; words of hatred do not. Joy should abound and feelings actually do matter. I don't care if you wear a suit, a dress, or a t-shirt and shorts in church (as long as you are covered up!) I don't care if you shaved that morning or are wearing flip-flops. What matters most is that you are seen and encouraged and lifted up, not whether you have crossed the t's and dotted the i's. You want to revel in insensitivity? Go to an Eagle's game (yes, I went there). You want to be love and accepted? Find a faith community that cares more about you than the rules. We are out there, waiting. But please - don't expect us to be perfect. We are, after all, only human.

Prayer - Merciful God, Your perfection might make some think that Your followers should be perfect too. Relieve us of that false thinking, and help us to serve You and others anyway. Amen.

Today's art is "Growing Up" by Karen Wilcox.