Wednesday, May 28, 2014

I choose to disagree not abandon.

Recently someone told me I was offended at my church.  I wouldn't normally let that bother me, but it hit a nerve.  I turned and said,  "Just because I disagree doesn't mean that I am offended."  Then I kind of did some examining of my heart.  I learned a lot about myself and why it ticked me off.

A little back story:
I go to a mega church, and while it's really popular to hate on them today, I certainly don't hate my church.  I see the great and the bad of such a behemoth.  Recently, I found myself  disagreeing with something the church is doing.  It's something small but enough for me to think I didn't want to participate. Yes, I see things that make me cringe but I am a church advocate.  I think it's extremely important.  As someone once put it, the local church is the hope of the world.  I agree.

I was talking with someone about it and they totally misunderstood what I was talking about.  They assumed that I was leaving the church.  Well, no.  Just because you disagree with something doesn't give you the right to leave.  That's how I would have known I was offended.  If I have let something so trivial affect me to leave.  Over the years I have not agreed with my church on occasion.  I think it's healthy to not follow blindly everything a church does/says/believes.  This doesn't mean I am in rebellion as someone once put it.  I can simply disagree without being in rebellion.  I still tithe, volunteer, and participate.

I believe that when you have crossed the line is when you let little offenses blow you off course and leave and go to another church, sit in the audience, and compare how much better you and your current church is.  I think when you get to the point where you would leave, you need to examine your heart.  Talk yourself off the ledge and realize it's probably best to talk to someone about this.  Barring, that is, if your church is doing something wrong.... like heresy, which probably happens but not as regular as people claim.

I have seen many people leave a church because.... well there are a lot of reasons.  When you boil it down, it's an offense.  The sad thing, when they get comfortable in their current church they'll just get offended and move to another.

In the end, I kind of like it when I disagree with my church.  At the end of the day, I either learn why I agree with my assessment or I mature.  Either way I win, and in the end the Body at large wins when we invest in our churches.  Abandoning the ship shows our immaturity.

Churches aren't perfect.  To think they are is to fool one's self.


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

"Republicans Get Out of My Vagina"

Perhaps that title is a little suggestive, but it was a sign I saw in all the recent hubbub in Austin last year.  What happened?  Well it all started with Senate Bill #5 in the Texas Legislature.  The bill banned abortions after 20 weeks of fertilization and it undoubtedly stirred up emotions, tempers, and especially voices.

Both sides of the abortion issue were very vocal about their opinions regarding their stance.  It was interesting to watch democracy in action. I am a person, that if you must label me, then you would say I am pro-life.  I hate that we are either or we're not, but that's how America has become.  We are two sided on issues, and live in the us vs. them mentality.

Why do I think abortion is wrong?  It's simple.  If you do a little research, then you'll see what done to the fetus when it is aborted.  It's pretty gruesome.  But we as humans like to sugar coat things.   We say, "It's done humanely."  This is somehow supposed to make the who operation seem like it's okay.  I use the term operation because if a women has a miscarriage, the same procedure done to an aborted fetus is used in this instance, which is referred to as an operation.  There is a lot of debate, that somehow this has become a religious fight?  I can argue abortion without bringing up religion at all.  If a women chooses to do with her body what she chooses then she ought to have to face the responsibility that she faces.  Just as a man if he get a women pregnant should have to face those consequences.  No one is telling women or men they can't have as much sex as they want to, but that if it result in a baby, they need to take responsibility for the child. Part of this issue is that people believe what they want.  

Then this image floated to the surface:
This picture makes me so sad.  I mean I am glad she has the right to say this, but I think it's just plain sad.  At the end of the day, if you can't decide to have an abortion before you're 5 months pregnant, then maybe you shouldn't have done what it took to get you into that predicament.  That's the problem I have with abortion.  It let's my generation off the hook.  Unfortunately, we can go to a "clinic" (most abortion facilities are not usually of good quality or safety) and you don't have to face the consequences. Religion isn't the only indicator that abortion is wrong.  Talk to ladies who have have them.  They will tell you that there is not a day that goes by that they don't think about what they did.  I have met women who became infertile because they chose abortion when they were too young to know that it could effect their whole lives.  That's what needs to be talked about.  This decision that's make in an instant will have consequences that will haunt.  That's what I think we need to talk about.   

Back to that sign.  I kept thinking about the wording "Republicans get out of my Vagina,"  and I just wanted to tell that lady.  Maybe if you cared about what was in your vagina more than you wouldn't need an abortion.