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This was really good, from Aimee Byrd, “Before You Throw Everyone On the Deconstruction Train”

This part was good, too! “Can we just stop and take a look at the condition of Christ’s church?“ Right? It’s often a complete train wreck full of dysfunctional people who don’t even know how crazy they are.

I completely agree. It wasn’t until I began blogging that I discovered how absolutely brutal the church at large can be and how awful Christians can act towards one another. I had two prior blogs back in the day that I blew up and deleted because the constant hostility, condemnation, and attacks from Christians was just rotting my soul.

I know, nobody’s perfect, we all get hot headed, tantrums happen, everybody has their issues, communication is hard, etc. etc. Eventually you run out of excuses for other people’s poor behavior and you just have to confront the fact that people who claim the name of Christ can be at best relationally dysfunctional asshats and at worst, downright evil.

I belong to the “relationally dysfunctional asshat” category, but I work very hard at hospitality, at letting people know they are welcome, they belong, they matter to the Lord. That’s because I’ve been on the outside facing massive amounts of rejection for a good part of my life.

Blogging has actually given me a lot more patience, a lot more compassion towards those who reject the church, even reject the faith. The other day a woman I don’t even know saw my Jesus bumper sticker and launched into a tirade about how she hates, “bigoted, fundamentalist Christians,” and I very much wanted to just agree with her! Generally I prefer people introduce themselves before they begin hating on me, but I let her say her piece. She needed to vent. I have no idea what this woman’s experiences were, but I’ve seen enough boorish behavior online to know those feelings of hers may well be justified.

It is so important to remember we follow Christ Himself, and not people, not churches, not denominations, and not tribes and identities. Jesus Christ will never let you down! The people representing Him probably will at some point.

Women can be some of the worst, condemning, unkind, judgmental, self righteous, rejecting, but the church at large can be pretty unkind towards women in general, too.

Maybe the Lord works in mysterious ways, I don’t know, but when you start piling those many straws up on the camels back you eventually wind up with someone like me. I don’t even want in the country club anymore. I don’t want what many Christians have. Actually I want something better, Someone better, and I believe I have Him.