Our family used to occasionally go to a beautiful Florida island for vacation in the summer. We went in the summer because it was cheaper to fly four of us there, go for two weeks, and rent a car than it was to drive to the NJ shore for one week. At the time, few people were there, since it was so blessed hot! On this island there were three churches: a large UCC church, an Episcopal church, and a community church. Members of my present church – now former members – used to go to the same place, and they suggested we try the community church. The people there, they said, were so welcoming and friendly and kind. And they were. They also hated the LGBTQ community. How do I know this? They never used the word hate – they advertised a Conversion Therapy clinic they were running, just in case someone – usually a teenager – was not heterosexual. They also handed out a VCR tape (this was a long time ago!) that gave us information about how to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the “scourge of homosexuality.” We never went back.
If you and your faith community think non-hetero people are going to hell, you shouldn’t advertise yourself as a “friendly, welcoming, and loving church.” You also shouldn’t say you are a Bible-believing church, unless your Bible has been edited to remove all the times that Jesus told His followers to love one another – or their neighbor – or their enemy. The old bait and switch might work for businesses, but it never looks good on people who claim to love God. And yet, this is what most churches – yes, most – do every day. They proclaim their love of all of God’s people yet put a metaphorical * next to that statement. They have limits on who is welcome based on a lot of things that God has created in us. They put words in Jesus’ mouth, pretending that their bigotry is Biblical. Those lies don’t look good on any of us. And they don’t make Jesus look good either.
Anyone who expects perfection when they go to church is setting themselves up for a terrible letdown. We all have our flaws, and we all have our areas that need spiritual growth. And we will all make mistakes – all we can hope for is that people will show us the kind of grace that God offers to each one of us. In the meantime, before we start judging and condemning, we should, as Jesus said, take the logs out of our own eyes so we can help others with the specks in theirs. I would rather worship in a place where people admit their imperfections than one that thinks it has it all together. That kind of integrity and honesty is worth everything.
Prayer – Holy God, You love us even though we are flawed – help us to do the same for others. Amen. Today’s art is “Perfect Imperfection” by Debbie Upton.