imprefect church

i have been thinking whole day...

nobody started marriage with divorce in mind... ditto legalism... nobody had legalism in mind when doing ministry... however... legalism has become a tool to engineer growth, to mask the pain of watching someone grow in faith,to grow thru difficult circumstances. you do not become a better christian immediately by renouncing certain hairstyles and skirt length... neither is it by memorising a list of to-dos... the way to be a true christian is thru the heart... the heart needs to understand why and what it needs to do to please the Master in this relationship... the heart needs to be transformed - inwardly - not outwardly as some teachers do in some churches.

i suspect that teachers of the faith who ,unfortunately, earns themselves the label of 'legalist' are not spiritually formalised in the right way. Somewhere along the line, they lost the vision for a balance of discipline and love. maybe, they themselves were victim of such disciplines. what wrong happens to one should not have passed along to the innocent by-stander. True love does not dismiss patience. they are impatient at how their disciples grow. they wanted to engineer growth. they cannot surrender control to God. In fact, they don't trust God enough to let people go... by injecting 'legalism' ( or reducing our living faith into a list of dos-and-donts) shows that they have issues with trusting God. They wanted to earn their way to God. They wanted a sure-win formulae to a winning faith. it creates tension and unhappiness inside - but they refuse to come face to face with it- fearing what they might find at the end of it.

people makes mistakes in life... look at the prodigal son. look at Abraham. look at David. look at Paul. We have to allow mistakes- we make mistakes , others make mistakes too. The church should have been a ground where love and grace abounds.... to allow sinners a chance to try and try and try again in the faith. Unfortunately , many people do not find it. i am not ignoring passages like 1 cor 5; at the right time a wayward son should be disciplined by the chruch. WIth special regards to incorrect doctrines or immoral bevahiours, we should seek to correct it asap. But how about the 'lesser' issues... such as music tastes, fashion tastes, or the rate of spiritual growth for some 'slower' disciples? can we show more grace? maybe close one eye?

what i have experience is unfortunately hurtful... it may have happen 10 years ago... some may write it off as though it is a trivial issue... but my pain is real. strange thing is i am not crying over it or what... but on days like this i give a lot of though about it. it pushes my limit to forgive, to understand, to make sense of what happens... it really saddens me that some churches and parachurch organisations behave as though they are not saved by grace, or by faith? they live as though they need to earn their salvation by works? it is sad and unfortunate. i have to live with it .... for the rest of my life...

obession with spirituality leads to legalism. we need to let things grow on its own... to trust that God is working thru their lives... even thru mistakes... and for forgiveness to be shown... for all. For while we were enemies , God loved us... now that we have been forgiven , why cannot we show a bit more forgiveness towards those who have hurt us. Strange thing is that forgiveness is a trait not found among christians... strange but true....