A few of my Facebook friends "liked" a post that Grace had written on the True Jesus Church blog, so I decided to check it out.
First of all, I am truly impressed by the writing skills of some of our young people in church today. It's a far cry from years ago when we were holding NLMSes and no one seemed to be able to express themselves in writing. The church has come a long way in this regard, and I thank God for it. We need many more who are gifted in writing. As I said in the first-ever NLMS, a sermon lasts for an hour, but great writing can live on forever.
I normally don't like to comment on other people's blogs, simply because I don't have the time to follow-up properly. But in this case of this blog, while most of post seemed directed to another brother who has a blog (whose courage and wisdom I should say I admire tremendously), I sensed that at least some of it was perhaps referencing some of the things I'd written, So I felt compelled to write something. The TJC blog is password-protected, and even if I had an account I doubt that they'd approve a comment from me at this point, so I figured I'd write a post about it on my own blog.
And so I address this post to Grace and to everyone who reads that post (which I highly recommend).
Your stories about your mom are very touching, and you're blessed to have had such a wonderful person in your life. But let me ask a question.
Let's say one day you woke up and saw your mother being abusive to your little brother. While maybe you can't imagine your own mom doing this, it happens every day. Let's say one day you found that she threw your little brother out of the house.
You'd still love your mom unconditionally, of course. Not just because you're thankful for giving birth to you nor because you owe her love because of all the love she's shown you over the years. You'd love her simply because she's your mom. Those examples of love you shared were just the tip of the iceberg as far as the totality of her love for you and your love for her.
On the other hand, maybe you'd be a little confused at how it could have gotten to this point. And so maybe you'd try to get to the bottom of what happened. After all, you love your mom, but you love your baby brother too.
Let's say you looked into it and found that yes, your little brother did some really serious things that warranted kicking him out of the house. Wouldn't you want to know what they were so you could run to him, maybe help him correct his flaws, and restore him? You wouldn't want him to starve or live in pain out on the street. Because you love him. He's still your little brother, regardless of what he did or didn't do.
But say you looked into it and found the opposite. Maybe what your little brother did really wasn't so bad, and your mom did completely overreact. She is human, after all. Maybe her emotions just got the better of her. Or maybe it was a big misunderstanding, and what she felt that your little brother did wasn't what he did at all. Maybe all it would have taken was for her and your little brother to swallow their respective pride and have a heart-to-heart with each other for the sake of your family.
What would you do if that were the case?
I thought about that question and my conclusion was, I'd say something to my mom. Not out of spite, or anger, or hatred, but for one reason: because I loved her. And if she wouldn't listen to me, maybe I'd try to say something to my dad or my siblings or my mom's closest friends in hopes that maybe they could convince her to rethink what she did. Because it'd break my heart to see my family falling apart over what something my mom thought was a big deal but which after looking into it I didn't see as a big deal at all.
I wouldn't do any of this because I wanted to embarrass her, although yes, sometimes the truth can hurt. But the pain of a little embarrassment would pale in comparison to the pain of our family breaking apart.
But I know one thing I wouldn't do. I wouldn't stay quiet just because I was grateful for things she did for me in the past. Don't get me wrong, I would still love her forever for those things. But now that I was a little more grown-up and had grown-up wisdom, I'd realize that maybe I had a responsibility to say something to her. It wouldn't be pleasant for me to do so. I would get no joy out of it. But because of my love for her I'd want desperately to help her and to try to keep the family together and growing in perfection.
There is something worrying about Grace post:
ReplyDelete"True, church leaders have faults and weaknesses (who doesn’t?), and they may not always practice what they preach. An organization managed by non-professionals and operating on principles of love and forbearance is bound to be inefficient, and yes, often embarrassingly so. Just as I cringe at the thought of exposing my mom’s faults to the world in the name of helping her to change, I find it horrifying and even an utter betrayal to complain to the world about my spiritual mother, who took a wretched soul as me into her embrace."
She illustrates "mother" as church, as such it is irreplaceable. I don't know whether you guys could see it...If you put yourself as an outsider's shoe, disengage from the TJC mentally and ask - Since when church has become irreplaceable, especially if it changes "corrupt" (e.g Protestant raising up against Roman Catholics)? This is exactly the sub-consciousness of a TJC member mind. The mentally of equating Church = God rather than God above Church. Do you pledge your loyalty and love towards the True Church or towards True God? I guess many members have blurred the line dividing God and Church. And thus as shown in Grace's posting, a blind allegiance to the Church instead to God. As history has shown, Church changes, God never change. Therefore, we need to remain vigilant. Not to equate Church = God, give honor to God not "mother" church. Least, church becomes another idol which God detest.
Just my 2 cents thoughts!
God Bless!
Thanks for your comments. I tend to have a little less of a cynical view to what she wrote, but that's okay if we look at things differently. We can respectfully share our opinions and there's usually a little bit of truth in everyone's opinion.
DeleteFor me, I saw her analogy of the church and her mother just saying that she loves both with all her heart, which isn't a bad thing as long as you view the church as the spiritual body of Christ rather than allegiance to an organization. The tricky thing, of course, is that some are blessed to see the former while others are doomed to see more of the latter.
I have no idea who this person is, but I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she's someone who sees the former. However, if there's one bit of advice I'd give to her it's to heed what Jesus said about being as innocent as doves and as wise as serpents. She has the first thing down pat, but I think to your point she may need to work on the second thing.
I speak from experience. When I was named a board member, an NCC delegate, and an IA employee I went in with wide eyed idealism. I wasn't prepared for the ugliness I saw within. Now thank God, I think I had enough of a spiritual foundation from my parents and my RE teachers and influential ministers growing up not to let this affect my faith in Jesus Christ.
But as for the church, yes, seeing these things did have an impact. But despite that I still love her--the body of Christ and not the church administration. Which despite what a lot of people say is precisely why I'm writing all this stuff. And despite all the hurt the church (the church administration and not the body of Christ) has clearly caused you, something tells me the same is true of you :)
So thanks for sharing, and let's continue to press forward in love. God bless you too!