Why does this matter now?

The evangelical church often teaches that those in the church are “good/our people” and those outside the church are “bad”.

They try remove your discernment. Creepy, judgmental Deacon Dude who was always hugging me too long and caressing my 11yr old back, he was “good”. Look no further.

That sweet, caring teacher you love who’s agnostic, yeah she’s going to hell. She’s bad and will lead you to darkness.

This led to so many years of allowing gaslighting and pain in my life. I believed some story about a person over how they were showing up. Over what I knew in my heart.

This pain brought me to the truth. People are not “good” because they are Christian. They’re not “good” because they present themselves as such. People are not who they say they are.

People are who I say they are. Does that mean I determine whether someone is objectively good or bad? No, but you bet your ass I decide who is good or bad FOR ME!

Why does this matter now? Because there are many evangelicals out there who are lost in this dynamic. They have no discernment so they let themselves be controlled. They have given over to hating the “bad”. Ironically, they live in and create around them the very hell-scape that they believe their faith gives them immunity from.

I can tell this dynamic is not completely healed in me because I feel betrayed. I believed their line that they modeled their lives after Christ. Where is that in all the hate and violence many of them are either living or complicit in by their silence?

The Christian church is in a fight for its life. They’re losing about 1% of their parishioners a year. When will they wake up and see the destruction their lemming mentality creates? When will they stop demonizing the Christians who actually live a Christ-like life? How can they stand their hypocrisy?

The old way always goes out with a fight. I want to love it to death. I want to strive to be more of who they said they were. To forgive, include, embrace, show mercy and compassion.

It’s hard right now to do this. The temptation to resist and hate is strong. It’s hard not to send back to these “Christians” the violent energy that they put out. But, y’all, were better than that.