An Apology to the World

[BellaRose]

Dear Members of the World,

I'm just a guy, nobody really. Son of a preacher and missionary. Years and years of Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps, youth ski trips, puppet shows, revivals, choir trips - you name it. Even went to a Christian college and got a degree in religion. I ended up in the business world, but I spent two decades tithing, sitting on committees, teaching Sunday School, going to seminars and conferences, etc. I even met my wife in the single's class at church. I'm not a bad guy, I've been mostly behaving myself and everybody seems to like me. I do some good stuff here and there.

But lately I've been trying to understand Jesus more and stuff I never noticed before has really started to bug me. I've been taking a look around and I'm having a hard time making sense of what it is we've built here. So, it just seemed like, whether anybody else says it or not, I need to take responsibility for the part I played and say what I have to say.

Here we go ...

I know you think that Christians are a big bunch of hypocrites. We say we're more "religious" and we're going to heaven and you're not, and then we drive our big shiny cars with little fishies on the trunk and cut you off in traffic as we race by the homeless guy on the corner. We average just 2% of our money to church and charity, despite that we say the Bible is the word of God and it says we're supposed to give everything. On average, we buy just as many big screen TVs and bass boats and fur coats and makeup and baseball cards and online porn as anybody else. Maybe more. You've seen leader after leader end up in jail or court or a sex scandal of one sort or another.

Well ... you're right. We're guilty of all of it. We've done it all. And, I'm really sorry.

You see our cheesy TV shows and slick guys begging for money and you get that there's something seriously sneaky and wrong here. A high-pressure call for money so they can stay on the air? Were we supposed to use Jesus as just another form of entertainment? Who do we think we're kidding? Where's Jesus in all this? Aren't we supposed to rely on him? Isn't He going to meet our needs if we're inside His will?

What happened to sacrifice and suffering and helping the poor? I'm just sick about this. I mean, the church leaders, they're not all bad guys, there are lots and lots of really hard-working well-meaning folks who love and care and are meeting real needs in the community. Some of them understand and love Jesus - but I'm just real sure those pastors don't drive Bentley's, have multi-million dollar homes and their own lear jets! I mean, what "god" are we worshipping? Money? Ego? Power?

You see our massive shiny new buildings all over the place. Heck, maybe we even kicked you out of your house so we could expand our parking lots. You can't figure out why we need four different Christian churches on four corners of the same intersection. We've got playgrounds and bowling alleys and basketball leagues. We've got Starbucks coffee in the sanctuary. We've got orchestras and giant chandeliers and fountains out front. We've got bookstores full of "jesus junk" with every imaginable style and flavor of religious knick-knack. But where's Jesus? Is this what HE wanted?

Oh, sure, there are good folks all over and not every church is such a mess, but Christians are the ones that say we're supposed to be "One Body." So even the good ones are guilty of not putting a stop to it sooner. We were supposed to keep each other in line and not tolerate factions and dissensions and greed and idolatry and all this other bad stuff. Man, we really blew it! We've got 33,000 denominations and most of them won't talk to the other ones. We lose over $5 million a day to fraud from "trusted" people inside the church! We spend 95% of all our money on our own comforts and programs and happy family fun time shows and we let 250 MILLION Christians in other countries live on the very edge of starvation. Not to mention the billion or so that have never even once heard of Jesus - or the homeless guy downtown we almost ran over when we cut you off.

We're as guilty as we can be. All of us. Nobody is exempt. We should have put a stop to it a lot sooner. But I can't apologize on behalf of anyone else. This is about me.

I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going as soon as you could. I know that you might even have been abused by somebody in the church! Maybe we got you all fired up and then just let you drift off like we didn't really care. Maybe you just don't fit our "profile." You might have piercings and purple hair or tattoos or been in jail -- and somewhere inside you just know that even if you wanted to go to church one Sunday, it would not go well. I'm sorry for that. Jesus loves you. He always hung out with the most unexpected people. He had the biggest heart for the folks everybody else tried to ignore. What have we done? We've told you to put on a sweater and some loafers or you can't go to heaven. I just want to throw up.

Look, I know you're mad. And you have a right to be. We've done you wrong for a LONG time now. There's some things about Jesus that people need to hear, but we've buried a beautiful masterpiece under hundreds of layers of soft pink latex paint. If you have a Bible handy, look up Matthew 23. (If you don't, you can look it up here - www.BibleGateway.com .) Find it? Read it carefully, the Pharisees were the "religious" people of the day, the leaders of the faith. In this chapter Jesus SEVEN times says how pitiful and wretched and cursed they are for what they're doing to the people they're supposed to be leading. He even calls them "white washed tombs of dead mens bones" and a "brood of vipers"! I don't have time here, but read it and see if we're not doing EVERY single one of those things. Jesus can't possibly be happy about what we've done to you.

Sure, we like to kid ourselves and pretend everything is OK - but it's not. We're hated. Now, please understand, Jesus was hated, too. But that was because he said hard things and sometimes people don't like hearing the Truth. And he promised we would be hated if we were like him. But that's not why we're hated at the moment. We're hated right now because we're a giant pack of lying hypocrites that say one thing and do something else altogether. If we were hated because we were like Jesus, that would be one thing, but that's not it at all. You see right through our happy music and fluffy services and you can tell there's something desperately wrong here. We're no different than anybody else - except that we say we're better than you.

It was never supposed to be like this. Jesus asked us to care for the widows and orphans, to feed the hungry, care for the sick, visit those in prison, reach the lost. He wanted us to love our enemies and pray for them. He cared about human justice and suffering, the lost and lonely. But I don't think He would have marched on a picket line - He had His mind on much bigger problems. He wanted us to focus on the eternal things, not the everyday. He never once said to go into all the world and build big buildings and divide up into factions and buy Bentleys. Just the opposite! I get that you're mad at us and I think you have a right to be, but please understand, you're mad at what we've made under our own power, you're mad at "Churchianity." That's different than Christ and what he wanted. Don't be mad at Jesus! This mess wasn't His idea!

Look, I'm really sorry. I accept responsibility for my part in having hurt you. But I'm committing to you all, dear Members of the World, that I'm not going to do it any more. Not a single penny more. I'm not going to put my faith in "Churchianity" or any leader or program or TV show -- but in Christ Jesus and His salvation. That's when I was set free and began to see that God wants and expects more of us than this. And I'm not helping anybody that's not fully committed to the same thing.

It took centuries to build this monster, so it's not like it's going to just turn around overnight. But the times are changing and we're way overdue for something new. Big bad things are happening - like the tsunami in Asia - and I think more are coming. I don't want any more time to go by without having said this. I'm sorry for all the time and money I've wasted. But Jesus saves. Really. The church itself isn't even the point. Jesus is the real deal. He lived and He died for my sins and He rose again. He is who He said He was and He cares about me - and you. He's our only hope. We need places you can go that will only teach Jesus and will not be swayed or tempted or distracted by anything else. God willing, that's coming.

Please don't think all Christians are just posers. Some of them really mean it when they say they belong to Christ. The problem is mostly in the West where we're all comfy and complacent and seem to like it that way. The Christians in China and other places are deadly serious. There's no room for anything but Jesus when you're on the run from the government. They are dying every day for their faith and doing crazy hard things because they're absolutely committed to Christ. These are martyrs. People willing to crucify little pieces of themselves every day to be more like Christ. People willing to set aside everything they want, to do what Christ wants. People willing to rot in prison or take a beating or die if that's what it's going to take. People that act in pure love and never back down. I'm not worthy to tie their shoes. And there are some like that here, too, and I hope we can get a lot more people to start living that way. It's way overdue.

If you're talking to someone and they tell you they're a Christian, ask them if they're the kind of Christian that really means it all the time or the kind that just means it on Sunday. The Bible says we'll know them by their "fruits" - by the faith and purity and love in their deeds and words. When you find one that proves Christ is in them by how much they love you, ask them to tell you all about Jesus. If you know one of those fearless martyrs that speaks nothing but pure, clean, hard Truth - ask lots of questions. Truth is a lot more rare than you would think. But don't settle for soft, fluffy and comfortable anymore - that's not in the Bible.

If you are reading this and you are already in the church -- DON'T LEAVE! Pray hard. Listen to God's leading. Try to stay and fix it. Seek accountability from your leaders. Make sure earthly treasure is being converted into heavenly treasure as efficiently as possible. Speak nothing but Truth in love. Demand meat, not milk. Seek His face. Stop conforming to the world. Read Judges 6. We have to fix the altar in our own backyard before we can take on the larger armies rallied against us! He wants to restore His people. He wants the Bride spotless. Find others willing to help and start a little tornado of revival inside your church.

As for me and my house, we're really sorry. From now on, we're going to serve the Lord, not "Churchianity." We're going to try to call together as many of those martyrs as we can and start doing what Christ wanted. If I run into you someday, please give me a chance to shake your hand and apologize in person. I'm going to try harder from now on, I promise. I think there are lots of others feeling the same way, so don't be surprised if you start hearing stuff like this more often.

Thanks for your time. I hope it helps.

Doug Perry

[Leonard]

Hey, get off the fence! If you've got something to say, why don't you just come right out and say it?

[BellaRose]

Hey, get off the fence! If you've got something to say, why don't you just come right out and say it?

Leonard

I dont quiet know what you mean by this comment

I didnt write this. I found it on a website called church of Liberty. A man by the name of Doug Perry wrote it. At least He has had the guts to say what has need to be said for a long time.

I know many people who have left the church and it saddens me. There are more people out of church these days than in it. There alot of lost sheep out there that need to come home!

I am not on a fence. I stand on one side of it. Jesus' side. This apology is from a man with a compassionate heart. Im sorry if you may of been offended by this. I was not offended when i read it. If anything i agree with him.

I know what side of the fence i am on. I am not a fence sitter. The post wasnt meant to start a debate with you or anyone.

I know that Doug perrys apology to the world has been the thoughts and words of alot of Christians

May God bless him for trying to make a difference. Someone has too!

God bless u

[Guest PilgrimSteve]

Lot of truth in that article. I believe there is a lot of spiritual malpractice being committed by religious people today.

Jer 5:30

[IreneM]

not all christians fall in this catigory of problems sins and crimes

I think there are many good poeple out there who don't and they do depend on Jesus every day of their lives it is the bad ones who make it hard for the good ones

yes all have sinned true but we are all human

In Christ

IreneM

[BellaRose]

"churchians"---come out her----

orthodoxy and denoms.....

I like the article.

"A passover lamb is not a sacrifice for sin".

What

[sc4s2cg]

Wow, I am going to post this on Christian Forums if you don't mind.

G-d bless,

sc

[VRSpock]

I know many people who have left the church and it saddens me. There are more people out of church these days than in it.

Some of the sheep are not so lost. God is moving. Walls are being torn down...I'm witnessing it in the streets. Don't be sad when you see walls being torn down....because God is putting something stronger in their place. Yes there are a lot of people out of church because of bad experiences...but there are even more out of church because they want to be the Church...because the Spirit of God is moving across this land and no 4 walls can contain that. We say that we believe that we are in the last days....but to believe that...we must also accept the fact that God will not be sitting still during those last days. Sit back...relax...and watch as His plan unfolds....woohoo!

Here is something I received you should check out:

It is obvious to me that there are many changes within the body of Christ and the believers thereof. The most important thing for us as leaders is to understand (not reject) the new and

[Avidan]

Doug, your post paralles this one:Cultural icons ( politics, fashion, beliefs) are very pervasive in all Societies. America is a very passionate issue. ( New Zealand? Australia, Denmark ET) Passion is emotions. Emotions are a result of conditioning. What we find passionate can sometimes wield a sword with the passion. Who are we as a Body of believers in Jesus? What is the work of the disciples of Christ? Is it to put bread on the table, or to become the image of God in the world? Is it to enlist ourselves in the service of a steadily increasing standard of living, or is it to bring the grace, mercy, and peace of God to life in the world? Is it to take our place, shoulder to shoulder, alongside those whose primary motive and goal is to buy, spend, amass and consume, or is it to

Edited November 11, 2005 by Avidan

[Avidan]

I know many people who have left the church and it saddens me. There are more people out of church these days than in it.

Some of the sheep are not so lost. God is moving. Walls are being torn down...I'm witnessing it in the streets. Don't be sad when you see walls being torn down....because God is putting something stronger in their place. Yes there are a lot of people out of church because of bad experiences...but there are even more out of church because they want to be the Church...because the Spirit of God is moving across this land and no 4 walls can contain that. We say that we believe that we are in the last days....but to believe that...we must also accept the fact that God will not be sitting still during those last days. Sit back...relax...and watch as His plan unfolds....woohoo!

Here is something I received you should check out:

It is obvious to me that there are many changes within the body of Christ and the believers thereof. The most important thing for us as leaders is to understand (not reject) the new and