How far have we really come?

Many churches today consider themselves free from all the tradition of religion. They think they are delivered from the chains of looking, acting, dressing, worshiping, and behaving a certain way on the basis of how they have been taught to live. But really, how free is the church? Sure they don’t have to wear dresses, or suits with ties, and they don’t have to sing the standard 3 hymns followed by an offering, special singer and then the sermon. But when looking closer, how free is it, how delivered is the church?

Sometimes it feels like dress is a competition. Who can have the most anti-religious outfit? Who can dye their hair the most outrageous color? Who can look the most anti-church this Sunday? When visiting a new church one of the first things noticed is how they all dress. When attending a church that is based on the “older” model of churches, there are beautiful dresses, and crisp men’s suits. It’s funny how clone like the families can sometimes be. If there are children in the family, their outfits generally match their counter parent. If there is another child of the same sex, they are usually dressed similarly or even identically (if the parents got lucky while shopping). When visiting a church that is based on the “newer” model of churches, it’s easy to notice how…eccentric the clothing can be. Everyone has to look cool, and different from every one of the others. After a while the scene begins to make my brain fuzzy. There are those with normal hair, and those with rainbow hair. There are those whom dress stylish, but not “churchy” and then there are those that look as though they jumped out of a punk rock magazine. The point here is that it doesn’t matter what kind of church you are going to, there is a dress code.

One thing that is not enjoyable about the church is the cliques that make it up. Most churches pride themselves on accepting everyone without judgment. “Everyone has a place,” but the important thing here is, where an individual’s place is.  Even though they say everyone has a place, there is still the “in crowd.” Every Sunday the people get out of their cars in their churches appropriate attire and walk into church. Once through the doors though it’s about who’s talking with whom. And if someone gets left out, they automatically assume that maybe they don’t really belong there. If the “cool” people don’t shake their hand, or hug their necks then they feel excluded, as though the “cool” crowd’s acceptance is what makes someone belong to a church. Is this really any different from the world? No, no matter where you go there are cliques. Whether the clique is the choir in robes, or football gear, it’s still a clique.

These things are said not to bash the church. The church is amazing, and has great potential. Many churches have set great examples and have already accomplished so much, however there is still so much more that can be done. What these things are said for is to issue a challenge. This challenge is for any and everyone that calls themselves believers. This is a challenge to love.  It has been said many times before that Christians are supposed to love everyone. Jesus says “to love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:29 KJV) Galatians 5:14 reminds us again to keep this command, and again we are told to love people in James 2:8. So many times people lash out in their anger, and forget to love. This command should not be taken lightly. So before you decide to ignore the person in the line at the market, before you yell at a child, before making someone cry, before taking revenge, before whatever is going on in present time, think about love.