Judgmental Christians & The Way of Jesus
I've had more than a few conversations in the past several years with people who have given up on church. The common thread in all of those conversations was the role that the judgmental attitudes of Christians played in their decisions to walk away. One of my friends who left church told me, "I just got so tired of having to pretend to be someone I wasn't." Sadly, far too many churches are not the kind of place you go when you need to bare your soul, share your scars, express your doubts, or (as in the case of my friend) simply be yourself. Over the course of my life in the church, I've heard so many stories from so many people who were wounded by the judgment of Christians who condemned them. I've been on the receiving end of that kind of judgment, and it's not pleasant. You would like to think that your church family would be the one place where you would receive grace and unconditional love. But, unfortuna...