Losing Your Religion?
My laptop is alive and well again! So I wanted to put it to work today by bringing up a topic that has come glaring into the public eye since, several days ago, author Anne Rice (remember Interview With the Vampire? Yeah, that’s hers) decided to jump off the ‘Christian’ train in order to save her faith in Christ. Since her Facebook post on the subject, folks have weighed in all over the country, from Donald Miller’s blog to my own small-town newspaper, the Ashland Times-Gazette. I was caught by her words, since I was recently struck in a good-bolt-of-lightning kind of way by her video excerpt in the “I Am Second” series (see my blog from July 7th).
Among many inflammatory things, Rice stated that “I remain committed to Christ as always, but not to being ‘Christian’ or being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious and deservedly infamous group. For 10 years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”
I can understand why she, and many others, are walking away. We are a contentious lot. Like everybody else I know, we’re human. I have lots of reasons to walk away too. Pretty much everyone who has ever hurt me has called him or herself a Christian. So I get it…but on balance, I have been encouraged, blessed, uplifted, loved, forgiven and held up by followers of Christ far more than I have been hurt. So I hang in there. I can’t get away from the crazy reality that this is the way Jesus designed it. For reasons which at times I cannot fathom, God has entrusted humans with God’s Church. So I hang in there. Still, Rice’s words do strike me as prophetic. She deserves to be listened to…
So I ask you; what do you think? And please, no demeaning, demonizing, or otherwise ragging on Rice. She’s a big girl and can make her own decisions. Whatever we may think of her decision, she’s still part of the family. Should we give up on the Church? Should we reform it? What are we to do? I’d love to hear your opinion.
August 25th, 2010 at 9:11 am
There is great strength in unity. It is something Jesus prayed for and in Psalms it states the unity is like the oil running down the beard of Aaron. That oil stands for anointing, which is power.
The church often lacks power. We’re full of words but often lack results, much like rain clouds that promise rain but never deliver. As the apostle said, we didn’t just come to you with words but with power. If we want to say the same for ourselves then we need to be unified. There’s so much power in unity that Jesus said if two will agree on anything it will be done. I believe that agreement can only truly happen in unity.
Anne fell in the same trap satan despertely wants us to fall into – the trap of offense. Faith would have her persevere and believe that if Jesus Himself prayed for unity then He then 1. it is important and 2. He is fully able to make it happen.
Anne was a mouthpiece for disunity. The Bible says be quick to forgive so a bitter root won’t grow up and defile many people. Her bitterness is affecting many people. Ironically, in a way she did unify people. She gave a call to quit and many people agreed to it fully.
I just don’t believe it is the way Jesus would handle the situation. He encouraged people to keep going to the Temple but warned them not to follow the corrupt leaders bad example. Again, it’s worth observing that He didn’t tell people to stop going to the Temple, even though the Temple was full of pharisees.
Just something to look into.
September 6th, 2010 at 7:33 am
Thanks, Kara, for this thoughtful comment.Yes, I think you are right that Rice’s decision turned out to be a lightning rod for further discussion. For those who were already antagonistic toward the church, it was wind in the sails. For those who still cared about the church and wanted to see it grow and thrive, it was like fingernails on a chalkboard.
I am sure Rice knew this would cause a stir…but I wonder if she anticipated just how much airplay and attention her decision would receive. I don’t doubt her faith; I just wonder whether this decision is ultimately healing or helpful, for her or for the church. Certainly it caused people to think about their own relationship to the church; and I think that’s good. I hope she decides to give church another chance at some point. Followers of Christ are not meant to journey alone.
I’m sorry I missed this comment! I will have to check my blog settings. Thank you!