Someone observed,"Many people have nothing but praise for the church, especially when the collection plate is passed around." Praise is not what some people have for the church. Poison would be more like it. An article about popular author Stephen King posted at rare.us reported that he was "raised Methodist," but went on to say he "ditched organized religion in high shcool, but still has a close relationship with God." The article was entitled, "Stephen King: Religion is dangerous, but I still believe in God." It was posted on 10/30/2014, and reported on an interview King did with Rolling Stone mag’ to promote his latest work. The article said King "condemns organized religion, noting that faith can be used to manipulate others, calling it, ‘a very dangerous tool that’s been misused by a lot of people.’ " When King and other well-known or not so well-known people slam "organized religion," just insert "the church" – or at least their perception of the church. Another example is author Anne Rice whose gothic fiction, including her best known and most popular series called The Vampire Chronicles, has sold over a 100 million copies. Rice, once a Roman Catholic, later distanced herself from "organized Christianity." Rubel Shelly, himself a controversial author in churches of Christ, quoted Rice in his 2011 book with the weird and provocative title, I knewJesus Before He Was a Christian, and I Liked Him Better Then. On pages 64-66 Shelly talks about Rice’s disillusionment with "organized religion" and "the church." He includes quotes from her Facebook postings where she wrote that she left the Roman Catholic church at age 18 because she refused to be "anti-gay, anti–feminist, anti-science, anti-artificial birth control, anti-Democrat . . . I quit being a ‘Christian’ or part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group." Rice followed up with this posting: "My faith in Christ is central to my life . . . But following Christ does not mean following His followers." Not exactly what you’d call praise.
My point in this little piece is not to deny Christianity and the church are unattractive to many people, and that sometimes "Christians" are not very Christ-like. Nor am I denying that "the church" has what are in far too many cases glaring faults and flaws. I am not endorsing Catholicism or the splintered, divided, denominational view of the church embraced by millions. I am not endorsing all Shelly has to say in the book referred to. But to Shelly’s credit, he affirms, "I am pro-Jesus, and also pro-church." He rightly points out that the Bible presents the church as a body over whom Christ is Head – and that "the body may need splints, stitches, or even major surgery at times. But it can’t be severed from the head. You can’t attack the body and affirm the head. They go together." So they do. Christ was pro-church. He built her (Matthew 16:18); purchased her with His own blood (Acts 20:28); loved her and gave Himself for her (Ephsians 5:25); nourishes and cherishes her (Ephesians 5:29-30). Tell me some "Christians" are hypocrites, and that the church has flaws and needs revival. But don’t tell me Jesus is not pro-church. The cross will shut your mouth every time. Jesus is pro-church, and you ought to be pro-church, too.
Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
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