Return~The author and his church life return~
▲Can the church put some chairs outside to invite those wandering faith seekers to sit down and have a chat?
She left
She is a best-selling author in the United States after the 1980s. She is serious about her faith and passionate about the practice of truth. She cares about faith seekers who wander on the fringes of the church or wander outside.
This author, who originally blogged on the Internet and was loved by many Millennials, was once invited by American Christian and non-Christian mainstream media, including CNN, to talk about the topic of "Why Millennials are leaving the church." Over the years, she has been concerned about the many "spiritual refugees" who are wandering outside due to issues such as homosexuality and race, as well as various kinds of "spiritual refugees" who cannot be accepted in traditional churches. She is not afraid to use her pen to discuss controversial topics among believers inside and outside the church. Conversation.
She, the writer Rachel Held Evans, wrote this in her book Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church:
“They (friends in church) reminded me that Christianity is not just about being believed, but that Christians live, share, eat, drink, and talk in front of the world. They reminded me to try to be as detached as possible from being a Christian: I I need community life. I need church life.”
However, in 2014, she left the church after being strongly attracted by the Holy Communion, hymns, and the simple church traditions of the Middle Ages. She decided to enter the online social media where these "faith vagabonds" gathered outside, and build a church on blogs and Twitter platforms, allowing thousands of people to talk about their confusion about the truth and their struggle with reality in peace, and narrated Their stories of hurt in the Christian community.
Her sister, a musician and writer who loves her deeply, said that even though she left the "church" in the traditional sense and even though she struggled to reach consensus with evangelical Christians, her sister Rachel always loved the church deeply in her heart. , knowing that it is the house established by God.
Anyone who has actually come into contact with this writer knows that when faced with the sore points of different theological positions and church concepts, her writing, like her own, does not hold a hostile attitude. A Christian writer who had "written wars" with her on the Internet several times once said: "Even though our differences of opinion have always existed, Rachel always extended invitations in a humorous and kind way, hoping that both of us would not shy away from some sensitive and controversial topics. Sexual topics can be explored together."
Home is home
I don’t want to get caught up in the debate between Rachel’s support for gay marriage and political race issues; honestly, I’m a little afraid that if I mention her in a slightly sympathetic tone, I will be regarded as an author who agrees with her theological positions.
Many times, having to “choose a side” is the author’s pain and struggle in many churches. There, once the cards are revealed, they are often only allowed to be black or white.
Regardless, I am the author and I love church. From the day I first went to church, I never left the church. For more than thirty years, it has been my spiritual home, not only in theological concepts but also in real life. In addition to my physical family, I have devoted my time, energy, and emotions to the church where I live.
I have changed churches several times, all due to the geographical distance caused by the move. I have never chosen to "leave home" because of a quarrel. Although this does not mean that I always agree with the church I am in, agree with every idea of the church, like every brother and sister in the church, or be enthusiastic about the expectations of each church I am in.
Just like a physical home! Parents, brothers and sisters may not all have the same views, and even their living habits may sometimes step on each other's feet. The older I get, the more I have seen and experienced, the more independent my thoughts become. When I get angry, I sometimes envy other people's homes for being better, and when I am impulsive, I even want to just leave.
But home is home. I know in my heart that I don't have to choose. Even if I choose, there will always be things that don't get along.
Therefore, when I see some Christians wandering between different churches, or even becoming homeless, I can’t help but wonder why they can’t get along with me. You can choose a husband, you can choose a school, you can quit your job, and you can change your home. Wouldn’t it wear down your relationship by changing it?
"How can you not go to church?" After this sentence was used as the first level of screening for true and false believers, many people became Christians who worship on Sundays.
The Internet age is here, and online preaching, worship, and Christian Bible study and prayer communities have become another way to leave the church.
OK, I'll try
Later, I gradually understood that because I had been in the church as a teenager, part of my life had been accustomed to church life. It's like my physical home, where I was born since childhood. "Habits" are like nails, nailing me there firmly. Unless I have to, I will not choose to tear apart my flesh and blood.
This allows me to sympathize with some brothers and sisters who came to Christ as adults, or who wanted to “go home” from the world in middle age, and understand how difficult it is for them to readjust to church life. If you encounter a situation of running-in or even lack of acceptance, indeed, turning around and leaving seems to be an easier choice.
It is especially difficult for writers and art creators who are sensitive and have their own ideas.
In the past, I rarely chewed this piece of cake. I had quietly wrapped it up and stuffed it under the bed.
Because I love the church, I rarely let that literal self surface. Or to put it more plainly, I always advise myself not to think of myself as an author in the church.
Is not it? When a firefighter returns home, he only thinks of himself as a member of his family. Don't expect that in family life, his family will always remember him as a firefighter.
If my spouse doesn’t like to read the book written by the author, I shouldn’t feel that he doesn’t share the same heart with me, or that I’m not accepted by my spouse! I told the person inside who was writing this.
So, when someone in the church said to me: "Are you burdened with literary ministry? Then help us compile a publication!" The prose writer hid inside and frowned, not understanding the spiritual stereotypes of testimonies and sermons. People who sneeze rub their noses inside. But I answered the church’s invitation with a smile: “Okay! I’ll give it a try.”
So, when someone in the church said to me: "You studied theology? Then why don't you teach adult Sunday school?" The writer inside shook his head desperately and shouted: You are not trying to twist the theology you studied into a story that adults can understand. Write it out? I pretended not to hear her voice and nodded obediently to the church's invitation: "Okay! I'll give it a try."
So, I participated in children's ministry, worked as a youth counselor, led Bible studies, held evangelistic meetings, led worship, served as a small group leader, and district leader...I wore different hats in the church, played various roles, and did many things. There are many things that seem to have nothing to do with the identity of the author.
Then allow the other me to quietly read literature books, publish articles in outside newspapers and magazines, write blogs, and publish books.
噓—平時，我請她乖巧地待在裡面，陪我生活在教會裡。
Gradually, as I went deeper, I saw the perspective of "church leaders" from the perspective of "church members". From the nagging about why the church cannot do this and that, I understood the difficulty of pastors and elders leading the church.
Gradually, understanding led to forgiveness, which made the person inside me more willing to hide peacefully.
But there were times when she couldn't hold back and almost rushed out and yelled.
When I hear someone criticizing that reading other books besides spiritual books is of little use; when someone thinks that the gospel itself is powerful and does not require any preparatory work of "beating around the bush" by telling stories or using literary language that is not directly spoken; When the church only values right and wrong, but does not care that the transformation of life requires a slow waiting process. When someone says to me: After you have written for so many years, how many people have you led to raise their hands and believe in Jesus?
When some spiritual elders think that the Lord Jesus is coming and quickly start a group to preach the gospel, they have no time to wait for you to slowly change people’s hearts with your words.
There were those moments when the author not only wanted to rush out and curse, but also grabbed me by the collar and said: Let’s go! Let's go! Find a church that understands your calling.
However, when we return to Abba Father to pray, He always reminds us that if we believe that the growth of readers requires preparation and waiting, then the church also needs the same patience and love from you.
Love, cultivate me
More than thirty years later, the people inside stayed quietly. The church did not cultivate my writing skills, nor did it encourage me to write more books. It even took away a lot of time and energy that could be used for writing.
However, the church nurtured me as a person and gave me the protection I needed as I grew up; church life polished off many of my edges, gave me the opportunity to learn to be a servant, and prevented the gift of writing from becoming my pride. The church allows me to actually touch different people, so that my readers do not only exist in my imagination when I write.
In the church, I had many experiences of loving even when I couldn’t stop loving, which applied the anointing of love to the tip of my pen.
In church life, I have the opportunity to step out of myself and accompany others. These experiences infuse my words with real pastoral ability.
很多創作者都害怕窒息感，怕被勉強，尤其怕從教會來的一些以真理為名的鋼條。我曾經也怕，怕到想在教會裡作一個局外人就好。如今驀然回首，我多麼感恩那些在教會生活中經歷到的限制—這些限制讓我有機會把自己縮小，看見教會要容納的是幾十人、百人、千人；明白了教會不是為滿足許多個人需要而設立。那裡，是聚集許多人一起注視基督，單單深情於基督之處。
Church life gave me the elasticity of life that I couldn’t get when I was locked up in the process of creating, and it exercised the tenacity that a servant of words needs.
Creation is an act of actively pursuing perfection and perfection. In church life, I have practiced the lesson of passive following, and I am willing to wait for progress along with people and things.
Church life broadens my view of love and the way I receive it; it teaches me to listen, accept, and experience the heart of a father.
Another grace that comes from church life: I am challenged to communicate truth and validate my own feelings and experiences.
Of course there were times when I had trouble with the church. But God told me over and over again, gently and in a way that I could understand: The church is the bride of Christ, and I will be responsible for her growth to the end.
▲Jesus often walked among sinners and ate with them. Are you and I willing to wave to those wandering outside the church and say: Come on!
Come on, come in
As an author, I cannot pretend not to hear the voices outside the church walls. I cannot just be a person who enjoys a sense of belonging to the church; I am also a person who has expectations for the church.
"I prefer a church that is scarred and allows for filth, because such a church takes to the streets, rather than an unhealthy church that is constrained and obsessed with its own safety... In addition to not wanting to fear being seen as going astray, I I hope we can be moved by such fear:
"Afraid of being trapped in a false sense of security and silence; afraid of being locked up in harsh judgment, afraid of being accustomed to religious habits that feel safe.
"And right now, outside our door, people are starving, and Jesus is constantly saying to us, give them something to eat."
These words spoken by Catholic Pope Francis touched me deeply. During many years of church life, I have indeed found that within the four walls, people often focus on arguing about right and wrong, and in a hurry they forget that there are many creators who need this kind of belonging just like themselves, but are wandering outside. They are sensitive, need to be accepted, want dialogue, and hate the two halves of right and wrong that can be chopped off with a knife.
Instead of preaching to them, separate right from wrong so that those of us in the church can feel safe. But the Jesus we follow often walks among sinners and eats with sinners; stability and safety are never His goals.
I was reminded not to criticize them for being too self-centered because I am used to the church, need the church, and have been nourished by church life. I am willing to follow the Lord, build a gentler spiritual community, and wave to the many people who are wandering outside and say: Come ! bring it on!
She, the writer Rachel Held Evans, died at the age of 37 due to a sudden bout of influenza and drug allergies.
Five years after leaving church life, Rachel was carried into the Anglican Cathedral in a coffin covered with flowers.
She finally returned to the church again.
Ruixin, writer, whose articles have been scattered in newspapers and magazines. He was a columnist for "Cosmic Light" magazine and "True Love" family magazine, and is currently the author of "Beijing Foundation" magazine. At the same time, he has been running the "Private School Madam" blog, "Give me your sincerity" blog, "It's You" blog for many years, and has a Facebook page "Grab Happiness". He is the author of the books "The Footsteps of a Wanderer", "Managing the Family and Mind", and "The Wisdom of Discipline".