Losing a child is hard enough but what about if no one is prepared to admit that there was even a child to begin with? That’s part of the trauma that Elizabeth Meyers suffered and why she wrote a book to help others facing distress, doubt and suffering. Undefeated: From Trial to Triumph, How to Stop Fighting the Wrong Battles and Start Living Victoriously tells the story of her journey.
I stumbled upon a very interesting blog post recently. It was at Anne Jackson’s blog, FlowerDust.net.
The post, Keeping Your Mouth Shut, simply asked people to share some of the things that they don’t feel they can say in church or to other Christians.
At last check there’s around 180 responses from people with everything from plain old whinging to some revealing comments about the fear of being vulnerable.
I think it’s essential reading for anyone in church leadership. I don’t care how wonderful you think your church is, there will always be people who feel they just don’t measure up and they feel powerless to express their doubts. Anyone who thinks that no one in their pews is thinking some of these things is kidding themselves.
Surely the church should be a place where we can be open and honest in sharing the highs and lows of our journey.
There are humorous comments like this:
That comb-over really does need to go. Someone might lose an eye on a windy day!
And this:
That sometimes when there is a dramatic pause in my message, and I look like I’m waiting on God to give me something really powerful to say, I’m not. In reality I’m just wondering if I zipped up my zipper before I went up on stage.
To heartfelt messages like this:
I currently feel NO connection to God when I pray or read the Bible.
And this:
When I say “I’ll pray for you.” I don’t usually mean it. I have been a Christian for 27 years and I still don’t understand the point of praying.
My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.
Today we took a closer look at the things we don’t say in church and discussed some of the reasons we’re not as open as we should be.
You can hear our discussion by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.
Are there things you feel you can’t say in church or to other Christians?
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I stumbled upon a very interesting blog post recently. It was at Anne Jackson’s blog,