Take the Good, Leave the Bad

Many years ago, at least by my standards, I requested to remove my membership from the church my family was attending. I was struggling with many things being propagated by the pastor and the other moral authorities in the church. I felt that more harm was being done to Christianity than good, and by retaining a membership, I was giving my stamp of approval.

Prior to me requesting to remove my membership, a young man (according to the pastor to my parents), in the church had been found molesting a young girl. This same young man, a year my senior, was called to be a missionary to the foreign field in a poverty stricken country. Soon after learning this, I was blessed to hear several heartfelt sermons from this young fella, on fire for God.

In addition to this, most of the preachers I’ve met couldn’t function in society if they were not given the crutch of spiritual leadership to excuse their arrogance. A preacher thinks of himself as immune to the status of a mere "normal" Christian. He believes he is a man, specially called by God to disburse God's message to the rest of us. He ignores the social etiquette that the rest of society is expected to abide by.

In blind rage, I've listened to preachers call those of other denominations pigs, demons, whore mongers, morons. I’ve seen them spout out some of the stupidest things that a twelve year old can reason to be wrong. They never feel the need to stop and question their logic, their methods, or their attitudes. Rather than seeing the responsibility associated with their status, they only see the authority that they imagine goes with it. Many would be unable to function in society without the crutch of spiritual leadership to excuse their arrogance.

Anyway, that being a very brief summary of my viewpoints up to the point I was requesting a membership change, you can understand why I wanted to disassociate. After begging my parents, I was counseled that there are always bad things along with the good. Going through life, you have got to learn to take the good, leave the bad.

In nearly every area outside of religion, my parents had the strictest of standards.
This is a good summary of how every area outside of religion was viewed. We didn't go to movies, we didn't hang out with the wrong crowd, we didn't listen to rock music, the movies we watched were strictly PG, ect.

After years of internally reacting to many of the standards I was held to, I realized at least part of the reason why. My parents were holding the moral authority of the church to a much lower standard than what I was being held to.

I have learned that by this logic, you can justify nearly anything. Have you ever seen a movie without some redeeming factors? Have you ever had a friend without at least one good quality? Have you ever done something you shouldn’t have done, without at least one good thing coming of it?

When do you leave the good due to the bad? I heard a quote once in relation to entertainment, it went something like, "You can find food in a trash can, but that doesn't mean I want my kids eating out of it." I pose the same dilemma for modern day Christianity. I can find good people in the church, but that doesn't mean I want to be associated with it.