Monday, January 24, 2011

I am Church and You Can Too- Church Part 1

Most people in the world know that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross around 33 AD.

Many fewer know what was happening at that same moment across town. From the top to the bottom a curtain- a very strong, incredibly important curtain- was being ripped in half. I imagine it was kind of like what you do to an old towel when you don't need it anymore and decide to scrap it for car wash rags.

In the Old Testament that curtain surrounded an area called "The Holy of Holies" where God's literal presence actually dwelt. Once a year the designated priest would confess his little heart out and go in to stand in God's presence. It was more than a nail biter for him- if there was any unconfessed sin he missed he would instantly drop dead in God's perfect presence. His buddies tied a rope around his ankle in case they needed to drag him out, though. That was nice of them.

Two things we know the ripping of that curtain meant- and they form the basis for what I believe spiritually.

1.)We (humans) no longer needed to go through any man (religious intermediary) to get to God.

2.)God has made it clear that we (Christian believers) are now the temple He chooses to reside in. We are The Church.


Steve Colbert from Comedy Central, wrote a book a few years back called I am America and You Can Too (I never read it). In struggling to communicate what I believe about the Church without resorting to the endless selections of church jargon, I actually feel this best represents my actual spiritual beliefs:

I am Church and You Can Too.


I started "going to church" (I don't even like the implication of that phrase now) when I was about 16 and I stopped a little over a year ago.

I have wanted to talk about why. You can't imagine how hard that is unless you understand how important it is to do so without shredding the church people I have seen; and how very likely it is I will be shredded among the church people who read this. The topic of "church" is, in terms of "casting your pearls before swine," the mother pearl. No one is as vicious about church as church people. This is something I know in my core.

But I believe there are some very, very important things that need to be said. And so, here we go... the next blog we'll get into it.

1 comment:

  1. Very interesting Jackie, and I feel, sadly, that I may agree with a ton of what you are going to say. I look forward to reading what you write.

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