We all know that it's trendy right now to call people out on the internet. It's a no-strings-attached sort of way to seem really intelligent by presenting only your side of an issue, all the while slandering someone else's. What human being wouldn't LOVE that? It's an easy way to get a spotlight and several hundred "likes" on your Facebook page if you write a good enough "Open Letter To So- and So".
Hrm.
This process deeply disturbs me, and I hope it does you too.
Let's investigate.
I get the impression when I read these "Open Letters" that circulate the internet every so often, that the author really thinks that his or her opinion has never been thought of before, and now that they have brought their thoughts into the open, a new chapter of world enlightenment can begin. The real problem, is that this is just the same song, different verse. Many of these "Open Letters" and video clips are created, not with the purpose that the author claims, but with the purpose of glorifying the author him/herself. That's why I hate them.
In the "Open Letter to Miley Cyrus": The Author is telling Miley Cyrus to put on more clothes. Why would the author feel the need to do this publicly, when she KNOWS that Miley will never actually read said letter? It sure is nice to get 10,000 pats on the back via social media, though, while bringing attention to one's own high morals.
We all remember that rap telling us "Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus. I can't count the number of my friends who jumped on that bandwagon. I get the point the dude was trying to make, but I can't help but wonder if the majority of the people that "liked" it on Facebook actually listened the lyrics. He starts off by telling us that Jesus came to abolish religion. I'm not sure I ever read that one in the Bible, did you? If you dislike the word "religion" for its negative connotations, and prefer to think of Jesus starting a "movement", that's fine. But it's the same thing. And He started a really big one that's still going strong. So if He came to abolish religion, I would say that He didn't quite accomplish that.
The author takes that and runs, preying on all the hurt and pain that everyone has ever received from their church at some point in their life, getting everyone to proclaim that "We HATE religion, but LOVE Jesus!" If you look at a quote that the author made about his rap, you will see that he said that he it was
"A poem I wrote to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion." -Jefferson Bethke
False Religion, huh?
Wait, you didn't say "False Religion" in that rap that got 27 million hits on YouTube!! You just said "Religion".
Sneaky.
So the author aknowledges there IS a true, Christ inspired religion, but if he were to include that in his song, well, there wouldn't be as big of a bandwagon to jump on anymore right?
What it sounds like he is doing is encouraging people to renounce all forms of organized religion and just "Love Jesus". Even if that isn't what the author meant, that is what the majority of people were interpreting the lyrics to mean, and he knew that when he wrote it.
Let me ask you: Would you teach this concept to your children? Of course not! Because we know as their parents that they need the structure of an organized and purposeful environment that is provided at church to help them learn their faith. And that's not just a kid thing; that's a human thing. That's how we learn, and God knew that. That is why he gave us The Church, because he knew that just walking around loving Jesus wasn't going to do jack for the reformation of the human soul and for society.
And my personal favorite are these letters from John Doe to Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen calling them out on their false teachings. I'm not saying I disagree with the content of those letters, as a matter of fact, it's nice to see someone calling them out. What is scary is the way it takes place.
The author recognizes a discrepancy in the teaching of Joyce or Joel; something that doesn't actually promote Christ's teachings. They notice this 25 years too late, after an entire generation of Christians has been formed through the teachings of Joyce and Joel. They rip off the bandaid, probably because they themselves have been hurt, and want to prevent many others from being misled. That is noble. But what do they do after the damage has been done? What is done for the 50 year old woman who used every Joyce Meyer bible study and who has a Joyce Meyer spiritual world view? All of a sudden "that isn't true" anymore, and she's left wondering "If that wasn't true all along, why did my church allow it to be taught in our classes all these years?" And what happens to the church that doesn't have internet access? They will keep on teaching Joyce and Joel as gospel truth because they weren't able to read J. Doe's dissertation on "Why I called out Joyce Meyer". So now we have 2 churches preaching 2 different things. Times 100. Times 10,000. Because it's up to the pastor of each church to determine what goes on in his church. So what happens to you if your pastor "Hates Religion and Loves Jesus?" The problem is that he may never actually come out and say those exact words. So how are we to know? Again, lets investigate. Is your pastor gaining any level of fame and notoriety for his work; his "contributions to the Christian faith?" Is he held at a level of importance that you feel like part of the "in club" if you are his friend or invite him over for dinner? What can you say for the quality of spiritual guidance you are receiving in your church? Are you being pushed out of your comfort zone? By that I don't mean you are volunteering to help the homeless even though they scare you a little bit. I mean, are you being pushed to deal with real issues in your life? God didn't call his church to learn as they go. He gave his church the truth and commanded us to proclaim it our day and time, not 50 years down the road when we finally feel secure in our faith. That's why He didn't give us the job of making up our own religions; we were just commanded to follow the one He gave us. We don't have the time to waste on these "new" and "exciting" versions of Christianity. They are just a distraction; they get people interested in faith for a little while, confuse them with their false teachings, then 5-10 years later, after much struggling, the person will realize the falsehood and move on to something new, or reject God all together. If it's new, its not the real deal. Ignore it. Even if it doesn't confuse you, it very likely could confuse someone else, so don't spread that garbage. Obviously the gospel hasn't changed in over 2000 years and isn't going to. I'm not going to title this "Open Letter to the Christian Church", because that was already covered in Acts, Romans, and many more letters. What I am hoping you will get out of all this is that there is a lot of confusion surrounding Christianity, and there doesn't have to be. If you are confused, struggling, hurt by the church, depressed and don't know why, struggling with unresolved issues from 30 years ago, and you just realized that no one in your church has ever known this, much less encouraged you to get help for it, I urge you to learn more about the Catholic Church. With a caveat- learn from someone who actually knows what they are talking about. (I can give you the hook up if needed)
The Catholic church gave me more tools in less than a year to live a fruitful and healthy Christian life, than I received at any other Church I ever attended, and I give nothing and no one credit for that except for the grace of my Savior. I labeled myself as something "other than Catholic" for 24 years, and I am just starting to understand how long I had allowed myself to stagnate in very shallow waters. Now I am slowly making my way to the deep end of the pool. I want more of Christ, and because of that, He is transforming me in ways I never imagined. Like, in REAL ways. I'm no longer held captive by some pretty harmful family traits. I have literally been given a fresh start, and I'm not held captive by my past.
We all know that we were never promised that being a Christian would be easy, but I think a lot of Christians subject themselves to a lot of internal suffering because they think they have to, "because being a Christian isn't easy."
It isn't.
But it's hard in the sense that you are going to have to go against the grain often and probably suffer because of that. Just because being a Christian is hard doesn't mean that you have to remain captive to destructive traits or hurtful habits that almost prevent you from functioning, much less living fruitful Christian lives. It's not God's intention for us to be slaves to things like that, and if our Church is doing nothing to rip us out of that mindset and place us on a higher path, then it isn't doing its job. I don't care if you can buy a latte in the foyer. I do believe that the Catholic Church is THE Church Christ instituted, and it gives us so many tools to have a faith full of life, here and now; it doesn't make us wait for heaven! I love that no number of open letters or annoying raps can cause me to feel like my faith has just been shattered, or in the least, really confused. On the contrary, as a Catholic I am able to look past the confusion and noise of this world and hold steadfast to the UNCHANGING truth given to us by Christ through the Bible AND through the traditions of the Catholic Church.
So no more open letters people! Ugh!
And become Catholic!
That's All and God Bless!
Tavi
