Thread by @thearmchaircom

People: We’ve been hurt by certain doctrines and practices within the church. Maybe we could change the culture so we don’t have to choose between our faith and well-being.

Pastors: Y’all just want to sin…something something…the Bible is still true…blah blah…holiness.

People are literally saying “I am struggling with my faith because the culture of the church doesn’t match what I thought was true in scripture. I am literally being harmed by the church’s practices. I am struggling with doctrines that don’t match up w/ my knowledge base. Help.”

And instead of listening to folks and bearing their burdens, a lot of pastors and church leaders are out here putting burdens on people that are too heavy to bear and aren’t doing Jack spit to ease the load.

And mind you, I am speaking as a colleague here. I do not currently pastor (I recently changed denominations and am waiting to go through my denomination’s ordination process), but I have been in vocational ministry for almost 15 years.

A lot of pastors are missing it…

I don’t doubt that you love people and want to lead them to Jesus.

But I am growing SO tired of pastors’ lackluster and, frankly, weak and defensive responses to people’s spiritual, theological, and existential questions.

People are, rightly, calling attention to hypocrisy and harms that they have experienced in the church. Rather than listening, a lot of us are getting defensive and doing more harm to peoples precious faith just so we can hear “amen” in the pulpit and go viral on the internet.

I am so tired of people trying to “hold the line” when it comes to ✌🏿orthodoxy✌🏿but being utterly incompetent when it comes with engaging people as human beings that have feelings and dignity.

I’m so tired of hearing the same platitudes that are salt in people’s wounds.

People seem so invested in winning some imagined doctrinal dispute that they can’t be functional human beings who live and exercise care for others. When did we as shepherds become so flipping callous?

We should be doing everything in our power to make our spiritual communities a place of welcome and healing. But a lot of folks out there care more about their statement of faith than their actions. Whitewashed tombs.

Anyway…all of that to say that I am so sorry that pastors sometimes suck at their jobs and don’t know how to express genuine compassion to folks that isn’t laced with making sure people know they’re “solid” and “Christ-centered.”

I hope that one day, the church can be a place where we can faithfully preach the scriptures while also prioritizing care for God’s children. These things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The problem is a lot of folks want to have all the answers at all times.

I pray that we can learn to live in the tension of proclaiming the word of God, even when the word might step on our toes a bit, and exercising care for folks who have hurts and doubts.

May we see tension and challenge as an opportunity for the Spirit to move.