With Friends Like Christians, Who Needs Enemies?

When I survey my life, the biggest hurts I’ve endured have been at that hands of other Christians. The times I’ve been been stabbed in the back the most and maligned the worst have also been at the hands of other Christians.

So it makes me ask, “With friends like Christians, who needs enemies?”

With so much wrong in the world, why do we have so much time to criticize each other for such simple things? It’s not to say that Christians are always above reproach, but we spend the majority of our time trying to tear one another down, if not with politics then by denominational discord.

If, after reading the same Bible, we can’t be on one accord, how can we expect to help draw others to God? If, after attending church from week to week, our hearts remain hard and callous towards those who differ from us, how can we say that we truly love God?

Love is not expressed with thinly veiled hatred or poorly disguised bigotry. Love does not lift up oneself in order to cast judgment on another. Love does not claim to pray while spewing criticisms in private.

So what’s my point? Christians need to be on the same page. We need to remove ourselves from the equation and keep our eyes on Jesus. Our ministries should model His, not the other way around. We cannot bend Him to fit what we believe or what we want to be true. Aligning our ways with His allows us to be on His page from His book.

We’ve been given an instruction Book for life. We need only to read and allow His Spirit to help us apply it.

2 Comments

Jennifer Hudson Taylor

January 27, 2013 at 4:12 pm

I can soooo identify with this post. Like you, we have been hurt more by Christians than non-Christians. I cannot blame people for their hypocritical thoughts about Christians, since I feel so many Christians have brought it on themselves.

During my daughter's return of her Epilepsy/migraines, we stopped attending church for many reasons. Now that she's doing better, we're looking for a place to go, and honestly, my husband and I feel sick with dread inside at the thought of returning to ANY church. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. And if we feel like this? How many more are out there like us?

We have been enjoying our family Bible studies, with no drama, no church politics, no gossip, no division, no judgments, no clicks ignoring us and keeping us on the outside, etc. Still, we feel the need to get our daughter back into a youth group where she can find supportive friends–friends who will accept her differences with Epilepsy and Asperger's Syndrome.

This time I won't become involved. I won't join this or that. I won't be guilt-tripped into things that God didn't really call me to do. I'm going to keep the bench warm when I am there, hear the word and soak it up, slip out unnoticed, and allow God to use me outside the church as He has been doing all along. Everyone in our family is a child of God, and we already belong to the spiritual church of Christ and we are happy with that. We have been rejected by "people church" more times than I care to count, so I no longer have any expectations from them. Christ never fails us and we belong to His church.

Babetta

February 2, 2013 at 1:12 pm

Hi Jennifer,

I have been thinking of your blog comment all week. It truly broke my heart when I read it. I just wanted to let you know that I will be praying for you and your family in your search for a new church home. I can relate to the feelings of dread and uncertainty about what you will face when you get there.
Sometimes it's so hard to accept that God expects us to assemble together with other Christians when they often do nothing more than bring you down.
I also wanted to thank you for taking the time to comment and be so honest about something that Christians would rather not face. It really is a sad indictment on us. How can we reach others if we can't even care for one another?

Jennifer Hudson Taylor

January 27, 2013 at 4:12 pm

I can soooo identify with this post. Like you, we have been hurt more by Christians than non-Christians. I cannot blame people for their hypocritical thoughts about Christians, since I feel so many Christians have brought it on themselves.

During my daughter's return of her Epilepsy/migraines, we stopped attending church for many reasons. Now that she's doing better, we're looking for a place to go, and honestly, my husband and I feel sick with dread inside at the thought of returning to ANY church. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. And if we feel like this? How many more are out there like us?

We have been enjoying our family Bible studies, with no drama, no church politics, no gossip, no division, no judgments, no clicks ignoring us and keeping us on the outside, etc. Still, we feel the need to get our daughter back into a youth group where she can find supportive friends–friends who will accept her differences with Epilepsy and Asperger's Syndrome.

This time I won't become involved. I won't join this or that. I won't be guilt-tripped into things that God didn't really call me to do. I'm going to keep the bench warm when I am there, hear the word and soak it up, slip out unnoticed, and allow God to use me outside the church as He has been doing all along. Everyone in our family is a child of God, and we already belong to the spiritual church of Christ and we are happy with that. We have been rejected by "people church" more times than I care to count, so I no longer have any expectations from them. Christ never fails us and we belong to His church.
Babetta

February 2, 2013 at 1:12 pm

Hi Jennifer,

I have been thinking of your blog comment all week. It truly broke my heart when I read it. I just wanted to let you know that I will be praying for you and your family in your search for a new church home. I can relate to the feelings of dread and uncertainty about what you will face when you get there.
Sometimes it's so hard to accept that God expects us to assemble together with other Christians when they often do nothing more than bring you down.
I also wanted to thank you for taking the time to comment and be so honest about something that Christians would rather not face. It really is a sad indictment on us. How can we reach others if we can't even care for one another?