Are you falling asleep next to a man or a woman? Do you have a burden to have your genitalia surgically manipulated? Did you sleep with your partner on the first date or are your legs firmly shut until “I do?”.
Whilst the church argues amongst itself – about who’s allowed to marry whom, about which sins deserve the loudest condemnation, about rules they were never asked to enforce – there is still work to be done. There are people hurting, people lost, people longing for God’s love, but instead of receiving grace, they’re met with debates about their worth.
God didn’t place us here to be rulers of morality, to sit on thrones of judgment as if we were appointed to decide who is deserving. While we argue, someone is crying themselves to sleep. While we debate, another young soul walks away from the faith entirely, not because they’ve stopped believing in God, but because they no longer believe in us.
We’ve tried so hard to compete with the world that we’ve forgotten who we are. The Christian faith, this family of faith, has been around for over 2000 years, not because it was trendy or “cool,” but because it stood apart. And yet, we bend over backwards to imitate the world, hosting events so polished and extravagant that the very people Jesus came for, the poor, the broken, can’t even afford to attend. The irony. Could we be more opposite to Jesus, who walked amongst the outcasts and dined with those society rejected?
We waste so much time playing the role of gatekeepers when the real calling is to be door-holders. The church was meant to be a refuge for the broken, not a battleground for opinions, not a competition for the world’s approval.
And here’s the truth: while we nitpick the rules, don’t you think we should get our house in order first? Before we argue about who’s right or wrong, maybe we should look inward.
“If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” – Mark 3:25
What about the divisions in our own community?
What about the gossip we allow to fester unchecked?
What about the pride that blinds us to our own flaws?
What about the lack of care for the poor, the forgotten, and the lonely?
What about the way we ignore those struggling with mental health, addiction, or trauma?
What about the families breaking apart in silence because they’re too afraid to ask for help?
Before we stand on our pulpits pointing fingers at the world, maybe we should work on being a reflection of the grace we preach. Maybe we should ask ourselves if we’re truly embodying the love of Christ—the kind of love that moves mountains, breaks chains, and draws people in, not pushes them away.
The world is watching us. And while we debate among ourselves, they’re wondering why the people who claim to know God’s heart seem so far from it. Isn’t it time we showed them something different? Isn’t it time we got our house in order?
The Harmony Edit 