Category: Thank You

I just sent my column off to The Coffeyville Journal via email. Thanks to all the members and friends of the congregation who proofread it for me and made countless good suggestions.

Here it is in its final form:

In a recent book, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons cite some alarming statistics. Among them:

“Three out of every ten young outsiders said they have undergone negative experiences in churches and with Christians. Such hurtful experiences are part of the stories of nearly one out of every two young people who are atheists, agnostics, or of some other faith. … One-third [of young born-again Christians] admit that the way Christians act and the things they say make them embarrassed to be a Christian.”

As a pastor I’ve experienced both sides of the above equation and it’s in response to statistics such as those, and with the realization that such experiences are not limited to any one age group, that the following letter was written.

To a rightly skeptical world:

I feel I should begin with a disclaimer before moving on to a confession and apology. I write, not as a local pastor or as an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, but unofficially, as an individual Christian on behalf of the universal church, to apologize, confess, and repent for all the un-Christian things that we, the body of Christ, have done in his name. Please forgive us.

As Christians we believe that the church is the body of Christ and yet we have often failed to be worthy of him. We are called to follow in Christ’s footsteps, but we have all too often gone our own sinful ways. We have failed to welcome all people as Christ welcomed them. We have been judgmental instead of humble, empathetic and forgiving, and we have preferred the world’s existing social hierarchies to the radically inclusive example of our Lord and Savior. All too often, we, as Christians, have been acutely aware of and outspoken in condemning the shortcomings and failures of others while downplaying, ignoring, or outright denying our own sin and shortcomings. We have taken our faith as a sign that we are superior people rather than exercising humility and recognizing that we are merely the recipients of a great gift, a gift intended for all people and meant to be shared. On behalf of the church universal, I ask your forgiveness.

I remain a Christian and an active participant in a local church (a church I love and deeply believe in) because I believe that together, Christ has called us to great, good, and wonderful things and because, by God’s grace, we sometimes actually manage to accomplish a few of those things. But I am aware, all too aware, of the many times we have fallen short. I, and others like me, remain Christians because without Jesus, we would be far, far worse.

My greatest fear is that by the all-too-common failure of Christians to live lives worthy of Christ we have greatly contributed to the disbelief of the world. The first is true, but the second does not necessarily follow. As someone else recently put it, deciding not to believe in God because of themisbehavior of the church is somewhat like getting into a dispute with Elvis Presley’s fan club and then dismissing the singer as a nobody. It comes naturally, but doesn’t necessarily make any sense. I am truly sorry for our failure to live as Christ taught us to live. I ask you not to hold God responsible for the evil we have done. By God’s grace, we are trying to do better.

Sincerely, John Collins

 

We want to thank all those who helped read the passion story this morning during worship: Mark Frank, Bethanie Frank, Atlantis Frank, Carla Herring, Pat McCoy, Carmen Winston, and Elizabeth Collins.

Our recent special offering for scholarships to Camp Chippewa and Institute received $423.61 (the 61¢ was donated by a generous 8 year old). Thanks to everyone who contributed. Your gifts change lives.

This is not directly church related, but when I drove into work today, I was amazed at how clean the streets were. The city crews have done a fantastic job. Thank you City of Coffeyville Employees!

We had a great discussion (or at least I thought we had a great discussion) at the book study tonight. Thanks again to Larry and Nancy Wright for leading this study.

We want to thank everyone who helped with the Great Thanksgiving Dinner. But a special thanks for the many hours and countless contributions of Chuck McFate and Bill Jones.

We hosted a very successful cluster church conference this Sunday afternoon. Special thanks to Henry and Faye Millen for sharing their gift of music and to Brian Walker for delivering our church’s report. Thanks also to Paul Wolf for coming over from Parsons to lead our individual church conference meeting.

Before we get any further away from Trunk-or-Treat I want to take a moment and thank Dr. David Boyd, Pediatric Dentist of Bartlesville, for the unsolicited donation of the toothbrushes we handed out Sunday evening.