Self-Disclosure in Church
This is from something by Lynn Palmberg and Onas Scandrette as well as Patricia Quigley
"It is nothing short of tragic that many Christians are today finding more acceptance, support, and need fulfillment in secular encounter groups than they are in their churches. Someone once said that the church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. I wonder.
At church, this author admits, I find no signs of illness in those around me outfitted in Sunday-best shoes and smiles. We talk about what we are doing but we seldom talk about what we are feeling. We may tell about spiritual victory but we carefully camouflage defeats or struggles.
On the Sundays I arrive at church in acute need of spiritual healing, I feel alone and out of place in this atmosphere. I feel like a measle-spotted child in a nursery full of healthy youngsters. Once or twice I try to talk about my distress during a Sunday school class but sense a tension build around me as I describe my symptoms. When the fever of struggle or defeat hits me now, I simply remain silent and isolated from those around me who seem to know only perpetual good health. Fortunately, during my down times I have found a company of fellow strugglers in the Bible like David, like Job, Peter, Thomas, and Paul. They spoke honestly and movingly about their struggles. It is frustrating to know these men of the Bible better than people in my Sunday school class in church."
~Charles Swindoll
(This was typed from an audio sermon - any grammatical errors are mine)
"It is nothing short of tragic that many Christians are today finding more acceptance, support, and need fulfillment in secular encounter groups than they are in their churches. Someone once said that the church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. I wonder.
At church, this author admits, I find no signs of illness in those around me outfitted in Sunday-best shoes and smiles. We talk about what we are doing but we seldom talk about what we are feeling. We may tell about spiritual victory but we carefully camouflage defeats or struggles.
On the Sundays I arrive at church in acute need of spiritual healing, I feel alone and out of place in this atmosphere. I feel like a measle-spotted child in a nursery full of healthy youngsters. Once or twice I try to talk about my distress during a Sunday school class but sense a tension build around me as I describe my symptoms. When the fever of struggle or defeat hits me now, I simply remain silent and isolated from those around me who seem to know only perpetual good health. Fortunately, during my down times I have found a company of fellow strugglers in the Bible like David, like Job, Peter, Thomas, and Paul. They spoke honestly and movingly about their struggles. It is frustrating to know these men of the Bible better than people in my Sunday school class in church."
~Charles Swindoll
(This was typed from an audio sermon - any grammatical errors are mine)
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