If a billionaire was to enter almost any church he would be especially honored, same way a swashbuckling movie star hunk. But when a LGBT or prostitute walks in, suddenly a crisis has arisen, even if both sets have truly turned their hearts to God through Christ.
In other churches, it would be ethnic or class discrimination.
Why is this so? It is because of our culture and traditions.
The church is like a spiritual hospital where people come in from the world with all types of sickness-sins but because of our carnal beliefs we think some sickness-sin is okay but others are too objectionable.
The truth is that Christians should be wary of all sickness-sin which could contaminate the church. So some church is careful to keep out the lustful - LGBT and prostitutes but welcomes the proud of life and those who lust for wealth and the self-indulgent not aware that they too will seriously corrupt the church.
The bible says there is now no condemnation to them that walk after the spirit and not after the flesh, in other words, a new Christian just starting out in the Christian walk is justified before God and should not be treated as if they are guilty of their past or who they naturally are like class or ethnic, instead they should be loved, encouraged and helped just like a new baby of the family.
Too many times they are left to themselves shun, neglected and abused, if it were in the natural the parent would be charged with child abuse. Eventually, they end up wayward and weirdly saved because they were left to their own devices. In others the seed in them just withered and died, some never to darken the door of another church; the baby was thrown out with the bath-water.
Gandhi is purported to say I love your Christ but not your Christianity when he was discriminated at a church because of his ethnicity.
The result of this is an ineffective local church that has loose its saltiness and can barely save anything so there is divorce, dissensions, addictions in the church.
Soon Sloppy agape and/or special churches will arise to cater for the rejected from the more established churches to accept their situation whether of ethnic churches or gay church or the grace and hope message church that accepts all hoping for grace from God for all to make it in.
The mainline original churches better pray the Lord does because they are responsible and accountable for forcing out the leaner sheep from their midst with their well-fed butt and shank to wander on the heights.
Even now these established churches are suffering financially and falling membership. They are being rejected by the general population as judgmental and uncaring. In Europe, they are calling the situation Post-Christian because of the church’s ineffectiveness.
Because many churches are doing it their way the gospel is watered down and the love, power and wisdom of the church are badly affected. I believe many especially of leadership families are committing suicide because they are living a life that is not up to their established church standards, while in the more liberal churches many members are carnal Christians who are no different from the world, both don’t have the spiritual activated to help. Both fall short with bad doctrine since a false balance is hateful to God.
The answer is for all churches to return to the Gospel of Jesus Christ which bring the truth to set everyone both church and individuals free when we diligently apply the truth of God’s Word and not our traditions and culture before we all could perish.
We need to cry out to God for mercy and grace to give us a heart to turn to righteousness.
