Christians Suck Sometimes.

“Christians kind of suck sometimes,” I said, holding her hand.

“Oh, I know this.”

“I know you know, because you haven’t been loved well. But here’s what I want you to know: there are many of us who are mean and judging and hurtful. But those are just Christians behaving badly. That’s not God. That’s not his heart for you, or what he wants for you – and it’s not what he wants from us.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Oh, my friend,” I whispered.  “He just loves you. He is not the author of shame, confusion, or fear. When you feel those, you can know they are not from God, and they are not what he wants for you. Someone else gave that to you, handed it to you, placed it on you. But not God.”

She cried.

***

“Why do Christians suck so much?” I ask loudly when I can finally speak, because the moment of striking loneliness always brings me back here. To church. To the places where I am most wounded. I look at Miles, angry, my breath a mix of alcohol and dark roast.

“I don’t know,” Miles sighs. “They just sometimes do.”

I put my coffee down and put my head in my hands.

“I know what you’re going through,” he says quietly. “I mean, I’ve been there.”

“Why did you go back?” I mumble into my hands. I mean to the faith. To Church People. To the college on Snelling with the required biblical studies major and the ridiculous visiting hours and the rule about not dancing. To the people who look at you suspiciously, who wait for you to fail.

Miles thinks about it for a moment. “Because some of them don’t suck. Some of them understand what Jesus is all about. Some of them will love you without a thought.”

~ Addie Zierman, When We Were On Fire: 

A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over*

 

*I am in love with this memoir.  Addie writes about her journey of growing up in an evangelical environment, of cliches and guidelines that carry great meaning but are often divorced from the Scripture that they were originally derived from.  She comes of age and realizes that all of these words, cliches, rules, and contracts are not actually directives from God.  And it revolutionizes her thinking.

I would like to send a mass email to everyone from my youth group, summer camp, and college community.  I would say, Please read this and then let’s all meet at a giant Starbucks so we can talk about it.  I totally want to hear your thoughts.  And maybe we can each drop a line to the influencers in our lives who taught us how to think, not what to think.

If you grew up in the evangelical subculture, and you’ve ever questioned if any or all of it is legit, please read this book.  Stat.

Tricia Lott Williford

Comments are closed

  1. Do you read Nadia Bolz-Weber’s blog – Sarcastic Lutheran? she reminds me of Ann Lamott

  2. Thank you so much for these kind words Tricia…and for being the one who will say “Christians suck sometimes.” Lord knows we sometimes need to hear it. This made me cry. (The good kind.)

  3. Reblogged this on A.Rose.Kelly and commented:
    By a much more talented writer than myself. . .

  4. thanks for this! I just added this book to my Goodreads list. 🙂

  5. Thank you so much for this post. I was raised up in a stricter religious environment. I struggle with guilt over things I was taught are wrong. I no longer am sure what is Biblical or interpreted incorrectly by man. I was brought up to fear God, and am having a hard time grasping that he is a God of love and forgiveness.

  6. Addie was my grandmother’s name. A wise woman. The one who led me to Jesus in the darkest hour, covered in red bumps, hidden in darkness in a room too warm to be comfortable and covered up with layers of blankets holding in the fever. I was four. She reminded me throughout the years that Jesus brought LOVE. God was a giving God, merciful and kind. I accepted the LOVE and within hours my fever broke and I was mending, able to pull the blanket part way back, so I could see something other than darkness. Grandma was raised Puritan. She was reminded through her youth of the punishment she would face if she didn’t belief. Over the years, she learned of His LOVE and she taught love, more than punishment.

  7. I’m going to see if the library has it. I’m at a point where I’m questioning just about everything. I like this notion of a book study as well. 🙂

  8. I was not in one of your growing-up groups, but I will still try to read the book because it looks very thought-provoking, and because my kids did grow up in evangelical churches.

You Are Safe Now

Available April 9, 2024

This Book Is for You

Now Available
A book about falling in love with the Bible

Just. You. Wait.

Now Available
#1 New Title on Amazon in Christian Inspiration

You Can Do This

Now Available
#1 New Title on Amazon in Women's Issues!

Let's Pretend We're Normal

Now Available
#1 Bestseller on Amazon in Single Parenting

And Life Comes Back

Now Available
#1 in Denver Post: Nonfiction Paperback and Finalist for 2015 Christian Book Award
© 2015-2024 Tricia Lott Williford. All Rights Reserved. Site by Concept To Web.