What has become of the church?

Last Sunday's unbelievable sermon left me wondering if Joseph and I were the only sane people in a world gone mad.

We preach love and compassion, yet verbally attack our brothers of the Catholic faith during Sunday morning worship service. It was unjustified, undeserved and inexcusable.

Yes, we have doctrinal differences and some of those that were told to us were probably true. But the entire tone, manner and approach of the so-called sharing was wrong, wrong, wrong. Literally. "Catholics are wrong! They have sinned! Those who associate with them are not Christian!"

What broke my heart was the way the congregation clapped and nodded their assent after the 'sharing' was over. Didn't anyone feel disturbed? Uneasy? Worried for the future of the church? For supposedly godly people to agree heartily with this kind of sharing... what next? I had visions of flaming torches, pitchforks and screaming crowds demanding blood.

What happened to tolerance? Seeking understanding? Religious harmony? Reaching out in love?

Are we now going to tear down Buddhist statues and plant bombs in mosques?

The final blow was when I realised that the church leadership allowed this 'sharing' but prohibited Damien Chua from coming to share about his abduction experience and how God (apparently) miraculously freed him from his captors. The bitterness was hard to swallow. Damien Chua's disallowed speech had been a thorn in my side for the longest time - it was difficult to forgive and forget, especially when I didn't even get an answer as to why he was not encouraged to come share. Sunday's Catholic-bashing incident just brought back all the old hurt in a fresh new way. I wanted to yell at someone: "You allow this hate-inciting, vicious attack on an undefended group of people during Sunday service, but prohibited a person who wanted to share a personal experience that testified to the goodness of God????"

To the Catholics, I apologise. I regret the incident and I hope it never happens again. Understand that the views expressed 2 days ago are not held by all of us (Protestants), or even many of us.

It's worrying, this conservative road that our church is heading down. What's with all the 'reformed theology' and almost exclusive hymn-singing? What happened to the church I knew and loved? It's getting lost in all the doctrine, dogma and inflexible attitudes that are cropping up alarmingly more frequently.

Someone highly interested in deep doctrine comes to the church, and suddenly, almost overnight, it was all about the Westminster Catechism, reformed theology, orthodox church music and Presbyterian views.

I wonder what the Father, the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit really think about these things. Is He happy with our actions? Is He proud of what we've done, or not done, in His name? Do all these serve the end purpose of giving glory to God?

Sometimes, I'm amazed that God hasn't struck us all with lightning and be done with it. Look how we've screwed up: the Anglicans and their gay archbishop, Southern Baptists and their racism, the Middle Age church and their crusades, the Catholics and their indulgences. And we're supposed to be the salt and light of the world!

To the youth in the church: always let God's Word and the Holy Spirit be your guide, liberally peppered with love, wisdom and understanding. Religion is never just about dogma and rules; it's about people.
Let's hope our youth, and I, will do better.