The Peril of Seeking Truth

"I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives."

--Leo Tolstoy

I thought this was an amazing observation. I have found it, unfortunately, to be pathetically accurate as I have walked through my journey of seeing what God's Word says about the church.

I've spent most of my adult life propping up the failed(in my humble opinion) system we call "church" that really shouldn't even be a system, but a people. I guess I've questioned its weaknesses (not the Church, the system) from early on in my marriage but always wanted to improve on what was there....being scared (for lack of a better word) to really think some of the things I've come to embrace in the last 6 months or so.

My dh and I have found tremendous freedom in our decision to spend more time with the church rather than attend meetings in a building. However, the one peril to seeking the truth is letting anybody else in on the journey. When we left our "church", we left quietly, sowing no discord or hard feelings, and keeping our opinions on the state of the church pretty much to ourselves. On a few occasions we have been either pushed to give our opinion or views on these church matters, or it has naturally come up in conversation with close (or so we thought) friends. In at least three of these instances, the reaction to our views was defensive at best, and bitter, hostile, and nasty at worst. Mind you, neither of us has had any particular desire to convince anyone that we are 'right' on all of this. Some of these conversations were just musing aloud....trying to get others' takes on the whole thing, seeing how they saw certain things in the Word. We like what we are experiencing and we think this is what God desires for us. We don't have any desire to push our views on anyone, or tell anybody that they're wrong. We don't believe the Christian walk is a cookie-cutter ordeal. One-size-fits-all just doesn't cut it in the church. Hallelujah!

Anyway, if you're on the same journey we're on, just be prepared. I suppose we knew that this stuff would happen, but we just didn't expect such hostility from some or blind denial from others. So expect it......but don't give up seeking what God wants for you and how He wants you to function as the church.