Stripper's Bible Study Part 2

I grew up going to church. A good church. One that taught the truth about who God is and what Christ did on the cross and the truth in the Bible. At that same church, when I was about 11, our handicapped youth pastor went to jail for molesting kids. At that same church I used to sit between two boys in the upper balcony and get felt-up. I was in a wedding at that church when I was about 13 and a 25 year old groomsmen hit on me. He was nice. I felt grown-up and wanted.

What did I learn at church during my childhood? I learned that Jesus loved me. And that I was sexy.

That church was full of truth and full of lies. It was full of screwed up people. That church was a great excuse to never go to church again once I didn't have to. They were just a bunch of hypocrites, right? They praised God in one moment and defiled children in the next. That's all the excuse anyone really needs to discount and ignore the Christian church. They are liars. They cheat. They molest. They gossip. They steal. The elders go to topless bars.

How dare anyone tell me I need church! And yet, God seemed to know ahead of time that 'church' would be scary and dangerous.

Matthew 7:15 says "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves".

Why can't God keep 'ravening wolves' out of church? Why can't it be a safe place with no condemnation? Why can't everyone just sing to God and love each other and make sinners feel welcome in the arms of the body of Christ?

Because a 'church' is still just a group of sinners. Even the pretty little perfect ones with 2.5 kids and a 2 story home in the burbs. They are all broken, messy people and their sins are no different to God than a stripper's list of sins.

Romans 3: 23 "All have fallen short of the Glory of God".

A church is a group of damaged people searching for hope. Couldn't you also describe a topless bar the same way? A group of damaged people looking for hope? And by that logic, you could argue that the same people that fill a club, also fill a church. The biggest difference is what they are worshiping and what they expect to give them hope.

In a topless bar, broken or lonely hearts are looking for validation. The girls and the men are both looking for someone to say "you're good and wanted".

(You might be arguing that you're only there for the money, but c'mon.....there is a deeper need being met if you're really honest with yourself)

But if another broken or lonely heart tells you you're good and wanted, it only makes you feel good and wanted for a very short time and it's not much of a compliment unless it comes from a better source. Sorta like being told you have a great haircut by a bum on the street or by Vidal Sassoon himself. It means a little more coming from the pro, right?

Church is full of the same kinda folks. Broken, messy and almost unlovable people who are looking for a pro to tell them they are good and wanted. For some of those people, it's good enough to be told they are good by what they perceive as a 'better Christian'. For others, they need the pastor to tell them. But for a few, the ones who really get it, the only fix is for God himself to say "you're good and wanted".

Afterall, God set the standard in the first place. So if He tells you you're forgiven and clean and fearfully and wonderfully made, then who are you to argue? It makes better sense to seek God's acceptance, not a fallable man's approval. And by the way, God's acceptance is actually much easier to come by! Really!

But not everyone understands that a person can go straight to God for love, acceptance and grace, so they stop along the way at topless bars or even bible study groups looking for love in all the wrong places. A church is full of people for whom the truth of how easy it is to get God's approval, has simply escaped them. They are horny teenage boys sitting in a church balcony feeling up a vulnerable girl while the pastor tells them how to get what they really need from God. They are bible study leaders who read God's truth and teach it to others, but stop in for a beer and a table dance on their way home because the words they read just didn't sink in. They are topless dancers who love and praise God at home, but can't find a way out of the messy money machine in which they work. And God knows the heart of everyone of them. And He is patient. And He is kind. He knows the crap that has been dealt to each of them because it will ultimately be used for His glory. He knows they are hearing snippets of truth here and there about his love and salvation, but can't quite own it yet. Those angry little seeds of truth are lodged in the broken and fertile hearts of men and women in churches and in bars all over the place. Some will never grow. But the ones who seek the light and the water of life will grow into whole new creatures of God's grace, all shiny and new!

It's a slow journey and we are all in different stages. Your parents will fail you, your leaders will disappoint you, your church will hurt you. You will also fail others, disappoint them and hurt them badly. We're all broken and ugly and we all have a God shaped hole that we will try to fill with something else. What are you filling the hole with? Who are looking to for validation? Who are you blaming?

James 4: 9-10 Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.

The rest of James 4 is some seriously good stuff. Try www.blueletterbible.org and look it up!