ON QUITTING

           

 

No matter what group you belong to, family, school, church, country, you will always find people who will quit. There has been some scandalous news and they walk out. Sometimes they walk out quietly; sometimes they make a lot of noise in their departure.

 

We are human beings. We can be unbelievably generous and self-sacrificing; we can also be terribly evil and hurt and exploit other human beings. Within every human  being is the potential to do great things or become a scoundrel.

 

When people leave the church, political party or school community we have to ask: what are they trying to accomplish? Is this a protest against the scandalous behavior of some members  or are they just giving up on what the community/organization is trying to accomplish?  Is it a statement of principle or a cop-out?

 

When people leave the Church they should first ask, ‘do you have any issues that upset you and make want to walk away?’  Some of our members can be too narrow within themselves and feel that no one else has serious difficulties with school/church/government.

 

There are many things that make me want to quit. I am always upset by people who claim to believe in God and practice some sort of the Christian religion but can be so racist and violent towards people who are different from themselves.

 

I can be so upset by Christians who reject any concern for the survival of the earth. They are opposed to anything that challenge their over-consumptive lifestyle. They oppose countless number of scientists who warn humanity against climate warming. 

 

I should be angry that Orthodox Christians (Russian soldiers) are killing and destroying Ukrainian Christians. This invasion is a incredible black spot on our Christianity.

 

I should be upset by the slowness the official/international church has in dealing with the equality of women in the Church. 

 

The answer is not to quit and walk out. We all have serious issues with the manner in which we are living our Christianity. The only healthy approach is to work from within the Church to change its practice. No one should be naïve to think that this will not cause us a great deal of suffering. Change and improvement may not come in our lifetime. We are int his for the long haul.

 

As we survey the issues that cause us pain and grief, we need to be reminded of the piece of folk wisdom that will carry us through these difficult time: “Better to light one candle than to ever curse the darkness.” 

 

Jesus did not give up because he has such weak and incompetent disciples. 

 

Keep fighting. Keep working for change.