You meet this lady. As you begin chatting with her, you discover that when she was a child, she went to a public school. When she got to grade 8, she had a teacher she never really got along with. One day the teacher made a remark that really rubbed this girl the wrong way. In fact, she was so upset by this remark that she decided never to return to school. She was a bright girl though, and did enjoy learning – so she decided that she would educate herself for the rest of her life. It’s 5 years later, and she’s completed her high school equivalent degree through self study. Sure, it took a year longer and a lot more effort – but she did it! And she did well. She has similar plans for her post-secondary education as she intends to pursue a certification she can earn outside the classroom.
Alsoooo…
Your dad doesn’t like the doctor. He went to a doctor when he was in the 12th grade and was advised incorrectly. His doctor messed up and it cost him a year of disability. He promised himself he would never return. He resolved to use the internet for the rest of his life to take care of his health because the healthcare system he had previously been involved in sure didn’t work!
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We are fallible little human beings. We screw up. We say the wrong things and we act unkindly from time to time. We misunderstand the people we meet and so we fail to meet their needs. It happens – and I suspect it always will.
Occasionally, these dysfunctional interactions are pretty bad. And they manage to skew our impression of an entire group of people, institution or organization based on a single conversation.
But that doesn’t make our skewed impressions right.
If I ran in to lady A, I might try and convince her to give the university system a try. Yes, she was wronged and that shouldn’t have happened. But it isn’t a fair reflection on the education system as a whole. That being said, fair impressions aren’t why I would encourage her to try again. I generally believe that the established post-secondary education system will provide her the easiest route to achieving her educational goals. Sure, she may succeed otherwise, but it would seemingly be a lot of needless time and effort on her part, given that a system is already in place that has repeatedly shown itself to work.
Similarly, I would share these concerns with my dad. While he might successfully bumble his way through an abundance of internet sites and somehow manage to take care of himself and any illness that befalls him – it just doesn’t seem worth the effort, when there’s already a system in place that works.
I think the same is true of the Church. There’s this thought that seems increasingly prevalent these days suggesting that the Church is an unnecessary entity. That eternal happiness can be found on our own and the Church just gets in the way of that. People are choosing to find their own way to Heaven, and see no place for the Church that journey. Whether it’s the result of a disappointing encounter with a member of the Church or an enlightenment of sorts they’ve reached independently – I don’t think it’s the answer.
Since Jesus left this Earth, His people have been banded together to form the Church He established. She has undergone trials of her own and her people haven’t always been faithful, but as an institution – she has successfully led her faithful followers to their eternal place of rest. Those who follow her precepts earnestly find the peace and happiness their hearts desire. She is well established and her instruction is true.
So while there are some who never step foot inside a church who we’ll meet in heaven, I’m opting for the path that is well trodden. Though many of life’s circumstances reward those who make their own way – the consequence here is too great for me to stumble along a path of no guarantees. 2000 years of success sounds good to me!
We are fallible little human beings. We screw up. We say the wrong things and we act unkindly from time to time. We misunderstand the people we meet and so we fail to meet their needs. It happens – and I suspect it always will.
Occasionally, these dysfunctional interactions are pretty bad. And they manage to skew our impression of an entire group of people, institution or organization based on a single conversation.
But that doesn’t make our skewed impressions right.
If I ran in to lady A, I might try and convince her to give the university system a try. Yes, she was wronged and that shouldn’t have happened. But it isn’t a fair reflection on the education system as a whole. That being said, fair impressions aren’t why I would encourage her to try again. I generally believe that the established post-secondary education system will provide her the easiest route to achieving her educational goals. Sure, she may succeed otherwise, but it would seemingly be a lot of needless time and effort on her part, given that a system is already in place that has repeatedly shown itself to work.
Similarly, I would share these concerns with my dad. While he might successfully bumble his way through an abundance of internet sites and somehow manage to take care of himself and any illness that befalls him – it just doesn’t seem worth the effort, when there’s already a system in place that works.
I think the same is true of the Church. There’s this thought that seems increasingly prevalent these days suggesting that the Church is an unnecessary entity. That eternal happiness can be found on our own and the Church just gets in the way of that. People are choosing to find their own way to Heaven, and see no place for the Church that journey. Whether it’s the result of a disappointing encounter with a member of the Church or an enlightenment of sorts they’ve reached independently – I don’t think it’s the answer.
Since Jesus left this Earth, His people have been banded together to form the Church He established. She has undergone trials of her own and her people haven’t always been faithful, but as an institution – she has successfully led her faithful followers to their eternal place of rest. Those who follow her precepts earnestly find the peace and happiness their hearts desire. She is well established and her instruction is true.
So while there are some who never step foot inside a church who we’ll meet in heaven, I’m opting for the path that is well trodden. Though many of life’s circumstances reward those who make their own way – the consequence here is too great for me to stumble along a path of no guarantees. 2000 years of success sounds good to me!
