(Editors note: I wrote this in April of '08 after visiting my first christian service and decided to post it as a Facebook note. Reading it again made me cringe as I remembered how closed minded I was. I know now that it's all the same God or even if you don't believe in that God- as long as you're a good person- I'm fine. It's not my job to judge or condemn.)
You have probably heard at one point in your life the song "They will know we are Christians by our love." Well today I changed those words. Now the words that are running though my head are "They will know I'm Catholic by the stupid look on my face". Same tune- different message.
The reason for this change begins at around 9:00 A.M. this morning. That was when I walked into the Madison Christian Church for the first time.
OK let me tell how this came to be...A couple of weeks ago I was talking with Peggy, QU's campus minster, as usual our conversations rapidly change for subject to subject. Nothing usually too deep just about past experiences and such. I had mentioned to her that I have never gone to a protestant service before. Peggy, being a protestant herself, invited me to go to her church. I accepted so now here we are, my first protestant service.
Right when we walked into the church, I knew I was no longer in Rome. ( I changed it from Kansas to Rome, Rome- center of Catholic religion?) As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with a hug from a lady and a handshake from a man both of whom I have obviously never met. (Yep definitely not Rome.) The entrance to the church looked like something you find at a hotel. There was a front desk with people with name tags standing behind it. (Later I would find out that that was the welcoming desk for newcomers.) There was even a place where you could get coffee, tea, or water. Yeah no coffee in Rome.
As Peggy and I made our way though the crowd; I saw the stares. They knew. They knew I was Catholic. They could smell it, of course the scared look on my face didn't help either. But they seemed to like Peggy so I stayed close. I continued follow her closely into the main church area. With the absence of crucifixes, wooden pews and kneller's. It looked like any other church I've been to. Except all the music equipment on the alter and the huge scene at the front of the church with a slide show of bible verses on it. We Catholics are known as the "frozen chosen" for a reason.
You know the term "step outside your comfort zone", well I was so far into my zone it would days to find me. Of course Peggy and I had sat about four or fives rows from the front. Yep definitely wasn't coming out of my zone. A couple minutes later the worship band came out. I have to admit they were really good. The singing was amazing. After the first two songs were over, we stood up to greet one another. That was when I decided to venture a little out of my zone. Not all the way but enough. I was beginning to find out that these people were really really nice, and accepting.
After greeting everyone around me, the band started playing "How great is our God", one of my favorite songs. I started to sing along when I stopped myself. "What if God gets mad at me for singing here?" I know it's a crazy thought but I couldn't help but thinking it. But that was when I really looked around the church, I saw people worshiping, I could tell they loved God..a lot. The band was also getting into it. And there was where I had my ephinany: we all love the same God. It's like my mother said; No matter what denomination the story is still the same: Jesus still died and rose from the dead to save us all!*
The rest of the service only confirmed what I had learned. There was a skit about a girl who came out with a red balloon. I didn't get it but it was funny. The message was, I believe, is that we were all taught different beliefs but there is only one truth: that to get to heaven you have to know Jesus first. The pastor later explained that God is not going to ask where you went to church, but if you knew His Son. I had never thought about it in that way, but it made sense to me.
I have always considered myself Catholic- not Christian. They were different, far away from the truth. I would have never considered going to "their" church. But now I'm beginning to think that in order to fully understand Christ we need to step out and learn from each other. An image that popped into my mind while in church this morning was a painting. And that each denomination holds a different color, this painting requires all the different colors to make a single object. Every color, even though it is different is equally important.
I still am Catholic and I will never change, but now I can add being a Christian as well. Maybe next time when I go back "They will know I'm a Christian by my love".**
The reason for this change begins at around 9:00 A.M. this morning. That was when I walked into the Madison Christian Church for the first time.
OK let me tell how this came to be...A couple of weeks ago I was talking with Peggy, QU's campus minster, as usual our conversations rapidly change for subject to subject. Nothing usually too deep just about past experiences and such. I had mentioned to her that I have never gone to a protestant service before. Peggy, being a protestant herself, invited me to go to her church. I accepted so now here we are, my first protestant service.
Right when we walked into the church, I knew I was no longer in Rome. ( I changed it from Kansas to Rome, Rome- center of Catholic religion?) As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with a hug from a lady and a handshake from a man both of whom I have obviously never met. (Yep definitely not Rome.) The entrance to the church looked like something you find at a hotel. There was a front desk with people with name tags standing behind it. (Later I would find out that that was the welcoming desk for newcomers.) There was even a place where you could get coffee, tea, or water. Yeah no coffee in Rome.
As Peggy and I made our way though the crowd; I saw the stares. They knew. They knew I was Catholic. They could smell it, of course the scared look on my face didn't help either. But they seemed to like Peggy so I stayed close. I continued follow her closely into the main church area. With the absence of crucifixes, wooden pews and kneller's. It looked like any other church I've been to. Except all the music equipment on the alter and the huge scene at the front of the church with a slide show of bible verses on it. We Catholics are known as the "frozen chosen" for a reason.
You know the term "step outside your comfort zone", well I was so far into my zone it would days to find me. Of course Peggy and I had sat about four or fives rows from the front. Yep definitely wasn't coming out of my zone. A couple minutes later the worship band came out. I have to admit they were really good. The singing was amazing. After the first two songs were over, we stood up to greet one another. That was when I decided to venture a little out of my zone. Not all the way but enough. I was beginning to find out that these people were really really nice, and accepting.
After greeting everyone around me, the band started playing "How great is our God", one of my favorite songs. I started to sing along when I stopped myself. "What if God gets mad at me for singing here?" I know it's a crazy thought but I couldn't help but thinking it. But that was when I really looked around the church, I saw people worshiping, I could tell they loved God..a lot. The band was also getting into it. And there was where I had my ephinany: we all love the same God. It's like my mother said; No matter what denomination the story is still the same: Jesus still died and rose from the dead to save us all!*
The rest of the service only confirmed what I had learned. There was a skit about a girl who came out with a red balloon. I didn't get it but it was funny. The message was, I believe, is that we were all taught different beliefs but there is only one truth: that to get to heaven you have to know Jesus first. The pastor later explained that God is not going to ask where you went to church, but if you knew His Son. I had never thought about it in that way, but it made sense to me.
I have always considered myself Catholic- not Christian. They were different, far away from the truth. I would have never considered going to "their" church. But now I'm beginning to think that in order to fully understand Christ we need to step out and learn from each other. An image that popped into my mind while in church this morning was a painting. And that each denomination holds a different color, this painting requires all the different colors to make a single object. Every color, even though it is different is equally important.
I still am Catholic and I will never change, but now I can add being a Christian as well. Maybe next time when I go back "They will know I'm a Christian by my love".**
*Must note that my dad and most sides of my family are not Catholic- yep. I'm a denominational mutt.
**I went back three or four times until Peggy left a year later.
