by The Lady Michaela

 This page was inspired by this letter sent in: Every "christian" church I have gone to has shunned me away.  A lady, today in a dress came up to me and my friends and handed us some flyers and said "here you go dears I think you need to bring Christ into your lives." I just wanted to scream:  I DO  HAVE CHRIST IN MY LIFE!   I love God with all of my heart and yet I'm being told I'm a satanist because I wear black..  Help please, help me understand this, what do I do, where do I turn?  
It's too bad there are some ignorant Christians in the world but there are far more wonderful loving Christians out there, and it's a shame because of the few ignorant ones that so many nice kids should get turned off to church.  I do know exactly how you feel...I too have been stared at and even prayed over by a visiting evangelist at a church I use to attend.  I think he thought I was a witch or something!  I really hope you all will be encouraged to continue looking for a good church because going to the "right" church is very important.  If you do not allow God to help you grow through this painful experience it will continue to hurt and stunt your growth as a Christian. Give the rejection and hurt to Him. Jesus promised that offenses would come and the best thing I can do for you, is to be honest and help you grow through this pain and rejection, otherwise I really wouldn't be operating in His love.  (Although it makes me quite upset when I receive stories like this.)  A lot of our brothers and sisters in the Lord are blinded by the fact that we all do not fit into the Christian Cookie Cutter Mold they believe we should fit into.  We are all individuals and the Lord uses those unique qualities in us to reach others like us.  Some suggestions I might want to offer you would be to perhaps mail a letter to the pastor (of the church that rejected you) and tell him LOVINGLY exactly what happened and then tell him that Jesus Christ is your Lord and savoir and that because of your attire, some in his church thought otherwise, and that is not right to judge on the outward appearance.  You could tell the pastor to visit ChristianGoth.com to better understand where you are coming from.  You could quote 1 Samuel 16:7 to folks who give you flyers suggesting you need the Lord.  "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7.....if memorization or nervousness is a problem, you could carry this scripture printed out on cards to hand to those rejecting and judging you (in Christian love.)  I have that scripture on a picture holder keychain on my coffin shaped purse for such an occasion!  When you ask "why is God putting you through this".....like I said earlier, Jesus did say offenses will come, even sometimes by our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  I also asked myself that very question when it happened to me.  The answer, I soon found out was: SO I WOULD KNOW WHAT IT FELT LIKE!  It was a painful lesson for me that I too needed to work through as you do now.  I can honestly with all my heart say, I understand, how you are feeling....I know the pain and hurt of that rejection....but, what you need to do (and it is not easy, you need to forgive those folks) God will deal with them....you need to rise above the situation, and be the best Christian you can possibly be.  That way you know that YOU KNOW you are right with the Lord and He is looking with eyes of approval on you.  Your walk with the Lord will eventually shut the judging mouths of those who hand you flyers or say nasty remarks.  Above all, to finally answer the question of where do I turn?  You go running straight into the arms of Jesus!!  You cry...you yell...you tell Him whatever is on your heart concerning this whole ordeal and then turn it over to Him.  Leave it there with Him at the cross...and if it happens again, do the same thing!  Run to Jesus, but NEVER, never run away from Him because of what others do to you.

February 7, 07

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