Sometimes, I wish this stuff were all a joke.
The headline read "Protesting Methodist LGBTQ policy, confirmation class takes a pass". It appeared on my Facebook thread posted by a friend who was celebrating this action.
I can't. There is no way that I can, at least in the manner that I understand confirmation.
I mean, maybe the Methodists understand things differently, but confirmation is much, much more than simply becoming a member of a church. Confirmation is first and foremost affirming your faith. Confirmation is saying, "When I was an infant, my parents had me baptized. Because I was unable to make any promises before God myself, my parents made them for me. They promised to raise me as a Christian--to teach me the tenets of the Christian faith; to prepare me for the day when I could make those promises myself and say loudly and clearly, 'You know those promises my parents made for me? Those promises are no longer my parents' promises. They are mine!! I no longer follow Christ because my parents want me to. I follow Christ because I want to!'"
These teens stood in front of their congregation and said, "No. Not now."
No. I don't want to affirm my baptism.
No. I don't want to follow Christ.
No. I don't want to adhere to the tenets of the Christian faith.
Because I (myopically) disagree with my denomination, I won't become a Christian.
And the congregation gave them a standing ovation.
Let that sink in.
I wish this were all a joke. A very bad joke at that.
If this is the "church" (and I use that word very, very loosely) that is emerging in the U.S., then let it die. Let it go the way of the dinosaur. It deserves nothing less than death and condemnation for it applauds when kids walk away from the faith. It is the part of the vine which needs pruning and badly.
Don't want to join a church? Fine.
Don't want to be a part of a denomination? Find another.
Don't like your current denomination's policies? Reform or start your own.
Applaud when kids refuse to confirm the faith? God help us.
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