Is the Church Too Exclusive?

About this sermon

The Church gets a lot of criticism for its rigid adherence to its doctrines and high moral standard which contribute to feelings of exclusion among those who don’t believe in those doctrines or don’t feel like they can live in a pattern that reflects those moral teachings. And, a big part of me sympathizes with calls for the Church to be more inclusive. Virtually every churchgoer has felt marginalized at some point by someone within the Church. And the more involved you get, the more likely you are to have experienced it. I’ve struggled, plenty of times, to fit in in with the Church. Sometimes I feel like I’m too liberal for certain groups, sometimes I feel like I’m too conservative. I’ve had people make comments about my hair or the way I dress and too often, I’d say, the expectations that we place on each other seem to arbitrarily defined. I think the reason for that is an all too common confusion about the distinction between big T tradition and little t tradition. I don’t want to get into a long explanation of what those are, but suffice it to say that some beliefs and practices are non negotiable absolute truths and some are flexible disciplines and practices. Many Catholics struggle to know the difference and end up excluding people over their lack of adherence to small t traditions that aren’t essential. They treat them as if they are essential and then marginalize people that don’t conform to them. And that’s a really good example of how we, as the Church, can be far more inclusive and flexible. Unfortunately, where this criticism of the Church’s deficit of inclusiveness is often directed, is against her teachings. but I think there’s a major inconsistency with that criticism that needs to be admitted if we’re ever going to build authentic bridges of dialogue with people who feel marginalized by those teachings. The Church believes certain fundamental things to be true and not merely for the sake of ideology, but because we believe that these truths will lead a person to health, happiness, prosperity, and freedom. Jesus said the truth will set you free. But critics have adopted a world view that caters to people with certain beliefs in the name of inclusivity and declared their opposition to anyone who does not uphold their exact. same. beliefs. In other words, they are exclusive to anyone that isn’t them but insist that they are the vanguard of inclusivity. Do you see the irony in that? That’s like having two opposing sides in a conflict or even a war where one declares itself to be the champions of peace and that if you stand for peace and non-violence, then you must join them to fight the other side. Here’s the point I want to make. Nobody has an exclusive claim on inclusivity… because that’s a contradiction. You cannot say that your opposition to people who stand firm in long-held beliefs is about inclusivity. You can say that you oppose their beliefs, but you cannot say that inclusivity is the motive while you draw a line in the sand that excludes everyone that isn’t willing to cross it. The beliefs of the Church are essential to its existence. What I don’t understand is this idea that people who don’t agree with those beliefs want to be included in the Church? Like I don’t look at organizations like PETA and say, I wish they wouldn’t exclude me just because I’m not vegan. I don’t want to be included because I don’t agree with their core values. There are so many examples of churches that have succumbed to this concept of inclusivity and by most estimations, they will be extinct within a matter of decades. In reality, they ended the moment they compromised the beliefs that were intrinsic to their identity. The gradual progression towards the day that they shutter their doors is just a formality in recognizing that they no longer exist. To ask the Church to abandon its essential doctrines so that it can be inclusive to people that don’t believe in it is to ask it to cease to exist which, to me, reveals the motive in that request. People that ask for that don’t want to be included in the Church, they want to be included in a world where the Church doesn’t exist and I think everyone needs to be more honest about that. Let’s stop hiding behind contradictory notions of inclusivity and be open about the opposition that exists. Recognizing the reality of that opposition is healthy and honest and it’s the only way that any authentic dialogue and understanding will ever be breached. Please comment with your ideas about the video and if you find it interesting, please share it and subscribe. Twitter: https://twitter.com/briankeepsworth Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brianholdsworthmedia Business: https://www.holdsworthdesign.com

Topics

• Church & Fellowship
• The Church