When Christians Cancel Each Other
Why the church needs less arrogance and more wrestling with scripture.
Welcome to today’s article.
Sacred & Secular is a place where faith meets real life, and questions, doubts, and disagreements are not threats but invitations to wrestle honestly with scripture, church, and the world we share.
One of the hardest things I found in parish ministry wasn’t the funerals, the 3 a.m. phone calls, or even the relentless admin. It was the emails.
There were certain types of emails that dropped silently into my inbox that were designed to ruin my day. These were letters from disgruntled parishioners, but equally could be from other local pastors and church leaders. Sometimes these letters told me, in no uncertain terms, that what I had written in my parish newsletter or said in a local interview was “wrong.” Some even suggested I should repent. Most assured me that they would pray for me, which just sounded passive-aggressive rather than a blessing.
I remember reading one of those emails and wondering: How did we get here? How did Christians become so quick to wound one another, to pull rank, and to declare with absolute certainty that “my interpretation is right and yours is wrong”? , before deciding not to talk to me again.
