Damaged

As I spent some time online today, I found myself on a friend's facebook page. His religious view read: The church has damaged many in the name of God.
How true this statement is. It is not necessarily intentional but over and over the church has hurt, ridiculed, shunned, or attacked others. We claim to do everything in the name of God but as humans we continually fall short of His perfection, love, mercy, and grace. We could never be God because His ways are so far beyond ours that we can not even mimic Him well. Yet He continues to allow us to carry His name. We go out into a lost, hurting, and dying world. We carry the name of love and truth and grace. We carry the name of a savior. Sometimes we are not reflections of that love, truth, and grace.
So I guess my question is, if we agree that "the church has damaged many in the name of God," how do we become part of the solution rather than part of the problem?

Faith Like A Child

I absolutely love our daycare kids. For those of you who don’t know, the church where I am interning has a daycare that meets in our building five days a week. Because of this, we are constantly interacting with the kids in one way or another. Some days are better than others (you would believe how much the sound of a child crying can carry through a church building). However, I would not trade having them here. They constantly brighten my day. Last week, as my day was finishing up I began to hear a child singing. My office shares a wall with the men’s restroom. One of the little boys was in the restroom singing the national anthem. It was adorable.
Just a few moments ago, I walked out to the refrigerator to grab my lunch. As I did so, one of the daycare teachers said, “Let’s pray,” in preparation for their lunch. Instantly, about twenty little heads were bowed and hands were folded. It reminded me that we are called to have faith like a child. It is a beautiful thing.

Ten (Parodoxical) Commands

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
5. Honest and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest mean and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
~Kent Keith