What do Barry Bonds, the Houston Astros, and Life Church all have in common? They should each have…read morean asterisk after their name.
We all know about Bonds and the Astros, but why Life Church? An asterisk is used to reference omission. Barry Bonds hit all those home runs but omitted the fact that he did it under the influence of steroids.
Life Church deserves such an asterisk.
Their website's homepage states:
"Life Church is a different type of church. Since its beginning, the church's approach has always been to offer a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere where people can come as they are, regardless of their background, and experience a relationship with Jesus Christ." Nothing could be further from the truth.
Dig a bit deeper and the church website states its values as "All people matter under God, so they matter to us", "Anyone can come as they are", "God changes us to be like Jesus", "God created us for community", and "God calls every one of us to be a minister and missionary in every moment". Again, insert asterisk here.
My family recently moved to Texas from Tennessee where I have been a lifelong member of a southern Baptist church. When we arrived in Liberty Hill, we wanted to find a church in which we could thrive as a family, where our kids could participate in youth group, where we could get involved in community outreach and missions and thrive as Christians.
On the recommendation of neighbors, we attended our first Life Church service in late 2021 and were impressed with the welcome we received and the way they were organized around checking our children in and out of the kids' church. We enjoyed the service, and the kids loved their program, and for the first time ever, told us they'd like to go back to church.
After months of attendance, involvement, meeting wonderful people, making donations, kids attending camp, and a particular sermon by the lead pastor about the importance of being a member of a church, Life Church, or another, we made it official and signed up for their membership class and took advantage of their opportunity to join and get more involved. Following an email from the individual in charge of the elementary program at the church welcoming me to the team as a volunteer and outlining the process of volunteering for the youth ministries, I received a subsequent email from the lead pastor stating we should "probably address the elephant in the room".
We welcomed the lead pastor to our home for the conversation, which started with his asking about our journey in Christ. We both told our stories and gave details of our relationships with God, the church, and even our family. As the conversation continued, he kept saying this is such a difficult situation we're in. We still weren't clear what situation he was talking about. So, I finally just put it out there on the table. "Are you here today to talk about the fact we're a same sex couple? A couple that has been together for twenty years? A couple that loves the Lord, are born again Christians and want to worship and praise the Lord just like anyone else?" He said yes.
How do you think Jesus felt looking down on that moment?
I've never felt so judged, and by a minister, to make it even worse. The fact that he came into our home, drank our coffee, asked engaging questions, and then told us we are unworthy is just unacceptable.
Life Church managed to do more damage to the faith of this family than it will ever realize or admit. Our kids have been rocked by this and they don't understand, since all they heard from the church for 8 months was that everyone is welcome, and God loves all. Now, kids that were so close in their relationship with Jesus are questioning everything. But we will continue to serve the Lord and won't let our relationship with God be deterred by the opinion of Life Church*.