Thread by @aslipperyslope2

A quick thread to progressive Christian's, from your neighborhood #exvangelical, #exChristian.

When we talk about faith, faith crisis, lack of faith, our journey, our pain, our experience, anything basically, please stop telling us to:

-keep the faith
-find the real Jesus
-have faith in God
-find a different church

Stop insisting:

-God is real
-When we find healing we can find the real God
-Your church/experience is better or unlike ours

You forget that we have spent our whole lives learning, reading, and teaching God and Jesus. We KNOW who the "real" Jesus is. But we still, for whatever reason, do not have faith in him, whether that is for a limited time or for forever.

Insisting we haven't seen or found the "real Jesus", invalidates our experience & knowledge and puts us on a lower level than you, as if our pain blinds us from seeing some truth that you insist is out there.

You insisting we find another church, or have faith in God rather than people, invalidates our pain and experience and our legitimate expectation that the people in church represent the Jesus they profess.

You wishing we can find healing so that we can find the "real Jesus" invalidates our choice and our journey. It tells us there is only one way to find a full, happy life.

It assumes that we walked away solely based on people's actions and not because perhaps we aren't cool with the "real God" either. Perhaps none of it makes sense or we believe the harm of this religion outweighs the good. Perhaps we walked away for a myriad of other reasons.

We are diverse and individual and there may be a thousand different reasons we walked away. But surely, not knowing the "real Jesus" is not one of them. We know him.

Not to mention that losing faith, in many ways, doesn't feel like a choice. As a friend, @Carissa12Nicole, pointed out, our new knowledge has pushed us in another direction and we can't just choose to go back to where we were. Everyone reacts to that change differently.

Some have to walk away altogether in order to find a more whole, filled life. For some it's just for a time, for others they can never go back. Regardless, please don't rush us on our journey. And please stop implying we are missing something.

Some people thrive with faith, some thrive without it. One isn't better than the other and one doesn't predict more happiness than the other. Our choice to walk away is valid and we don't want to be pushed.

Thanks for tuning in.
Signed,
A tired #exvangelical.

#EmptyThePews

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