Episode 3 - Broken Community

Written by: Fun But Shy Girl

Special Thanks to: StuckFan

Based on Characters Created by: Mark Reisman

Sydney and Harry walked into a large church, as their teenage daughters Alisha and Valicity followed behind them. As everyone began to walk separate ways, Sydney said, "Okay girls. Have fun volunteering with the preschool kids. Harry, have fun making food." Everyone waved as they went off in separate directions. Sydney then walked into a room and sat down as a Bible Study class was soon going to begin. As several other women sat down near Sydney, Sydney waved and said, "Hey everyone. How are you all doing?" Then one of the women said, "Okay. But did you hear about Rochelle's daughter Rachel? She got pregnant. Ooo. I always knew that poor girl's promiscuous behavior was going to get her in trouble one day." A concerned looking Sydney then said, "You mean Rachel Gustin? Oh my gosh. Well has anybody called Rachel to see how she's doing? Has anybody invited her back to church?" One of the other women then said, "Well we better question doing that, as we don't need someone so influential like Rachel messing with the minds of all our sweet girls here. Don't you agree?" Sydney then leaned back in her seat slightly as she had a troubled look on her face.

Alisha was taking some papers out of a photo copy machine as she said, "There it is. All the coloring pages the kids will need today." Then as Alisha walked down a hallway, a teenage boy waved and said, "Hey Alisha. How's it going?" A smiling Alisha then said, "Oh hey Kevin. I'm doing great. I heard you won the big football game last weekend." Then suddenly another teenage girl stepped into the hallway and said, "Alisha! You were only supposed to be gone for a minute just to photo copy papers! You've got a commitment to help take care of the kids in the preschool room! Now get back over here now!" Alisha sighed as she said, "Fine."

As Sydney sat in her Bible Study among several other adults, one man stood up as he said, "So I've done an outline for a group presentation I want our Bible Study group to do for next week's sermon. Let me known which parts you want to do, and we can start working from there." As Sydney looked at a piece of paper in her hand she said, "Um... why does this sermon look more like a promotion for a guy running for the senate in our state?" Then the Bible Study leader said, "Because this sermon is about how we as Christians must support other Christians. And Senator Mounte Bank supports religious freedoms, keeping churches exempt from many un-fair tax laws, and protections for children from outside interest groups in the schools." Sydney then raised one eyebrow as she said, "And he is also well known for using foul language in speeches and has been friendly with a couple of hate groups out there." The Bible Study leader then said, "Sydney, we're living in a day where Christians are being persecuted in this country. We have to support all the allies we can." Sydney sighed and then leaned back in her seat with a more troubled look on her face.

Alisha sat in an office with a church leader as she said, "Hey Mr. Hahn. Is everything okay?" Mr Hahn with a disappointed look on his face said, "Well Alisha... I'm sorry to say but... we've received a number of complaints about your work volunteering in the preschool room recently and... well, I'm sorry but you're not invited to work in that program anymore." A confused Alisha then said, "Complaints? What complaints?" Mr. Hahn then held out some papers as he said, "Your peers have just recently said you were caught not doing your job today, and last week several of the children escaped from the room under your watch." An angry looking Alisha said, "What? I was just talking Kevin for a few seconds while walking back from the photo copy machine. And last week, the only reason two kids escaped was because I was putting a band-aid on one of the kids' knees. The real reason the other two kids escaped was because the other volunteers were busy starring at their cell phones." Mr. Hahn then said, "Well regardless, you know how it works here. Three strikes, and you're out. We cannot give the children of this congregation anything other than five star quality child care." Alisha then stood up with a horrified look on her face, and then walked out of the room.

In the evening: Sydney, Harry, Alisha, and Valicity were sitting around the dinner table talking with another. As they sat together, an upset Alisha then said, "And then they just kicked me out. Didn't want to hear my side of the story. They won't even work with me at seemingly improving at my job. It's just: you're not good enough to the standards of others, so you're out. I mean... I'm always the first and last to leave whenever I volunteer in the preschool room and never look at my phone when I work. And now... Ugggh." Then Valicity said, "I hear you. I used to like volunteering in the preschool room too, but now... it's just a popular girls hang out." Sydney then looked down as she sighed. A concerned looking Alisha then said, "Mom, are you okay?" Sydney didn't speak for a minute. Then Harry looked at Alisha and Valicity as he said, "Girls, we'll clean up tonight. You two can just go to your rooms now." Alisha and Valicity looking a little confused, then stood up and walked over to their room.

After they left, Harry looked at Sydney as he said, "You wanna talk about it?" Sydney sighed and said, "Harry... what's going on? This is the church I've gone to since I was thirteen. When me, dad, and grandma first start attending; the congregation just welcomed us, accepted us as we were, came to our aide when any kind of problem was going on. But now... our daughters get ridiculed for making just the slightest mistake, and the people in Bible Study are getting over focused on political campaigns and gossip." Harry sighed and said, "I know. When I help prepare food in the kitchen for the big after church meal every Sunday, so many people in there fight over whose recipe we should follow, and even which type of table cloths we should use. I don't care at all, so I never discuss it." Sydney looking more sad now said, "Harry... I don't know what's going on. Are... is Christianity not what we thought it was?"

Harry sighed and said, "Sydney... while I have faith in God, you may have noticed I've never been the biggest fan of going to church. I still have, because I want to be with you and the girls whenever I can and support what you all like to do. However... I have felt like organized church has become the thing it isn't supposed to be. Like the Pharisees of ancient times, they have become more about their perceived appearances and being the best of the best, and not about God's love; especially God's love for the sinner. The Church likes to pretend their main goal is to save sinners, but most times now it is about looking good to the world. Remember, Jesus didn't spend his time with people like them. He sat with the sinners. The Pharisees, while doing it wrong, already knew what to do to please God. The sinners didn't. So Jesus spent time with them. I believe, if Christ were to walk among us today. He wouldn't spend time in any of the Churches of today. He would go to the jails, the halfway houses, the homeless, and the forgotten among us."

Sydney looking sad then said, "So you think churches are falling apart because they've all become obsessed with being perfect looking or something like that?" Harry then said, "Well they're also trying to be the ones in control and thus can deem themselves as perfect. And while I don't fault the majority of church goers... I do see many hypocrites in the Church. And while I'm sure there are true Followers of Christ among them, I am more inclined to believe the majority are not. But we have to remember, everyone that attends church are still sinners; AKA not perfect. So many people seem to think Christian means no longer a sinner. They forget Christian means a forgiven sinner. But still a sinner. Again, not perfect." Sydney then titled her head down and said, "But... our church... it wasn't like this when I was younger. I was saved in that church, baptized in that church, our kids were baptized in that church... I just... Harry, what's going on?" Harry sighed and said, "I know it is a story with many variations but always the same theme. I'm sorry it's happening so close to home now. Try to hold on to the people you remember at church who were actually trying to make a better world. Those who were, most likely, were really doing God's will. Unfortunately, they either lost control, or left thinking things were fine while others used that place for their own ends, not God's." Sydney then buried her head and her hands and slowly began to cry, as Harry hugged her.

On Sunday morning, Sydney walked into a Bible Study class, as the lead male teacher said, "Sydney, perfect timing. We were gonna practice what we were gonna say for the sermon this morning. You wanna do your part first?" Sydney then held out a piece of a paper as she said, "Yes. I'm not gonna be able to stay for the sermon this morning, but I'm gonna say what I wanted to right now." The teacher looking confused said, "Um... okay." Sydney then stood before her class and said, "In Bible Study last week, it was discussed how Christians in the United States are being persecuted in this day and age. However that was confusing for me to hear that considering there are still more churches in this country than public schools. Christianity is still the dominant faith in the United States, and yet Christians keep acting like it isn't. Yes, church attendance has been constantly dropping over the last several decades. But rather than discuss how the church needs to improve to better outreach to people, this church constantly blames the rest of society and demands they all change for us. This church along with so many other churches in this country have become obsessed with politics and who is in the White House, rather than looking hard at what's going on this house. Because maybe people don't want to come to this house of worship anymore, because this has not become a place of love. Jesus himself said that after loving God, loving others is the most important thing we can do. And later in the Bible it explains how love involves being kind, patient, not envying, not boasting, keeping no record of wrongs, and not being rude. Well in this place... kindness is often forgotten, patience is not practiced, people show envy for those with control and power, boasting occurs, and records of wrong are kept on both paper and through chains of gossip which by itself is also rude. So many American Christians have become obsessed with control and appearing to be perfect or the best of the best, that they haven't realized how that pursuit has damaged the Christian community from the inside out. It's caused some people to feel like they don't belong because they're not perfect enough, while many others don't want to belong because they see an institution full of people who claim to be perfect but aren't. Christians should've be living with an us versus them mentality. We're all God's children, so we should always be supporting, forgiving, and caring for everyone. I'm not perfect, I've made mistakes, and I want to keep growing in my faith... but I need to do it in a community that actually practices what it preaches. So... goodbye."

Then Sydney walked out of the room with tears in her eyes. Sydney then walked out of the church and into a car where Harry, Alisha, and Valicity were waiting. Harry then said, "You okay Sydney?" Sydney still had tears in her eyes as she nodded her head and said, "Yeah." A curious looking Valicity then said, "Now what? Are we not gonna go to church anymore ever again?" Sydney looking a little uncertain said, "I... I want us to attend church again one day. It'll just have to be a different kind of church. However... I think we're gonna take a break for awhile so that we as a family can do our own Bible Study at home and remind ourselves what love looks like... so that we can better recognize communities that actually do understand what that means when we start looking for a new church community again one day. However, I'd also like to spend part of our next few Sundays helping a girl I know named Rachel out. She doesn't have a church community anymore either now, and she could maybe using loving assistance from us."

*This chapter was based on a series of true stories... and I wish they weren't...

The End