My maternal grandparents are both in their 70’s. I remember going to their church when I was younger. They have always gone to the same Presbyterian church for as long as I can remember. I remember calling it an “old people church.” Most of the people who attended the church all seemed to be elderly people. The only time there were any kids there was during the summer when tourists came. Even then, all the kids seemed to be younger than me. Let’s just say that I never really enjoyed attending my grandparents’ church.
I don’t ever recall a time when my grandparents spoke much about being Christians. I always knew that they were, but they never talked about it like my family did. The one thing I remember was praying at meal times. My grandpa always said the same Swedish prayer unless he asked my Dad to pray. I have the words memorized from years of saying the same thing: “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest. May this food to us be blessed. We thank you, Amen.” A short and simple prayer that my Grandpa always led us in, speaking in his deep, gruff voice. Other than that, my grandparents said a few things that pointed to Christ, but not all that many. Their Bibles were always near and the books that filled their shelves are indeeed great Christian books. Reflecting on thoughts of the past, I think that perhaps I just wasn’t used to the way my grandparents displayed their faith. Growing up and still living now as a Children’s Pastor’s daughter, I am used to hearing about Christ and all things church related.
With the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America’s adoption of Amendment 10a, my grandparents sent a letter to their church, resigning their membership that became effective on June 30, 2011. My grandparents loved their church and said in their letter that they have been members of the same church for over twenty years.
The Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, or PC USA, adopted amendment 10a in 2010. This new amendment re-worded their clause about leaders in the church. This opened the door for the ordination of homosexual ministers, elders and deacons, and other positions in church leadership.
There is NO DOUBT in my mind that homosexuals should NOT be allowed to even be members in a church. Homosexuals are living in sin. Some may argue that other people live in sin as well, but gay people who claim to be Christians should KNOW that what they are doing is wrong. My grandpa wrote a good passage to help his church understand his reasons behind not agreeing with the new amendment:
“Homosexual lifestyles are against the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 6, 9-10/Romans 1, 26-27 and many others) We cannot adopt parts of the Bible and ignore others parts. The Bible was written by men inspired by God. How much inspiration was from God on amendment 10A? Having compassion for gays is right. If this compassion cause us to exclude parts of the Bible then it is dead wrong! A better approach to this issue would be to try to change the gays’ lifestyle by winning them to Christ, not condoning their actions and giving them leadership roles in the church!”
My grandpa typed out his letter to his former church with my grandma’s help. They are now looking for a new church with my Dad’s help. They have visited five or six so far and are looking forward to attending a Southern Baptist church.
When my Dad told my family about my grandparents, I was ecstatic. I felt a wave of pride in what my grandparents had done. I know that it was very hard for them to make their decision. Leaving their church was probably very sad and painful. At the same time I was very excited for them, knowing that they had made the right choice! Instead of remaining on the sidelines of this issue, they faced it head on, even meeting with their senior pastor. Knowing that their church planned to stay in PC USA, my grandparents could have just gone with the flow and accepted what their church had accepted. Instead, they stood up for what is right and left their church. Knowing what my grandparents went through, my respect for them has doubled from what it was before. I love them dearly and am still proud to this moment of their stand of faith. It was the right thing to do.
There are so many churches today that have been corrupted through the years. My grandpa captured in words what is happening today in churches:
“In these days of continuous cultural change, we believe many churches are losing the battle. They are allowing the people to change the church and not the church to change the people.”
A church is a family of believers. Still, you shouldn’t readily accept anything and everything that your church throws at you. A church is made up of people, and we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Sometimes church doctrine needs to be questioned, thought through, and explained. The most important thing is to compare everything to Scripture, just like my grandparents did. The Bible is truth.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron” -1 Timothy 4:1-2 NKJV-
“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” -2 Timothy 4:2-5 NKJV-
-Written By: AidanCale-
-Edited By: EmilyIris-
Keys to the Kingdom 