Okay, so this is a post about how hypocritical Christians can be (specifically about those I know.) and the hypocrisy surrounding being supportive, caring, loving.... But only to those who are your family or close friends.
This post will ring true to the people I know and is there to call them out on the double standard that is their "Christian" faith and good "Christian" deeds.
So, today my friend posted about struggling to keep everything up for Christmas. She is currently struggling to juggle things as she is a single mother. I don't want to quote what she said word for word, but her struggle to deal with her young baby, making sure everything is ready for Christmas, etc was getting slightly too much.
And, there was a comment left by one of my former "friends" from the church I used to go to that my friend is a member of. This comment basically has said "I'll be praying for you" in a long, what my mum would call "beat around the bush" talk. Nothing concrete, nothing particularly useful... Nothing particularly supportive. Just telling her about the faith she has, and that she'll be praying for her.
You might be thinking "Where is the double standard? There's nothing wrong here"
You are wrong. I know people from this church, and I've posted about them before, and the double standard is that if it was someone that was part of their clique, they'd be there to help in a heartbeat. But because my friend is a bit of an outsider, like I and many others have been, they are left to deal with things themselves when they REALLY need help in that moment. I was personally affected by this double standard, and am able to tell you that their double standard nearly led me to suicide, and led to self harm every Sunday or every time I was at church for a youth activity.
Double standards are everywhere, but the one place where it should not exist is a church. Especially when there are multiple religious teachings on the subject of being there for their fellow Christians.
One of my friends who has recently became baptised in another church my mother is a part of had gently and kindly told the congregation about the double standard in her testimony, as my mother picked up on it quickly because of my experience.
Double standards in religious circles shouldn't exist. Cliques shouldn't exist. And yet, they do in this church. Why is this? I understand that people want to have friends and be close to them, but to have such close knit groups that people outside of them become discarded is disgusting and destructive. I'm just disgusted by my former church's attitude to people. I know it is Christmas, but this goes on all year round, and is one of the reasons that I've left church. Cliques in churches is NOT okay, no matter how much people try to defend it. It is NOT okay to be showering some people with all the attention and support possible, and exclude people who aren't part of the clique.
So much for the "Body of Christ" you so richly like to talk about. Perhaps your motto should really be "Body of Christ Except for People Who Are Not Part Of My Clique" sounds so much more apt.
I'm sorry for this rant. I've wanted to talk about this so much for the past year.
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