Padone Eretik

Disclosure: I am not about to convert and your story will have no bearing on whether I believe in Christ or not. I have been unchurched for decades and have retained my faith. I am curious and interested to know people's stories and nothing more.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:27

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. – Ephesians 4:11-13

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. – Ephesians 5:23

The point of the seemingly random set of verses above is to illustrate the point that the church is the Body of Christ on Earth. The Body of Christ comprises all of the members of the church, those who claim Jesus Christ as physically risen saviour and Lord of their lives. That is the one in whom they trust for every aspect of their lives. Leaving aside whether you believe in Jesus Christ or not for now, it is fairly clear the Bible makes the claim that the representative of Christ on Earth is the church and the people therein.

This raises a fairly puzzling question for me.

Over the years, I have met a fair number of atheists, some of whom I have lived with and many of whom I have worked with. For many of the atheists I have conversed with, not all, there has been a common experience of growing up in the Catholic Church. This has given me pause to wonder about what could be happening.

The Roman Catholic Church (ecclesia in Greek), by using that word, claims to be part of the Body of Christ. The Pope, at least historically, goes a step further to claim that he is the Vicar of Christ on Earth. This claim makes it clear that the Catholic Church is holding to itself membership in the Body of Christ, along with anyone else who says “I am a member of a church”.

Part of a Christian's growth into the “full measure of Christ” is to build up the Body of Christ through service in different roles. The Bible has made that reasonably obvious, in agreement with Ephesians 4:11-13 above. This means that anyone who is in the Catholic Church, especially those granted leadership and position within the organisation, is beholden to carry out the same mandate. The same goes for the evangelic church, the charismatics and anyone else.

This does mean the church condones or tolerates sin, something I have written about before. Even less does it mean the church should respond to sin by covering it up, as the Catholic Church, Hillsong and many more have attempted to do. Neither does it mean the church changes its definition of sin to suit the prevailing environment. What being the body does mean is the church should be a place of teaching, healing and care (James 1:27) and prayer that welcomes all without compromise to its own nature.

What has gone wrong in the Catholic Church and its community that so many atheists have been created by growing up within it? Clearly, some have endured the crimes of the church, foul deeds which will be accounted before God. However, as far as I am aware, none of those whom I have met are in this group.

I would be interested to know, from atheists who have left church, what was it that caused you to leave? Was it one thing or a long process over time?

Photo by Anuja Tilj on Unsplash