When I first moved to Las Cruces and reached out to the homeschooling community I heard back from many warm and welcoming people. As they each gave me helpful information as to different groups to join or different clubs to be a part of there was one group that consistently kept popping up. It was a local Christian co-op. I had heard many great things about it. The classes offered were abundant and diverse. The people friendly. And as I got to know more and more people here it seemed as if a large part of the population not only knew about the co-op,but were a part of it too. When I inquired about joining last fall I hit a major road block.
In order to join the group I needed to be willing to sign a Statement of Faith that had several requirements in it including, but not limited to, the fact that I had given my life over to Jesus. At that point in my life, I was not yet a Christian, and although I could have lied and just signed the paper to get my kids into this wonderful co-op I knew that I would never do that because it wasn't truthful and my kids would know that. So, I decided to put the idea of the co-op out of my head. And I did.
Now that I am going to church regularly and am a Christian I have had my name placed on the co-op's email list as sign up's for the next session are coming up soon. A friend actually got me on the list without my knowing at first, but I am thankful she did so. It's neat to see what they have coming up.
But here's the thing that is bugging me. A LOT. Even though I am pretty sure I can sign the statement of faith (but I am not 100% because my kids don't yet go to church with me, so I don't know if there is a clause in there about that) I am not sure that I am going to. I have a big problem with the group being so exclusive. I think they are missing the point about Jesus and what HE would have wanted from this group.
I think that Christians miss the point of Christianity sometimes. I think that we get so caught up in the fine details that we miss the big picture. What would Jesus do in this situation? In my humble opinion, I think that he would have opened the co-op to everyone. He would have told them that the agenda had a Christian view and then let come if they wanted to. No statements of faith. None of that.
How many people are there that are curious about Jesus and Christianity, but get turned off by things just like this? The exclusivity clause. That is NOT what Jesus was about. So often we turn Jesus and our faith in Him into a club of righteousness that would make Jesus sick to His stomach. We are all sinners. Equally. Jesus is an inclusive kinda guy. I don't know a lot about Him yet, but I do know that.
Love Jesus in your own way as he loves you snd let him worry about what other people do, or don't do in his name. D
ReplyDeleteD - you are right. You are absolutely right.
DeleteI agree that the exclusivity doesn't make sense to me. We are not Christian, but yet I am very spiritual and my kids are as well. We spend a lot of time talking about the right way to live, how to treat and serve others, praying together, etc. I try to live in a Christ-like way and do see him as an amazing example of how we can be, even though I cannot say "I am a Christian". I believe in exposing my children to many different religious ideas with the intent that they will be able to choose for themselves what resonates most deeply in their own hearts, so in addition to learning about Jesus we have also studied the lives of Buddha and others. The fact that my family is excluded based on the fact that I cannot say I am Christian doesn't seem right to me... I figure maybe we will start our own co-op when the kids are a bit older if we feel like we want to be able to have something similar to participate in.
ReplyDeleteSarah - I am surprised that there are not more co-ops around here. There is such a diverse group of homeschoolers I would have thought there would be more than 1 option.
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