She was of course raised a Christian
Hey, BBB. Love the name you picked for your profile. Don't know what it means, but it makes me laugh.
As far as your post goes, I also laugh at some of the responses you got so far, especially with the emojies. After all, how absolutely shocking it is for somebody to be "raised as a Christian" to somehow stray from the faith. That poor Emily is being led by Satan and his entire army of minions, pulling her away from Christ. How absolutely HORRENDOUS!!
After all, you did what you were supposed to do for the first 18 years of her life:
1. Drag her to church every week, kicking and screaming
2. Sit for one hour during the "service," dutifully listening to some guy drone on about how horrible socialism is.
3. Forcibly separate Emily from you for yet another hour during the week by sticking her in with a bunch of kids she didn't like in a Sunday school class she hated doing even more boring arts and crafts than what they do in the public schools.
4. Teaching her that the sanctuary is for grown-ups only. After all, the pastor can't have unruly children running around when he's putting on his show. She might disrupt the whole YouTube videotaping!
5. Teaching her to pretend like everything is okay, even when it's not, at least while she's in church.
6. Showing her that, even though she has total freedom at school, she has none at the church. There is no choice but to join the goofy clique of pastors kids and other socially inept Hippocrates.
Now that she's an adult, Emily can finally break away from the hypocrisy of the institutional church. She, like most kids forced at gun-point by their parents, couldn't wait until she was 18 to break free from the insanity. Finally, she can heal from Churchianity.
But by far the most damage she has sustained is the
lack of close discipleship training. We are taught in the bible that we are the sheep and the pastors are the shepherds.
She read that over and over again. But there was no one there for her at the church. Every time she had a spiritual problem or question, she was told, "we'll pray for," as the person was making a mad dash to their car after another awful sermon.
She probably still laments,
"Gosh, I thought I was supposed to be able to freely go to any elder with a spiritual problem. Boy, was I wrong! All I keep getting are these stupid prayer-request forms to fill out."
You have every right to be worried. All those years of spiritual neglect may be channeled elsewhere. She could easily try to seek healing using the world's idols. For example:
- Online secular forums
- Secular counseling
- Feminist groups
- Drugs/alcohol
- Bad relationships
- Attraction to money/ become a workaholic.
Those are only a few. The list is endless. The point is, our children often try to find other ways to deal with their emotional baggage other than going to church. They know that they will be kicked to the spiritual curb by most in the church hierarchy. If only the parents would start realizing it. also.
But all is not lost. She's not a prodigal at all. If she's like a lot of kids raised in the church, she has no idea who Jesus is.
Why? Because Jesus doesn't even like going to church! He's not there most of the time. He's in the hearts of His people, not some stupid building with nice parking lots and fancy sound stages.
He's definitely in your heart, so show her that. Let her know right off that she can have a relationship with Christ outside the four walls of the church. It's okay for you and for her.
In fact, I would encourage you to stop going, at least for a little while. She associates the church you made her attend for so many years as being bad for some reason. Let her know that it's not about religion, but the relationship to Father God.
You may have to start from scratch. In other words, you may want to witness to her just like you would another adult friend. Let her know what having Jesus as your Lord and Savior means to you on a personal level. Everyone has a salvation story. Tell her yours.
Follow up as the Spirit leads. If you are led to the sinner's prayer, let her pray it, even if she has in the past. Here are a few other follow-up ideas:
- Next time she comes over for dinner, start with a communion service. You've seen it done a hundred times. Now it's your turn.
- Let her know that instead of going to church this week your family will be staying at home, having some quiet bible study time, and eating good food together. Of course, she is invited; even if she brings that worthless boyfriend you hate.
- If she invites you to some crazy liberal feminist whackjob Antifa-inspired college event, hold your nose and go, as long as it's not violent. Teach her what it is to keep an open mind. Besides, you might learn something about the other side, and maybe even have a witnessing opportunity.
I think your family will pull through this together. But please don't be passive. Although it is important for us to pray, God calls us to be His hands and feet. It's not the other way around. We can't just pray:
"Okay, God. You know my heart. Please fix this as soon as possible so everything can go back to normal and those ladies at church won't be asking where my daughter is anymore. Okay? Take it away, God!"
No, you need to play an active role, too.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
EPH 2:10
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