“In every generation there are a few souls, call them lucky or cursed, who are simply born not belonging, who come into the world without strong affiliation to family or location or nation or race. Those who value stability, who fear transience, uncertainty, change, have erected a powerful system of stigmas and taboos against rootlessness so that we mostly conform, we hide our secret identities beneath false skins of those identities which bear the belongers’ seal of approval. But the truth leaks out in our dreams; alone in our beds—because we are alone at night, even if we do not sleep by ourselves—we soar, we fly, we flee.” -Salman Rushdie
This quote from Salman Rushdie affirms thoughts that many Adult Third Culture Kids have. And in many ways it also speaks to those who have wandered the world looking for peace, hope and love and then find themselves in a local church -- since I am a Cumberland Presbyterian Pastor I will refer to them --- the traveling soul enters -- looking for home and find the stigma's and taboos of the local church --
The traveler already knows that his/her lifestory places them out of the group, that their past means they will never quite belong, they will commit social errors, but yet we yearn for acceptance ... and it is whispered and affirmed -- we will only accept you when you conform (not to Scripture but..) to our story -- yours is not valid here. and the traveler who is seeking God and the abundant challenging life Christ offers - looks at the drab fearful existence of the rooted and they flee.
We should notice how our local church has a vested interest in maintaining its established culture .... and then questions if that interest excludes those with a different background?
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I do not know what it is like for many others but the churches I have been a part of; many say they want to grow but they do not want the status quo to change. They are not ready to let an "outsider" as you called it to become part of the leadership. Some do not want to give up the "power" they have or position or something and if someone tries to do something different it is because they don't know who we are and the way we have always done it. We can't do it that way. We can't change. They say with their mouth they want what one may have but many times action speack volumes different. believe this reinterates and elaberates exactly what you were making reference. Thank you for understanding.
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