The Stepford Christian

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36

Over the years that I have been a Christian, and an Inn Keeper, I have met some pretty amazing people! And there are times when I can meet someone for the first time and, right off the bat, I KNOW they are Christian! There is something about their smile, their warmth, their kindness and the look in their eyes. And when I pick up on this, I look forward to the Lord opening a door for a conversation involving HIM. And most of the time it is awesome!! I LOVE to talk about the Lord! I love to share all of the adventures Tom and I have had together and the things He has taught me. And I love to hear about other Christian's journeys too so I can learn and grow from them! It's that whole growing in "community" thing and it is wonderful!

But then, there are times when I meet people who "say" they are Christians and I get excited to talk with them, so I start to talk about the Lord and... while they are smiling at me, the look on their face tells me they have no clue what I am talking about! Recently this happened and I walked away thinking "where is the disconnect? What am I missing?" Then I heard "Stepford Wives"... And then, after thinking about this for a few minutes, I had a strange realization!

For those of you who are scratching your head right now, let me give you a little back ground. In 1975 a movie called "The Stepford Wives" came out and it was actually pretty creepy and a bit terrifying (a remake came out in 2004)!. I feel the need to say at this point that I had not thought about this movie in decades and actually had to look it up and watched it again on YouTube because it had been so long since I had seen it!! So it was rather strange for this movie title to come to mind. 

It was about this town, called Stepford, where all the women there were the "perfect" house wives! They kept their homes spotless, cooked fabulous meals, were great moms and doted on their husbands like they were kings! Any newcomers to the town were greeted with homemade, “welcome to the neighborhood” meals, and the men were invited to the "Men's Club". But when the women tried to make friends none of the town ladies were available, and actually had NO interest at all in getting together, they had too much house work to do. After about 4 months the new lady turned out to be just like the others… Can you guess what was happening?? They were being replaced by perfect replicas of themselves! It took about four months to get all the details they needed to replicate them. All this was designed, orchestrated and implemented by the MEN in this town! What a perfect setup! Their wives looked beautiful with perfect hair, clothes and makeup, they were wonderful cooks, the kids were taken care of, they had a perfectly clean house, AND access to fabulous sex any time they wanted... what more could a man ask for!!?? 

So, at this point in time you are probably still scratching your head and asking what does all this have to do with Christians? Well, funny you should ask because that is what I was wondering too! But the more I thought about it, the more I started to get this little creepy feeling, realizing that the "organized" church/religious institutions/and doctrines could be doing the very same thing to us! Brainwashing us all into conforming to certain beliefs and doctrines for the sole purpose of doing their bidding!!

Keeping us dependent on them so we will continue to come to church, pay our tithe and volunteer our time... What a brilliant system this is!! No other organization has it so good! Normally you would have to PAY people to work for you, but WE volunteer, giving of our time AND we pay THEM (our tithes) for the privilege to be there… all of this for a system we are TOLD is a good thing!? Okay, okay... I know. Church IS a good thing, right!? I certainly don't want to call ALL churches out, or bad, but... still, there are those Christians that "say" they believe, but then have NO clue what a personal relationship with the Lord even is... after being in Church for decades! I think there is something terribly wrong with that! They check off the "I went to Church" box, are wonderful and kind people with great smiles, but with no spiritual depth. Like the Stepford wives. If you talk beyond their programmed vocabulary they look at you and smile, then very sweetly change the subject because they have no reference point for what you just said.

Please understand that I am not picking on these people. They are doing what they are told to do and truly believe they are doing the "right" thing. And of course we are all responsible for our choices and behaviors so I can’t put this all off on organized religion. But with that said, are we "like sheep, being led astray"? Are we growing in our walk and relationship with God or are we too tired and burned out from all of the volunteering at church to even work on our own relationship with God, pray or question anything? I can personally say I was there. I was so busy "doing" and "volunteering" that my relationship with the Lord ended up at the bottom of my list... or not on my list at all! "I" was a Stepford Christian for many years! Just because you are working in the church, does not mean you are serving the Lord or that you have a relationship with Him... just say'n. 

Anyway, I thought I would ruffle some feathers out there today to see if you were awake... or if you were a "Stepford Christian"...  ha! :)

“For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:25