Outsourcing Our Sin

When I read Ray’s post, I couldn’t entirely embrace it as an amazing truth — only because I feel our culture levels every problem on the individual and it too much about the org being right and the individual wrong. In my experience, there ARE stink holes — lots of them — learning how to hold one’s nose and stay in the stinkhole until the stink passes is an important skill — one for which there is little support in the physical wards we attend. In fact, the tendency is for the local wards to blame the the stink on the person, and then condemn him for leaving or lessening their activity.

Strange thing — the Church is the only place on earth where where it’s unacceptable culturally to leave when you aren’t happy, or find the experience unfulfilling…and it’s with you for your entire life!!! You can quit your job, the soccer team, the band — and in my experience, given my own mental set (very hard to change, with tendencies toward being hurt and not taking it well) the best solution for me is to move up the hole closer to fresh air where the stink isn’t nearly so bad…and I’m OK with that now. Others often can’t smell the stink just like some people can’t smell the odor of their own messes in their own homes.

Not sure I really like the stinkhole analogy though, after reading my analogies above…it’s a bit harsh — replace stinhole with “unpleasant cultural norms”.

Just curious: Did you guys read the original post?

It’s about taking “issues” and talking about how had things are “in the world” – and not focusing on what we need to do to repent and change our own culture.

Nope, just the quote you had. In that snippet he seemed to be saying that people don’t see themselves as sinners and miss the chance for repentance. Sorry about that.

Strange thing — the Church is the only place on earth where where it’s unacceptable culturally to leave when you aren’t happy, or find the experience unfulfilling…and it’s with you for your entire life!!! You can quit your job, the soccer team, the band .

This is a good point. I used to take riding lessons as a young boy, and there was one place I hated. I was only there once, but basically, the woman who ran the place just shoved me on a horse, and we rode round and round and round the outside perimeter of a yard, at different speeds. Maybe it was good for training up professional equestrians, but I hated it, and it was completely different from the last place I’d had lessons. So I never went back there. I went somewhere else, and enjoyed that instead.

Although quitting your job can be inadvisable for a number of reasons, and may affect your future career.