Ecclesiastical Exploitation.

It is very easy for the orthodox, liberal and quasi-evangelical churches to speak of 'love' and yet live without it.  It is also easy for the now-generation outside the church to do exactly the same.  In the sixties the hippies talked a lot about love, usually what they termed 'free love,' resulting in the creation of a desert and wilderness where they made their hunting grounds.  Drawn my the cry of 'love,' many a flower girl has been evacuated of everything noble and decent before she reached the aged of fourteen. 

So the word 'love' is used outside and inside the church with great frequency.  Also the word 'care' is a vogue word in religious circles.  They speak of 'caring' churches and of the church as a 'caring community.'  But where the evidence is to substantiate that claim is difficult to see. 

Yet, the unwary are being taken in, sucked in, by such god-talk.  However, the discerning are not; and when they dare to challenge to question what this talk is all about, they are deemed to be the breakers of the peace. 
Indeed, the world outside the church is not too impressed with such unreal talk, and has given up on all such religious Latin.  But wherever this precious term, 'love,' is used, it is to deceive and to exploit the vulnerable. 

How are they exploited by the church?  They are exploited by the church when the church promises them something that they both need and want, but do not deliver.  In fact, many who have been at the receiving end of church exploitation have been left very sore, and unable to trust the church, and sadly, many church Christians, ever again.  Church exploitation is a deceptive device to draw the unsuspecting into its fold, and then to use them as mere fodder - to boost income, to boost numbers, to raise status, etc.  But this is exploitation nonetheless.

I wrote some time ago about child exploitation within the churches.  This is still a problem.  they are used to fill the Sunday School classes and youth organisations, but in many cases that is all they are there for. Are they told the Gospel in plain and clear terns?  Would to God that this was done in every Sunday School and youth organisation; but alas, it isn't.  To my knowledge, many who hold positions of youth leadership hate the Gospel with a passion, and many Sunday School teachers are ignorant of the saving message.  So how can they possibly teach the Gospel to the children? he simple and obvious answer is that they can't. These children and young people are being exploited IN AND BY THE CHURCH, just as adults are!

Does your church do that?