Open Letter to church in Ohio
The following is taken from Jamal Jivanjee’s FaceBook wall on which he posted an open letter to the church in Ohio, rebuking it for apathy and disinterest in the plight of Rifqa Bary. Well worth the read.
To the church of central Ohio,
I have been a part of the church in central Ohio since I became a Christian at the age of 18. I am thankful for the many people whom have enriched my life, and whom I have served with in this church over the years. I have since moved away from the central Ohio area, but because of my history in Columbus, the church here holds a special place in my heart. Because of this, I must tell you that what I am about to say does not come easy for me. I am compelled to say what I am about to say out of a heart of love for the church in central Ohio however. Since the rally for Rifqa here in Columbus, I have spent the last few days here in the city processing things, and praying. I have debated whether or not I should share these things with you, but I cannot keep silent about this any longer. I must share these things out of a personal sense of obedience. You can take this message to heart, or you can discard it. The choice is yours, but I must share this. I humbly but strongly ask you to read this letter in its entirety.
I can honestly say that in my entire 34 years of life, I cannot remember a time in which I was angrier than I am right now. In my 34 years of life, I have never experienced the type of strong nausea that I feel right now in the depths of my soul. I have never felt anguish like I have felt these last few days. In my 34 years of life, I can honestly say I have never been more broken for a group of people than I am right now. I began to wonder if I should be feeling like this, and if there was something wrong with me. A good and wise friend of mine shared something with me that greatly helped me however. She said that I don’t have to apologize for being angry, because God gets angry and he created us with this emotion. There is such a thing as righteous anger, and somebody in the body of Christ needs to feel the emotions that God feels. I believe these emotions are His, and not mine. So, what is the cause of my anger, nausea, anguish, and brokenness?
The institutional church in central Ohio!
It is absolutely heartbreaking to see just how spiritually dead or comatose that the institutional central Ohio church has become. I am absolutely ashamed to have come from you. I know that is harsh, but the facts speak for themselves. What facts am I talking about? Let me give you just one.
Cowardice
The institutional church in central Ohio has demonstrated its cowardice through its silence regarding Rifqa Bary’s struggle. Don’t get me wrong, there have been several precious and courageous people from central Ohio who have prayed and / or emailed, called authorities, or have spoken out in some way about Rifqa’s situation. Please know that this letter does not apply to you. This letter is addressed to the institutional church as a whole that has been utterly silent or ignorant of Rifqa Bary’s situation. There are literally almost 1000 local church communities in the greater Columbus metro area alone that represent tens of thousands of people. To my knowledge there are only 2 local church communities that have done ANYTHING to stand with Rifqa Bary!
WHAT AN ABOMINATION!