I am the Rot in the Church

From the book A Church in Crisis by Ralph Martin, “The rot(in the Church) is very deep indeed.” 

“ A large section of God’s Church will be allowed to rot. To die off. It is no longer connected to the vine. There is no life in it. Do not fear. It is necessary. The rot is already in the Church. It must die away. It will be painful. It is necessary. “ I heard this during prayer in 2016 

From my notes in June 2020 while at Holy Redeemer in Kensington, Maryland. 

“ The colors of the stained glass windows in Holy Redeemer are sickly. 

Colors of the flesh of a dying person. 

Muted, not vibrant. 

Not masculine. 

Washed out. 

They are part of the structure of this church building and the Body of Christ. 

Sickly, dying, muted, emasculated...the sick Church is the reason the world is sick. 

Racism, viruses, and extreme weather are all symptoms, not the problem. The problem in the world is the rotting, dying members of the Church.

The rot must go. I must not. 

The rot must go; I must stay. How do I get rid of the rot? 

Keep praying!”

The immature, unbrotherly behavior between my housemate and I is part of the rot that has invaded the Church. My materialism, pride, gluttony, and unchastity are what are wrong in the Church. Jesus needs us in His Church, but the rot must go.

Her(the Church) rot is the rot in us who make up her body. If we rot, she rots. And I am rotting. I now realize there is a rot in me that must go, but I must stay. I am not the rot, but there is most definitely rot in me. The selfishness at the root of all my sins is the rot. Jesus wants to remove it. “Will you sacrifice yourself to save her?“ Will I allow the rot of selfishness to be removed to save the Church?

Written 2/9/21 AD

Human-written, AI spell-checked

Image from dailymail.co.uk