Not Like Those Other Judgmental Churches

Have you ever noticed how many churches pride themselves on "not being like other churches"?  Those other churches that judge people who don't look/act like them.  But there's this air of judgement in their non-judgement.  I went to a church a few years ago that actually pulled someone on the stage to prove how accepting they were. He had a ratty ponytail and a leather motorcycle  jacket, with hole-y jeans.  The pastor put his arm around him and proceeded to talk about how different this man looked- how other churches might look at him and immediately judge him since he does not look like a stand-up Christian.  But not this church.  No, there was no judgement here.  They accepted this grizzly Biker, just as he was.

Does anyone else catch the irony in these situations? The churches that talk about how they love people, they don't judge people, they accept people- while at the same time calling those very people out as being a different caliber than they are?  

Call me crazy, but the church is the church, and people are people.  Being "different than those other churches" is not a badge of honor.  The church is the bride of Christ- singular.  If you're different than all the other churches, something is wrong.  As for people, I have no advice on how to get past the Christian stereotypes.  It's been drilled into our heads since birth that good Christians look/act/talk a certain way. We almost can't help but add up all the points in our head to see where people are on the spiritual spectrum.  But at the end of the day, we all just want to be loved and accepted, where we're at, as we are- and encouraged to reach our potential to be our best.  

Food for thought- It's ok to notice that people are different than us, or that churches operate differently than our own.  We don't have to pretend to be blind to differences- observation is different than judgment. But if we spend our lives comparing ourselves to others, we ourselves may never actually live.