Emerging from the Chinese Church

I’ve always taken to “The Simpsons” TV show… I confess I actually watch it every night before I sleep   Maybe it’s because there is so much to learn about pop culture in the show?  Maybe it’s the religious overtones and snappy “christian” quotes that have been infamously thrown around the show… or maybe because… I can relate to the characters because they’re all CHINESE!  HAHA!  Well… yellow at least?

In one of the newer episodes, after an incident where one of his Ned Flanders’ boys hurt himself at a funhouse where Marge Simpsons brings them, Ned decides to not let Marge watch his kids ever again. After a while, the kids confront him about how they feel about her:

Ned Flanders: “All diddly aside boys what is it about her that you miss so much?”

Rod Flanders: “She made us feel happy!”

Todd Flanders: “Not ‘church’ happy but ‘real’ happy!”

I just had a conversation with a friend from church who has been attending for a while. The situation was much different, but the sentence from Todd Flanders echoes the same sentiment.

…ouch…

I wonder how many more people are feeling things about “church” aren’t “real”…