disillusioned Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 So I went to church yesterday. This was my first time going to church (aside from weddings, funerals etc) in nearly five years. My niece was being dedicated, and my wife wanted to go. I did not want to attend, as I put it to my brother in law, a celebration of the dedication of an infant to a set of ideals which I consider to be false and dangerous. But I also didn’t want my wife to attend my niece’s dedication while I stayed home. I’m really not a jerk. So I figured, what the hell, I’ve spent countless Sunday mornings in church. I can survive one more. The church we went to is a very special church indeed. It’s a church that was founded by a former friend of mine, with whom I worked at a previous church. We were on the worship team together, and my brother and I were key leaders in the youth/young adult services at that church. We had a falling out long before I left the faith, which left me swearing that I would never work with this guy again. I have absolutely no respect for him whatsoever, either as a pastor or a person. Well, he is now the lead pastor of the church at which my brother’s daughter was dedicated yesterday. So there was that. The whole experience was simply pathetic. These people are not even good at being Christians. They have passion, and not much else. I described the preaching style to my wife in the car on the way home as “enthusiastic, but vacuous”. There is no coherent theology, aside from a disproportionate emphasis on God’s love and grace. There isn’t even an attempt to argue that their beliefs are true (I’m not just speaking of the particular service that we attended, by the way. I’m very familiar with the vision and mission of the church in general.) Also, each service is produced to a level that is almost obscene. It takes the Hillsong model three or four steps further. The whole thing just feels extremely fake. They rely on the wow factor to lure weak-minded individuals into accepting absurd beliefs. They offer excitement every Sunday, so that people keep coming back for their weekly fix. Emotional highs are nice, but they do not lead to truth. I find this type of Christianity to be particularly abhorrent. Oh yeah. And they accept tithes and offerings via text. That almost made me laugh out loud. I won’t be going back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluechipx Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Good post, my feelings exactly. I have a little game I play to myself at religious funerals, as I listen to the feel good spiel, I try to count the times that I either think 'oh, puuulease' or 'yeah right'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Eventually my wife accepted that I should not attend church because I could not keep a strait face during the worship service. It's been 14 months since my last visit. But back when I was attending the whole thing struck me as ridiculous and at unexpected moments that could become unbearable. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful but I just couldn't help it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midniterider Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 "Oh yeah. And they accept tithes and offerings via text. That almost made me laugh out loud." Or you can set up automatic bill-pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsathoggua Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Eventually my wife accepted that I should not attend church because I could not keep a strait face during the worship service. It's been 14 months since my last visit. But back when I was attending the whole thing struck me as ridiculous and at unexpected moments that could become unbearable. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful but I just couldn't help it. I did that for a long time; maybe a bit too long! An occasional smirk is good for the soul, or something like that. I would do my best not to let out an audible chuckle or guffaw. I kept going back to Sunday morning service because I enjoyed the singing. I would sing along with the sopranos in my falsetto voice. That was fun!T Also, the sunday service would get me out of the house, and conclude a bit before lunch time. Often, I would go to my local "Hooters" restaurant right after church. I always had a good time, there! Ah, the memories... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disillusioned Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 "Oh yeah. And they accept tithes and offerings via text. That almost made me laugh out loud." Or you can set up automatic bill-pay. Yes, this was also an option. Basically, they just want to make it as convenient as possible for them to take your money . And can you blame them? They're trying to hasten the return of the Messiah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I'm sorry you attended church, disillusioned. I could not bear sitting through an entire service again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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