Typically on Sundays, those who practice a religion of some sort will go to a church or mosque or temple or whatever place it is in which they worship in order to observe the Sabbath and be with their god of choice.
I, however, as religious as I am, do not do that.
No, this morning, when all of the other religious folks in the world were heading off to their destinations of worship, I was on my way to a meeting. After that meeting, it was back to my house, where I’ve been all day long, and, in all honesty, if I didn’t have that meeting, I wouldn’t have even left my house in the first place.
Look, I’m not proud of this, okay? I want to go to church, to be like everyone else on a Sunday and observe the Sabbath by worshipping God in a place full of fellow believers, but I just can’t.
Long story short, there are literally no nondenominational churches anywhere within an hour drive from my home, and all of the churches that are in a reasonable distance are, well, kind of extreme…and thus kind of creepy.
Trust me, I’ve been to almost all of them
You see, the biggest problem I face is that I live in an area mainly dominated by Catholicism. Yes, almost every single church near me is a Catholic one, which is obviously problematic for a Nondenominational Christian. The beliefs simply don’t match up, and with all of the standing/sitting/kneeling routines and synchronized chants and Latin orchestrations involving giant church organs — it just is a bit too much for a Protestant like me (as nice as it is to be screamed at during Christmas mass that you’re going to Hell).
Yes, I’ve actually witnessed that happen during Catholic mass.
Well, as for the few Protestant churches nearby, they’re all denominational, which is fine at first, but after a while, some sort of spin ends up getting put on the whole of the messages in order to fit the agenda of the church’s specific denominational beliefs. And that just, once again, is no good for someone like me, who wants it as matter-of-fact, unbiased, and straight from the Bible as possible.
I’ve noticed, though, that this is more and more the trend these days — or at least it is in the area I’m from. I don’t know. It just seems like at every church service I attend, the only thing being served is an incredibly watered down version of what the Bible really means, and it absolutely breaks my heart. I mean, people legitimately believe what these churches are saying, that you can just do the bare minimums and still end up okay, and it’s just so, so wrong and so, so sad.
Because modern churches won’t tell people the harsh truth out of fear of hurting someone’s feelings and thus losing a member of the religion, they’re really only leading even more people astray than they would have if they just stuck to the Bible’s pure truth from the start. Actually, if they just told the whole truth from the beginning, churches wouldn’t be at fault for any straying at all; it would be entirely due to the idiocy of the man who chose to leave his beliefs behind, for he would’ve known the truth yet still chosen the lie. And that’s what breaks my heart, that the modern church doesn’t necessarily shed truthful light, so it can be partially blamed for all that is wrong in the world.
But, once again, that’s just an issue I’ve noticed in my area. Maybe it’s different where you live.
In this lack of good churches, though, I can honestly say that my love for God and Christ has grown stronger solely because of the fact that I’ve had to seek His truth out for myself rather than simply arrive somewhere every Sunday and be force-fed what someone else says is right. With the middleman out of the way, I was able to obtain a strong, unbiased foundation for my beliefs, and it’s really helped me out a lot in life thus far.
It’s just now I want somewhere I can actually practice those beliefs!
I also want to find a good church because I feel guilty for not attending (rightfully so, haha). Obviously, the Bible says over and over that you should go to church because it’s the husk of the religion, and so of course I feel a bit bummed whenever Sunday rolls around and I am, yet again, not there. I mean, clearly, me not being in church means I’m missing out on some pretty important stuff, so it saddens me (as well as makes me feel like I’m letting God down a bit) that I don’t go; churches were invented for a reason!
But at the end of the day, I know that God sees I’m trying my best, and so I really don’t have to feel too badly for my lack of attendance on Sundays. In His eyes, trying is still good, for it eventually leads to improvement in the relationships we have with Him. So I know this little blip in the road will be forgiven because of that, and I have nothing to worry about.
Still, though, I just wish the modern church was a bit different — a bit more old school and a bit less biased and rock-concert-esque — so that I could actually find one to attend. Sigh… If only the world was perfect…
ledandev 