Have you been an evangelical Christian and left the faith?
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Anonymous
| I'm married and our family is VERY involved at church. If the answers to the questions I'm asking and pondering lead me away from this faith I'm so scared about what that will mean for my life. I'd be a non-believer (or they might call me a backslider). Remember- evangelical Christians believe that non-believers will go to hell. I will get that look- the pity that I am wayward and lost. I'd love to know if any of you have experienced this. |
Anonymous
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True Christians have a personal relationship with God. Sometimes having a lifetime relationship you drift away. Life has a way of dissapointing and crushing people. That's often when you come back home. What other people say has nothing to do with the wrestling match you have with God. God likes the wrestling match and fights you easily with love like a parent with a child . If you really get to know God... You will always come back because in the end... Sin leads to death and it isn't even that satisfying anyway. On your deathbed you realize that all is vanity , there is nothing new under the sun and the whole excersize is chasing the wind. Nothing on Earth is equal to the love story of Christ.
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Anonymous
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I was raised in the very conservative southern baptist church. We were there all time time - Sunday School, Church, Training Union, Youth on Wednesday nights....... I was raised to believe that people who didn't "accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior" were going to burn in hell for eternity. I was taught that in order to get into heaven you "must be born again". You could pretty much be a serial killer as long as you "confessed your faith in Jesus Christ".
Homosexuality is a sin. Pre-marital sex is a sin. Drinking is a sin. Missing church is a sin. On and on and on. Honestly, it really screwed me up. Big time. I didn't want that for my kids, but at the same time I did still have faith in God. Just not the wrathful, angry, smitty, Baptist God. Instead of leaving the faith, I started seeking something different. I wanted to find a church that recognized the inherent good in people. I wanted my kids to grow up knowing a loving Creator. An absolute good. A power called by many different names. It took a while, but we found what we were looking for in the Unity Church. For you it might be very different. Don't give up spirituality and faith simply because you are wary of organized religion. They are very different. We are all on the same journey. There are so many different paths to the same destination. |
Anonymous
| Same poster^^^ don't let judgemental church people cloud your relationship with God. Every last one of them is a serial sinner just like you. The worst sin is "look at me and how good I am." People are going to fail you and let you down , they can't help it, but Christ will never fail you or stop forgiving you as long as you ask. |
Anonymous
| You don't need fanatical or judgmental people in your life. There are hundreds of millions of people out here who are not part of your cult, many of whom and nice, fun and generous people who can be your new friends. |
Anonymous
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Yes. Well, fundamentalist thought I am not quite certain of the differences. I grew up with a strict, literal interpretation of the Bible and believed that for a while. Or at least I tried. I have journal entries begging Jesus to find the "peace that passes all understanding" that people talked about.
But over the years I've realized that I just didn't have the deep abiding faith in the Bible that is required to truly surrender. And because fundamentalism tends to be quite all or nothing, well, there's no where really to go. That said, the church I grew up in was a horrible, negative place and I am better off w/o the people who shunned me. Really. There are some very sweet souls that I do keep in touch with and I know they pray for me and I honor that. My mom is still very much in the faith and she believes as 8:32 does that I'll come back one day because she doesn't want to believe I spend eternity in hell, which is a legitimate fear for her. But I have just as deep of faith that hell doesn't exist so I just smile, nod, and we talk about other things. Your church may be better equipped to counsel you and your questions so that you come to a place of peace. That's what it's really what's it's all about. Finding the peace. I'm happy to say that I have found it, even though I am not in any religion nor do I even really believe in any god. Certainly not the God described in the Bible. Good luck on your journey. |
Anonymous
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People are born bad. We are not good and don't let your feelings cloud the fact that we are all "me first". Could you imagine a child raised with absolutely no parent contact to teach right and wrong? Most of right and wrong we believe is based on having a civil society and making us comfortable not being moral . It's like loving your children... We love them because we get a reward too... We don't love others children.
Once you understand that we all are bad you can understand why Christ was sacrificed . We are in a dire situation but God has given us a free gift. We just have to admit we are bad and accept the gift ... We don't have to do anything else. Most people don't think they need the gift because they think they are "good people ", lol ... Like " I'm good .. I recycle ". Once you come to grips with the fact that you and everybody else is bad it all comes together. Btw .. If your church is pushing you away just find a small group to read the bible and discuss deep matters made up of people you can trust. Even just one other is fine and quit that other church. |
Anonymous
That sounds so depressing! |
Anonymous
| ^^^ I'm not saying we don't have any redeeming qualities . I think we crack god up.. That's why he loves us. The only thing he hates is when we say " I'm a good person, I don't need God and I certainly don't need his son to have been tortured and sacrificed for me." |
Anonymous
It's actually liberating. The whole myth that people are inherently good is exhausting. It's not like we are monsters we have good qualities but we are most definately "me first" at the root of everything. |
Anonymous
People are not "born bad". We are good. Every single person on this planet has good in them. In some people it is really hard to see, but it's there. Why on earth would a God who is by definition, the ultimate "good", create bad people? He didn't. He can't. He is good. When we say "love" "good" "peace".... We are simply using other words for what some people call God. God cannot create "bad" because God is light and love. God allowed the world to form and put humans on it to learn. We grow towards "good" (enlightenment, heaven,....) as we are challenged. That's why we are here - to learn to love so that someday we can be joined with that all-powerful, all -loving good. I don't know much - but I know that humans are not born "bad". And I know that a universal loving force for good governs our reality. All humans are part of "God" and therefore inherently good. |
Anonymous
| Um, it's not a cult. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Interesting turn this has taken. This is definitely a big difference between evangelical Christianity and other worldviews. My biggest problem with Christianity is that the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus. This just doesn't make sense to me unless Jesus is right there in front of each person at or directly after their death and shows himself to them. My relatives who are not in this country and not in a Christian country should not be condemned to eternal torment just because they were never exposed to Christianity, and my family here who rejects Christianity should not be punished because all they have seen are the cruel "Christians" who have hurt them or people close to them. I just can't see a creator doing that to his creation. |
Anonymous
. So since we are naturally good , why did God think it was necessary to have his only begotten son ripped to shreds and sacrificed? |
Anonymous
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My dad was an evangelical minister, my family is still mostly fundamentalist, and I even spent time in a mission field.
As a middle aged adult, I'm married to an atheist and I go to a main line church (alone, or with the kids). Somehow my family has accepted all of this. How? We are honest, but not deliberately confrontational. When we are in their homes, we will bow our heads politely for grace and go to church if asked. DH however, doesn't lie or ever say grace. Finally, I have to give my family some credit too. You rarely hear anymore in their homes that a nonbeliever is going to hell. Instead, they have shifted slowly to more compassionate type of ministries. I actually think this is true across a lot of conservative churches. They were losing too many members with the fire and hell type of message. Most of the growing churches are still conservative but more of a feel good message. (Yes, I have been in them). I agree with the PP that it isn't a cult. If you are in a church that is like a cult -- that is trouble. |