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Anyone every feel like they are pressured to "fit" into a certain mold as a Christian? same question for atheist, agnostic...except for the part about Christian of course..
I see people all the time trying to "fit" into religious "clics" , sports clics, car club clics, you name it theres a clic, and if your the new person, Ill step out on the limb here and say, without a fat bankroll, it takes awhile to "fit" in and sometimes I see people "jumping thru hoopes" to fit into that clic..Anyone tried to fit in and just gave up? I have, believe it or not, at church. My "laugh it off" , take most stuff lightly personality sometimes conflicts with the "upper crust" of some clics, anyone elses thoughts, comments?
Anyone every feel like they are pressured to "fit" into a certain mold as a Christian? same question for atheist, agnostic...except for the part about Christian of course..
I see people all the time trying to "fit" into religious "clics" , sports clics, car club clics, you name it theres a clic, and if your the new person, Ill step out on the limb here and say, without a fat bankroll, it takes awhile to "fit" in and sometimes I see people "jumping thru hoopes" to fit into that clic..Anyone tried to fit in and just gave up? I have, believe it or not, at church. My "laugh it off" , take most stuff lightly personality sometimes conflicts with the "upper crust" of some clics, anyone elses thoughts, comments?
Yes, this is a constant in the Christian world IMO. I used to be the person doing exactly what you say here--trying to fit into every click, trying to be someone I'm not in order to impress someone who doesn't care about me nearly as much as they do about themselves.
I gave that up ages ago. Like my signature said until today, I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not.
For the most part, I too am a light-hearted personality, and laughing things off comes 2nd nature to me in RL (just not in religion and politics, LOL). This tends to anger some people. Oh well. Can't please everyone all the time!
Interesting. I think there are a lot of cliques and such in churches. Sometimes people act like they are still in high school. I've grown a lot over the years and I'm very comfortable in who I am even though it's not always what other people are. Doesn't even bother me. They are who they are and I am who I am. It's all good.
Yeah Arguy Iwould like to comment on this one....my bllod family pressured me all the time with their Religious beliefs....Thats why I'm No Longer around them...I would always get the onslaught of things like...Your going to Hell,God's going to Punish youYou Smoke,You stay up late etc....Now I have a Family{not blood related} That Loves me and Accepts me for who I am...I couldnt ask for nothing else...Believe me I been a Spiritual Warrior for a long time...And No One Now can Pressure me on what to Believe or not....SAID my Peace.....
I do think that people want to belong to a group and feel that they're accepted. Human beings have certain social needs. There's no question that we feel pressure from those around us and even from ourselves to make an effort to fit in. Being an atheist is really going against the influences around us, or at least it is in my own life since I don't even know any other atheists except for people I've met online. Fortunately family and friends accept me anyway. I realize that parents who are very religious will often exert alot of influence on their children to believe in the same manner that they do. I think a person needs to follow their own convictions though.
I believe it is good just to be yourself. People should love you for who you are and not for how big your bankroll is. I feel a lot of love for my church menbers and get a lot of love in return and we are one as a body of Christ.It makes it so much more exhililiarating to attend church knowing we have so much love for one another and that we are all focused on the Lord.
Unfortunately,this is not the case for all churches ,where sometimes I feel people are looking down their noses at you because you are not wealthy or you don't dress a certain way to church and that they are better than you and therefore you are not part of their clique. I will not be a part of that kind of church, I'm looking for heavenly wisdom than earthly possessions or wealth.
I'm not into cliques. However I am into bringing people together that have common interests. In our church we refer to them as "Infinity" groups. There isn't a lot of time spent doing "churchy" things but rather enjoying each others company in areas of common interest. People have lives beyond the pew and the church should affirm and nurture this. Motorcycles are a big one... fishing/boating/scuba as well. This is different than small groups, which uses a Biblical format.
I'm glad to see when gossipers, people with a sense of entitlement, arrogant individuals are asked to change ... that is being good stewards over the "flock" and leadership requires this. There is a format to follow that is Biblical in nature... first you talk, then you see, then you challenge, then you expect, and then join with others to confront. Sin within the body is accountable to the body. If there seems to be a lot of sinners in church... that's a good thing... for Christ did not come to deliver the righteous, but came to save everyone. Like a hospital filled with sick people... church should be filled with people who have spiritual needs.
In regard to pressure... it can come in many forms. Some good... some not so good. Accountability is good pressure. Guilt is bad pressure.which can Produce very similar products, but the process is SO different. Accountability is from God and guilt is from the evil one. Our battle is never with "flesh and blood" or people... it is the liar, the deceiver, satan. Proverbs talks about contentions and where they come from... and there is too much of that in the church today. I call them the "trumps"... because they always have a scripture that can trump your scripture yada, yada, yada. This is not two Christians having a healthy debate... I'm talking about divisive behavior. Strong internal leadership that is accountable, is necessay to deal with devisieve issues... and they will come... it's just a matter of when. Leadership is a very good thing and is missing in a lot of today's churches. No one is perfect... and especially Christians
Men need to be challenged in their lives based on Bibblical virtues, values and goals. it can be as benign as "how are you doing" or as intimate as "can we get together and see how you are doing". We need that, it makes us better men.
Yeah Arguy Iwould like to comment on this one....my bllod family pressured me all the time with their Religious beliefs....Thats why I'm No Longer around them...I would always get the onslaught of things like...Your going to Hell,God's going to Punish youYou Smoke,You stay up late etc....Now I have a Family{not blood related} That Loves me and Accepts me for who I am...I couldnt ask for nothing else...Believe me I been a Spiritual Warrior for a long time...And No One Now can Pressure me on what to Believe or not....SAID my Peace.....
Wow, I guess that's why Jeff says some people are threatened with Hell as a way to accept Christianity! No wonder you ran away so fast!
I don't feel pressured about most things in my life NOW. Growing up (many years ago), there was a pressure or "stigma" to be connected to a religious "group". Neighborhoods were segregated by ethnic, religion, and race. There were "pockets" of individuals divided in this manner everywhere! Parents were literally disowning their own children if they associated with anyone other than their "own kind"! I like where I am living now, in a modern country type community where people of various races, nationalities, & ethnics co-exist on the same block or same area. I have never chosen my friends by their ethnic, religious (or lack of) beliefs, or race. So I never allowed myself to be "pressured" to be part of this scenario.
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