Attending a church you don't agree 100% with (Latter Day Saints, Gospels, hell)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have heard so many good and kind-hearted Christians say that it is more important to go to church in order to fellowship with other believers in the community and just to share in each other's lives. Don't question every little thing. Just live in your own faith and be there for others.
But even though that sounds good, I can't get behind that idea.
Some of the kind hearted members even say that they don't agree with the judgemental views that are a part of the church's official doctrine, or the doctrine represented by its denomination.
How can you say that you should go to that church if you don't believe everything that is taught? Not only are you saying that you should go and support the other members, but you are also saying that you should financially support the preacher so that he can continue teaching and spreading a belief you disagree with. You are perpetuating a teaching that you don't agree with, which I think is too great a cost, even if you are giving loving Christian support to other members.
Ozzy, I have had to deal with this very issue in my own life. Things sure would have been much easier if God had just said "do this, this and this and do it this way and never this way" on everything and then we could agree. But God did not choose to lay it out for us in such a manner. And who has the right to question God's way's?
One thing I have come to understand is just what is "the Church". It's not a building or a set of doctrines or what the leadership tells us to do. It is a group of believers meeting together. It is rare that a group of 50 or 100 people will ever agree 100% on everything. It's just the way God made us. So what I believe God has shown me, and I am not the only person, is that we must agree on essentials. As John Wesley put it "In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity." So I will not compromise on what I believe are essentials. I will not fellowship with anyone who cannot agree with me on those essential things. Beyond that, I can accept that we may not all agree on non-essentials. But the non-essentials matter not anyway. That's just where I am. I don't know if that answers your question or just raises more but it's me in a nutshell so to speak.
I have heard so many good and kind-hearted Christians say that it is more important to go to church in order to fellowship with other believers in the community and just to share in each other's lives. Don't question every little thing. Just live in your own faith and be there for others.
But even though that sounds good, I can't get behind that idea.
Some of the kind hearted members even say that they don't agree with the judgemental views that are a part of the church's official doctrine, or the doctrine represented by its denomination.
How can you say that you should go to that church if you don't believe everything that is taught? Not only are you saying that you should go and support the other members, but you are also saying that you should financially support the preacher so that he can continue teaching and spreading a belief you disagree with. You are perpetuating a teaching that you don't agree with, which I think is too great a cost, even if you are giving loving Christian support to other members.
Does this make sense?
Suppose there are no churches in your driving distance that preaches your beliefs. Are you saying just don't bother to attend any church?
The "essentials" in most Christian churches seem to include a belief in Hell as an eternal fiery judgement after you die physically. But to me it is clear that Paul is talking about spiritual death which occurs when people fall into sin. In Romans he said that he had "died in his sins" and that is how fundamentalists describe non believers who die physically. Same language, but two completely different meanings.
And even if other Christians don't believe that, they still have an issue with the judgement after physical death. So it's often hard to find a "Christian" church that doesn't believe that.
The physical resurrection was possibly added decades later to the gospels in order to help the pagan peoples identify with Christianity.
I'm also not sure about the Trinity worship. I don't see anything in the Bible about praying to Jesus. Jesus even said to pray "OUR" father, indicating that we are like him. He is a Son of God but so are all believers, and all believers are born of the Holy Spirit. It's also difficult finding a church that doesn't have the Trinity as part of their doctrine.
Should I attend and financially support these places, even if they were the only church in a small town? (Fortunately I am not in that situation, but if I were I could not attend that church.)
Suppose there are no churches in your driving distance that preaches your beliefs. Are you saying just don't bother to attend any church?
I addressed it a little in my previous response, but I will say that it would depend on how forceful they were in those fundamentalist doctrines. If they stated them in a way that was reading from the Bible, and not trying to create a fundamentalist creed, I would consider it. But if they teach that everything in the Bible was literal, I would have no problem staying very far away from that dangerous place.
Suppose there are no churches in your driving distance that preaches your beliefs. Are you saying just don't bother to attend any church?
You are asking me to speculate on something that has never happened in my life. I suppose I would advocate finding people who hold your beliefs (on essentials) and begin meeting with them. They would be in the same boat you are. If there is no one who holds your beliefs then you are not sharing your faith enough. Get to work. If there are no people where you are then maybe God has placed you inside your own "great fish"!
The "essentials" in most Christian churches seem to include a belief in Hell as an eternal fiery judgement after you die physically. But to me it is clear that Paul is talking about spiritual death which occurs when people fall into sin. In Romans he said that he had "died in his sins" and that is how fundamentalists describe non believers who die physically. Same language, but two completely different meanings.
And even if other Christians don't believe that, they still have an issue with the judgement after physical death. So it's often hard to find a "Christian" church that doesn't believe that.
The physical resurrection was possibly added decades later to the gospels in order to help the pagan peoples identify with Christianity.
I'm also not sure about the Trinity worship. I don't see anything in the Bible about praying to Jesus. Jesus even said to pray "OUR" father, indicating that we are like him. He is a Son of God but so are all believers, and all believers are born of the Holy Spirit. It's also difficult finding a church that doesn't have the Trinity as part of their doctrine.
Should I attend and financially support these places, even if they were the only church in a small town? (Fortunately I am not in that situation, but if I were I could not attend that church.)
Churches believe what their collective members believe. I understand most Christian churches will hold to some basic doctrines and you may have to find other faiths to locate a group of people who believe like you do. If you can find one other person then if you are Christians then Jesus is there with you. What more do you need?
The "essentials" in most Christian churches seem to include a belief in Hell as an eternal fiery judgement after you die physically. But to me it is clear that Paul is talking about spiritual death which occurs when people fall into sin. In Romans he said that he had "died in his sins" and that is how fundamentalists describe non believers who die physically. Same language, but two completely different meanings.
And even if other Christians don't believe that, they still have an issue with the judgement after physical death. So it's often hard to find a "Christian" church that doesn't believe that.
The physical resurrection was possibly added decades later to the gospels in order to help the pagan peoples identify with Christianity.
I'm also not sure about the Trinity worship. I don't see anything in the Bible about praying to Jesus. Jesus even said to pray "OUR" father, indicating that we are like him. He is a Son of God but so are all believers, and all believers are born of the Holy Spirit. It's also difficult finding a church that doesn't have the Trinity as part of their doctrine.
Should I attend and financially support these places, even if they were the only church in a small town? (Fortunately I am not in that situation, but if I were I could not attend that church.)
You just eliminated the Baptists, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, most other holiness denominations, the Mennonites, Latter Day Saints, Catholics, and Lord only knows how many others. I am in that situation and you're telling me to not attend any church in my town. Lordy.
I never knew that one's salvation(essentials) depended on the correct understanding of hell and/or eternal destiny?
I actually appreciate hearing that. Because there seem to be many preachers who say the opposite, that those things are important, and I disagree with them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
