Ever-stranger in a strange land
I and my church are not a good fit. We've been attending a large, evangelical/fundamentalist Christian church since we moved to town. It seemed to be the right place at first. It had scads of people attending: young, old, white, black. It was "upbeat" and energetic. The pastor was charismatic, humorous and very bright. He could communicate flawlessly and he passed the Insomnia Test and kept me awake through his sermons week after week. They had an active children's ministry that our kids actually enjoyed and wanted to attend. We had struck gold.
It is a very conservative church. While there are certainly more conservative churches out there, some even in our town, it does fall on the far right both theologically as well as politically. Wednesday evening pastoral Bible studies would divert occasionally into anti-evolution lectures. People would talk in Sunday School about how America had to support Israel because God would abandon America if we ever abandoned Israel. The Bible does not contain the word of God. The Bible is the word of God. Stuff like that.
I've grown restless in this church. My thoughts on faith have been changing lately. I certainly no longer identify myself as a fundamentalist and, for that matter, evangelical doesn't seem to fit either. Yet we will likely stay at this church for the forseeable future because a) it has a good children's program, b) my wife and I have made many friends there, and c) people there really do appear to want to draw closer to God and learn more about God.
So what happens to me? I'm not sure. I suspect I will be sorting out my thoughts on this and other matters and see what shakes loose.
It is a very conservative church. While there are certainly more conservative churches out there, some even in our town, it does fall on the far right both theologically as well as politically. Wednesday evening pastoral Bible studies would divert occasionally into anti-evolution lectures. People would talk in Sunday School about how America had to support Israel because God would abandon America if we ever abandoned Israel. The Bible does not contain the word of God. The Bible is the word of God. Stuff like that.
I've grown restless in this church. My thoughts on faith have been changing lately. I certainly no longer identify myself as a fundamentalist and, for that matter, evangelical doesn't seem to fit either. Yet we will likely stay at this church for the forseeable future because a) it has a good children's program, b) my wife and I have made many friends there, and c) people there really do appear to want to draw closer to God and learn more about God.
So what happens to me? I'm not sure. I suspect I will be sorting out my thoughts on this and other matters and see what shakes loose.
posted by Paul at 10:03 PM
3 Comments:
I have to ask ... what is the difference between the Bible containing the Word of God and the Bible being the Word of God?
Honestly, I am not picking on you. I am an evangelical, but I am not a fundamentalist (though I score high on a little quiz). I am just curious. :)
The pastor at the church I attend believes that every word in the Bible is inspired and specifically placed there by God. As opposed to the view that the Bible contains God's truth but may also contain information which is not historically or scientifically accurate.
Have you considered looking into the mormon faith ? www.mormon.org. If you don't immediately dismiss the idea you might find out some things about God that are worth thinking about. Anyways if you do, I will look forward to your blog on the subject.
p.s. i like your style & honesty
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