When Christians Quit Church
This Charisma article from February 2005, When Christians Quit Church: An alarming number of Christians are staying home on Sunday mornings. Charisma researched how this trend is affecting today’s church, didn’t generate buzz on the first go around in the blogosphere, but did create a small stir on their message forum. Recent conversations alluded to this growing trend, alarming and paralyzing to many.
I quit church. I had been going to church for 40 years and last year I quit going. The “church” is no longer “the church” in my estimation. It is a business. I would rather give my money to the local bagel and coffee shop and sit and read and fellowship with my family. We gather each week and enjoy each others company.
Life has never felt so “normal”. Church now, for me, seem so abnormal…so legalistic if you will. We believe if we go sit in a building where we barely know anyone and sing songs and hear a life coach give us tips on how to have our best life now that we are pleasing God and obeying his commands.
That is the biggest crock anyone has believed since the RC’s sold indulgences. I do church on Friday with a small group of men who know me. We pray, read Scripture, listen to music, laugh together, cry together…and PRAY. We just share our lives together and it is life to my soul.
The Church has given me what I don’t need but never given my soul what it needed most: the Gospel.