Mike:
Wanted to make a few comments, if that's OK. But because I can be a little long winded... I'll go to your last question first.
'If she is insistent on going, should I go or not?' Answer: When you are at the point that the the answer is definitely
NO, you won't be asking
ANYBODY.
Honestly, I don't want to attend a church. I mean I already feel uncomfortable now listening to some of what is being taught knowing full well that the person speaking is DEAD wrong. Telling people that they will go to hell for their sins and that we MUST tithe 10% of our incomes according to Malachi 3:10. I used to believe all of this.
Be forwarned... Sooner or later this will become too much for you to bare.
I guess one of my stupid fears is going to a church for awhile, then having folks start asking us questions. What do you think would happen if I told them I didn't believe in tithing or that the Christian hell is a hoax? I'm sure someone would scream that there is a wolf amongst the flock trying to divide them. I sure don't need that on my conscious.
This bit brought this to mind. Aren't we told in the scriptures that we will experience persecution? I didn't get the impression that had to be scourging or being crucified.
Maybe I'm already anxious about the usher who looks at us with contempt as we pass the plate along. Mind you I have no objection with giving, but I really despise the practice of giving money in a public forum. You can't change how people think and I have known a few in those positions (ushers) who DO think the way I described. Human nature.
Maybe... Just maybe... One of the other people that attends will notice you skipping the offering plate. And instead of thinking less of you, they may just ask you about it.
I don't believe that you have to attend a church. I truly think that this is more about having a social life and friends than hearing God. My wife has commented many times since we stopped attending our former that not one person has called us.
That happened to me, too. Never heard a word. And I know they still attempt to contact my Mom that attended with me. I believe my comments & questions during Wednesday Night Bible Study had marked me a heretic, so... Now that I'm not there, Bible Study I mean, I hope that somebody else picked up the baton. It seemed like I was the only one that ever studied before hand and was able to answer the questions our pastor asked. Maybe it was really just a social event and I wasn't able to notice. I bet the group gets thru the passages alot faster now that its probably become just a speech from the pastor. I'm sure that there isn't any chewing of 'meat' going on.
However, if you made comments that were construed as being objectionable, then you got the cold shoulder. That is what happened when I tried to discuss the issue of tithing (or Christian giving) with some "friends". Never heard another word from them. Does it hurt, yes. I wish it weren't so.
It hurt me too. Actually, it still hurts and that was a few years ago. I recently shared this with what I consider my last two friends and I think that they may be gone now, too. Silence...
I want to honor God and live a life that I can be proud of. I don't want to upset my wife. If she is insistent on going, should I go or not?
Now this one is something that my sister and I have been speaking about recently. (She is a member here, too. Right now her PC is having problems, so she's not visiting the board.) I know this isn't PC, but... My sister and I have noticed that in our respective marriages, we had/have not been taking the roles that we are given in the scriptures. We are trying to change that. When she told me that she recognized that she was playing the role her husband was to have, you could knocked me over with a feather.
Well, those were my 'ramblings' on this.
\/\/ard