Requiem for the American Ecclesiastical

(Unpopular opinions lie below. Read at your own peril.)

I'm about ready to give up on the American church. My experiences have led me to find that Christianity in the US has become more of a "feel good" religion than anything else.

"Nothing can stop my faith in God!" one might declare.

...except, I want to use vulgar language casually.
...except, I don't want to tithe.
...except, I want to have extra-marital sex with my boyfriend/girlfriend.
...except, I don't think I need to attend church.
...except, I want to act or dress in ways that tempts the other gender.
...except, I want to indulge in porn.
...except, I don't think I need to read the Bible.
...except, I don't think that Hell exists.
...except, I don't want to tell people they need to repent of sins.
...except, I think all ways lead to God.
...except, I want to seek riches at the expense of all other things.
...except, I think you can just be a good person and go to Heaven.
...except, I don't want to be called out on my sin.
...except, I don't want to tell others about Jesus.
...except, I don't believe that everything the Bible says is true.

I have seen all of these, either stated or acted, by far too many in the Christian church of America. I have done some of these myself.

Yes, there are many good churches and many godly Christians around. But more visible are the ones who call themselves Christians, perhaps even go to church once a week. Yet for them "Christian" is just a cultural term. "I believe in God and occasionally go to church. I guess that makes me a Christian." The church has become lukewarm.

This is not a rant demanding perfection. Nobody could ever live up to that standard. But when it's the norm, not the exception, something is wrong. I don't know if there is anything I can do about it. I don't know if there's anything anyone short of God himself can do about it.

Agreed. Another thing is, you might live in a "spiritually dry" area, where most churches are like that. Feel good and warm fuzzies. Jesus loves you, this you know. Jesus loves you in spite of your mistakes. Jesus doesn't leave you or forsake you. While those are all true, and it's good to remind people of that, there's also a different side to it.

Jesus says, go and sin no more. He said to pick up your cross, to take care of the "least of these," and don't despise the poor. But not all churches teach that.

Now, where I am, you wouldn't see much of that. There's my church, where the pastor goes hard-core in calling himself out and others out, and tells people how it is, no sugar-coating. There's also another church nearby me that's a Baptist church that believes in spiritual gifts. That church was pretty good too. But the area I live in isn't so spiritually dry, and there's many good churches to choose from.

But as you mentioned, no one is perfect. And churches WILL have flaws. But definitely don't give up on them.