I can only speak from my own experience, but...
I was raised in church my whole life -- the first week my parent got me (through adoption,) they had me in the pews the very next Sunday. I was steeped in church -- Lutheran school K-12, Sunday school, vacation Bible school, Bible classes, endless groups, excursions, potlucks... The only way I could get away from church was if I ran away from home -- literally.
So when I moved away from home and went to a public college, I stopped going for about a year. Adjusting to this new world was a distraction, and I wanted to get away from the cage I'd always felt I was living in. However, God was always calling me. I'd bring my Bible into where I worked to read on breaks, and wound up becoming good friends with a Jehovah's Witness and an atheist. I eventually invited a group of co-workers to check out a local church with me, including one who was an agnostic, and was dismayed when they yelled at him for going outside and smoking (this was around 30 years ago, when smoking policies were more liberal.)
I understand places having rules like this for a reason, but the woman who did so wasn't very polite about it, and it wasn't very welcoming to a newcomer who was being introduce to the Lord, possibly for the first time. I went on another hiatus from church fo ra while after that. I was just sick of all the rules and, to be honest, I wanted to get away from most "church people."
I found over time though, that I can't survive without being plugged into a strong, Bible-believing church community.
I've known people who won't go to any church and I can understand their feeling that all churches are corrupted, but I personally don't believe any church or person will ever interpret God's Word perfectly in this life.
I've used this example before -- if a pure beam of light is shown through smudged or dirty glass, the light coming through the other side is always going to have some kind of impurity -- it will never be as clear as the original. Every human being is smudge and dirty in some way, because we're all sinful from conception. I don't trust anyone, whether a lone wolf or a church leader, who claims they understand God's word perfectly. But that's just me. All I can do is try to find a church that stays true to Biblical principals and that God gives me peace about attending.
I also go to church because it keeps me accountable. I have to face all these people of God (in person!) with a sense of integrity. If I'm slipping into the abyss of sin and temptation, I either have to put on a game face that's completely false (which I'm terrible at,) work on getting things right so that I can face God's people in person in truth. Am I perfect?! Heavens no!!! But being around real people keeps me from falling into thoughts of, "Oh, well my sins are THAT bad; I'm doing my best; everyone sins, why should I feel so bad about mine?" Isolating myself from other believers leads to me making more excuses for myself, and no good can come from that.
I've known people who believe they know the Bible better than anyone else and that only God can correct them, but I don't see it working out very well. They're usually (not always, but more often than not in my experience) the type of person no one else wants to be around. Because they think they're wiser than anyone else, have some sort of spiritual knowledge or understanding that no one else has, they insist on correcting everyone ELSE with a wall of Scripture -- but NEVER take correction for themselves.
For me, that's the telltale sign. If someone is relying on just the voice of God to tell them when they're wrong and is not being confronted by actual people as well, I keep my distance.
King David held on to his sins of murdering Uriah and committing adultery for at least a year, and from what I've read, I honestly don't think he would have ever repented of this unless Nathan the prophet corrected him. And look at how strongly Nathan had to rebuke him!!!
Even when Nathan DID confront him (with the story of the man with the treasured pet lamb that was slaughtered for dinner by a rich man with thousands of flocks,) the Bible says that "David BURNED with anger at the rich man."
David was so hard-hearted in holding on to his sins, HE DIDN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE HIMSELF as the rich man!!! Nathan had to straight up tell David, "YOU are THAT man!!!" before David finally began to soften and admit his sin.
If DAVID himself needed correction in the form of another human being alongside God, I'm pretty sure most other humans do as well (I wouldn't trust anyone who said they didn't, but that's just me.)
I was just thinking of several years ago when a friend I've known for around 25 years confronted me about something and said, "Listen, YOU made those decisions, and now YOU are going to have to deal with the consequences!!" She's one of the least judgmental people you'll ever meet, but she's never afraid to call out bull hockey when she sees it!
(I think it's important to not just accept criticism from anyone though -- when I asked God about this a long time ago, He told me, "If someone who's shown they're willing to bleed WITH you through the hard times, that's the person whose confrontation I want you to listen to.")
Anyways, I do sympathize with those who can't find a decent church. I live in a very liberal area, and it's challenging to find a church that hasn't adopted liberal policies -- and isn't flying mosaic flags.
Just a few weeks ago, a man in a full dress with long hair, painted nails, and dangling earrings sat in front of me in church. But I know the church I'm attending doesn't have any liberal agendas.
It's great to see the people who need God (fellow sinners, just like me!) attending church, but if this man wants to continue at this church, he is going to have adopt God's policies, and not his own.
I attend and in-person church and listen to the online sermons from a church in another state I used to attend -- to help keep me in line -- and to try to help ensure I don't fall for the world's crazy agendas either.
GREAT thread,
@cinder!!
