I'd probably find church more entertaining after downing a case of beer and a monster burrito too. The people around me? Probably not so much.
Did you ever have to deal with Evangelism Explosion? One of the things they do each week is ask you "If you died in 5 minutes, will you spend eternity in heaven with Jesus, or eternity in hell?" If you weren't sure, it was like, omg, get saved RIGHT NOW. I think I got saved at least 50 times over the years. Talk about mental anguish for 8-15 year-old kids. Not to mention the "if you're not on fire for the Lord, He will spit you out of his mouth!" line. No wonder so many people who grew up in the evangelical Christian church eventually become bitter and nonreligious.
Ive always been creeped out by churches and religion. As a nonbeliever, I was forced to go to a church in Europe, but honestly to sum it up, dont go if you dont like it, if you go, just listen to their values, not their beliefs.
You might want something like the frozen chosen -- congregations so concerned about being respectable that they have little personality expressed at all. Denominations like the anglican, episcopalian, or presbyterian are good sources. I go to a presbyterian church (PCA) that will almost never give applause. Certainly no dancing (though it wouldn't be a sin). But, you aren't going to avoid Christian music or people putting their hands up while singing. If you can't take that, you can't go to church.
I never thought I'd see myself in this category. I became bitter and now I'm nonreligious. I believe in God and that is pretty much it.
This is the midnight mass I go to, and it's year-round. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ohmhZVjaqQo&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ohmhZVjaqQo&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Drum & Bass for life.
Believe me, I NEVER EVER thought I'd be in that category either. I mean, it wasn't a remote possibility. And yet...
The only thing I hate about church is the singing - and it is usually pretty bad. It takes up half the service that I would rather have as a calm reflection time or something. If I want bad singing I will turn on American Idol - I find it very distracting. I would rather have no music at all.
I'm no zealot, but I'm pretty sure that most of the believers would say comments like that will get you a first class ticket to the turd-smoking section of hell. Burritos and beer are good though. Think what the Crusades could have accomplished had they employed such tactics. Never heard anyone say "He who lives by the burrito and beer shall die by the burrito and beer."
finalsbound and DrewP pretty much nailed it for me. I was forced to go to church (Southern Baptist) twice on Sundays and every Wednesday night until I was 17. I began to question the "validity" of all the stories and whatnot at a very early age (less than 10). My Sunday School teachers would always answer my queries with the words "faith" or "belief" or whatever. I couldn't even get a tangible answer as to how big Noah's boat must have been to fit even two brontosauruses. As I got older, my "questioning" became more and more jaded and pointed to the point where even the "teachers" would try to avoid me. I knew the day my mom told me I was old enough to make my own decision (I believe when I turned 17), I would never set foot in a church again (except for the occasional wedding and/or funeral). I can't imagine how you'd find a church that fits the description of what the OP is searching for anyway. A good friend of mine growing up (and who attended the same church I did) is heavily involved in what he terms an "emergent church" or something along those lines. He's in the DFW area and his church is called Church in the Cliff, I believe. It's a radically different way of viewing the Christian religion and teachings of Christ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_church http://churchinthecliff.org/
i hear you bro. my gf made me go to fellowship last week and honestly, i had fun cuz we were wrapping toys and school supplies to be sent to needy kids in other countries. after that, it got kinda weird for me. they had acted out scenes from the bible... sorta like religious charades. then they started out reading out the passages. i can believe in a god, but it just doesn't feel right for me... to try and connect to a world that happened thousands of years ago, in a localized middle eastern place to people i feel no connections to. they might as well be preaching the god of the eskimos and what their people did. not knocking it... it just wasn't for me.
church isn't for everyone, a religious organization isn't for everyone. I grew up within the church and probably until just 2 years ago, i started stepping away and about 6mos ago, i finally decided to stop going to the church i grew up in. It doesn't mean I've stopped believing in God or anything like that...its just sometimes some of the things they preached about didn't coincide with some of my own beliefs. I think its good to question these things because it makes you reflect and maybe even do some research. In the end, you're the one who makes the decision on how you want to live your life. If you're happy then good for you. Note though...there is no such thing as a perfect church. there will ALWAYS be something wrong or to complain about.
Here in Austin, we have the Gateway Church which would probably be exactly what your looking for. Sermons that are relevant to everybody in today's world. The music is done by a full band of extremely talented musicians and it's at an extremely high level of production. It's a very non-judgmental church with the emphasis that they are just glad that you're there and not about what you wear (many people were in shorts and t-shirt). I am agnostic and I thought that it was really cool since I was raised catholic. The message was very positive and I could definitely take something away from the sermon. My wife was put off by the talk of building a relationship with Jesus, so we tried some different churches. Now we are members of a Unitarian Universalist church. It's great for people that want to celebrate everyone's beliefs and to learn about other religions, while still getting the spiritual and social support that one would get at a Christian church.
Luckily my parents never attempted to bring me to church; however, this added the wonderful dimension of 8 year old DrewP worrying that his mother was going to burn in hell because she was a non-believer. The positive I can take from the experience is that I am skeptic with conviction. I have no sympathy or empathy for charlatans, in any forum, that perpetuate bullsh!t and prey on those who are easily manipulated. This does not fall entirely within religion, of course, but there are so many dirtbags in this universe convincing the weak to follow ill-guided ideas and inherently self-defeating methodologies. Those lucky enough to receive a good education and live a good life have a moral responsibility to defend those that did no have our opportunities. For some, that is working closely with the church, donating their time and money. Others find different avenues. Donating time and energy is important for me as well; fighting the bullsh!t that is handed out by the truck load through the media, government and other sources deserve special attention.
As far as church goes, I'm in a similar situation for likes and dislikes. I love hearing the sermons. I don't like much else.
finalsbound, you should definitely give ecclesia a try. Based on your post above, we were raised very similarly and I ended up bitter and out of church for a while. I took MadMax's advice a couple of years ago and I absolutely love it.
I'm not sure to be honest but yeah I guess that's what they call speaking in tongues. I remember one part of the thing where they all stood up waving their hands and it sounded like a room full of people gossiping.
