i have had the privilege as well as the challenge of being in churches throughout much of my life.
Therefore, my perspective includes the beauty, the grace, the courage , the power and the intelligence that comes from being a part of a christian church. I am always grateful for being introduced to the study of the holy bible from a very very young age. My childhood was filled with adults who took the time to read the holy bible aloud to our family on a regular basis..
So what are the challenges that growing up in a "churchy" lifestyle bring? How could something so beautiful and gracious bring any challenges at all?
Well, for today I am just going to keep it short. I will list simply 5 reasons that a religious background can sometimes bring struggles that others from different backgrounds do not struggle with.
1/ A sense that it is not "right" to be ambitious or pursue your own self created goals. Religious mindsets often preach the idea that followers of God must allow God to form their future, and therefore seem to send a message to their young followers that they are not "permitted" to make their own list of personal life goals. The message seems to label being goal oriented as selfish or self centered.
2/ A sense that women are not encouraged to be "all that they can be"....but must simply become mothers of children and dress modestly. Some religious circles strongly frown on any sign of a "freedom loving" female agenda. Such religious groups refuse to spend money on educating the women in their congregation, and show an outright preference to sending the young men to higher educational places, but not the women.
3/ Some church communities frown on the use of certain medications. They seem to have the attitude that it shows a "lack of faith" to submit to the use of prescription medications suggested by "secular" doctors. This attitude has very dire results in some church communities, as those who are trying to please that church's leadership may wind up depriving their loved ones of lifesaving medications.
4/ Time gobbling.. There is no other way to describe some church community cultures. I have seen some Christian leaders apply extreme emotional pressure to their congregation until they feel obligated to spend many days of the week attending church meetings and other religious activities. These leaders refuse to acknowledge that when church attendance is so extreme, that other obligations in a normal family can go unattended, such as work duties, wealth building, education (both self led and formal) as well as regular housework. Such pastors are hungry for absolute control over their congregation and they perpetuate their control by having access to the presence and ears of their church members for as many days of each week as possible.This perpetuates a church culture in which the church members are chronically under-educated and mentally dull.
I believe that this deeply grieves God's Spirit, who rejoices when we embrace our own intellectual potential.
5/ A Disrespect for money. There has been much written on this subject. So I will keep it really short.
Some church leaders have no business experience and often limited formal education. Therefore, their personal understanding of finance, in both the personal and commercial realms, is extremely limited. Therefore, these pastors preach from a perspective of financial immaturity. If a pastor does not understand how money works, and does not respect the time and effort it takes to create wealth and maintain wealth; the church members will discover that this pastor will not empower them to prosper. His or her messages will be filled with naivete and even a chronic disrespect for those who are rich. These type of church leaders often lift up those who live on little money as "more pious and spiritual" than those who are setting their sights on creating or maintaining wealth.
Ironically, it is often these very same immature pastors who are the first to walk up to a rich church member and apply extreme persuasion to try to apply guilt and manipulation to try to convince or force the rich church members to donate much of their wealth to that very same church.
Well, that's all for now folks. Sorry to write negative things. But some of these things still need to be understood.
If you choose to attend Christian churches, be blessed and do so with joy. However, be aware that you should never completely lower your guard, no matter where you worship. Do not let anyone, or any organization steal your time or your money, or your health. Make your own decisions with prayer and your own common sense. Don't be inordinately vulnerable to pastors and preachers....and always hold their advice up to the sniff test. If it don't smell right....toss it out.
In Peaceful productivity,
Carla.
