Are You A Better Christian If You Regularly Attend Church?

I attended church for many years. I finally dropped out, and feel at peace. I wasn't a better Christian when I went. Some of the best people I know don't attend church.

Many good, even holy, people don't 'believe' in God. Many church goers just go through the motions, for one reason or another.

"Better Christian" and "better person" aren't necessarily the same thing. They should certainly go hand-in-hand, but they aren't synonymous. Also, if you truly weren't a better Christian, then it was because you weren't putting anything into the experience. Church and Christianity are like anything else: you have to invest something in order to get a return.
 
I thought about this thread on Sunday in church. The pastor was talking about the third commendment: Remember the Sabath, to keep it Holy. Without a debate on whether that means Saturday or Sunday, it does sort of infer you go to church.
 
I thought about this thread on Sunday in church. The pastor was talking about the third commendment: Remember the Sabath, to keep it Holy. Without a debate on whether that means Saturday or Sunday, it does sort of infer you go to church.

I bet if you simply mailed your rabbi a check, he wouldn't be bothered about you showing up or not.
 
Your religious ignorance is showing. Quick hide in that pool of water up front! In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
 
This is an interesting discussion. In my opinion it's all about the personal relationship, experience and calling rather than the outward forms. So when I feel called I go. If I feel called, I speak. When I don't, I don't. Often I feel prompted to privacy and contemplation rather than fellowship, or even more often to service without bearing witness in any verbal sense - evangelism simply isn't my calling. I'm perfectly comfortable with that and I don't feel that my spirituality suffers because of it. But everyone needs to be true to their own needs and calling, obviously what works for me isn't going to work for everybody.
 
I thought about this thread on Sunday in church. The pastor was talking about the third commendment: Remember the Sabath, to keep it Holy. Without a debate on whether that means Saturday or Sunday, it does sort of infer you go to church.

I bet if you simply mailed your rabbi a check, he wouldn't be bothered about you showing up or not.

It's not about what the rabbi, or priest, or minister thinks. It's about what God thinks, and about what YOU think.
 
Your religious ignorance is showing. Quick hide in that pool of water up front! In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

How much about do you pay per year to your synagogue or whatever?

Probably about what they spend on me. $100 cash and some time on various projects. Three years ago they gave my middle daughter $700 to go on a mission to Haiti. So the, its all about the money, sort of flew out the window huh?
 
This is an interesting discussion. In my opinion it's all about the personal relationship, experience and calling rather than the outward forms. So when I feel called I go. If I feel called, I speak. When I don't, I don't. Often I feel prompted to privacy and contemplation rather than fellowship, or even more often to service without bearing witness in any verbal sense - evangelism simply isn't my calling. I'm perfectly comfortable with that and I don't feel that my spirituality suffers because of it. But everyone needs to be true to their own needs and calling, obviously what works for me isn't going to work for everybody.

CS Lewis said this in "The Screwtape Letters":

"At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference in their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls."

Now, Lewis is talking about things like kneeling while praying and actually composing prayers of words and speaking them, as opposed to "composing the spirit to love and indulging a spirit of supplication", as Coleridge put it. But it also applies to the question of actually taking your butt out the door and planting it in a pew at your church, as opposed to the whole "God is everywhere, so I can worship Him just as easily in my backyard" argument we so often hear.

While it is certainly theoretically possible for one to worship God anywhere, the reality is that it likely won't happen. Humans really are affected mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by their physical positioning. We know, for example, that insomniacs can combat their condition by establishing a nightly routine of physical activities that they will come to associate with falling asleep, including removing all distractions from their bedrooms in order to make it a place they think of only in terms of sleeping.

In the community in which I spend most of my time, we have a concept we call "mindfulness", where you go through rituals and activities that put you in a state of mind conducive to feeling and being dominant or submissive (whichever you happen to be). For some people, it involves putting on the collar, or appropriate clothing, or kneeling, or saying certain words, that pops them into that mindset.

That is what attending church should be: putting yourself into a place that facilitates a mindset of worshipping God, and contemplating spiritual matters, and behaving as a Christian, and hopefully it will help you carry that mindset over to the rest of your life between visits.

And this is probably the only time you will ever hear Christianity explained in terms of BDSM, so enjoy it. ;)
 
This is an interesting discussion. In my opinion it's all about the personal relationship, experience and calling rather than the outward forms. So when I feel called I go. If I feel called, I speak. When I don't, I don't. Often I feel prompted to privacy and contemplation rather than fellowship, or even more often to service without bearing witness in any verbal sense - evangelism simply isn't my calling. I'm perfectly comfortable with that and I don't feel that my spirituality suffers because of it. But everyone needs to be true to their own needs and calling, obviously what works for me isn't going to work for everybody.

CS Lewis said this in "The Screwtape Letters":

"At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference in their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls."

Now, Lewis is talking about things like kneeling while praying and actually composing prayers of words and speaking them, as opposed to "composing the spirit to love and indulging a spirit of supplication", as Coleridge put it. But it also applies to the question of actually taking your butt out the door and planting it in a pew at your church, as opposed to the whole "God is everywhere, so I can worship Him just as easily in my backyard" argument we so often hear.

While it is certainly theoretically possible for one to worship God anywhere, the reality is that it likely won't happen. Humans really are affected mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by their physical positioning. We know, for example, that insomniacs can combat their condition by establishing a nightly routine of physical activities that they will come to associate with falling asleep, including removing all distractions from their bedrooms in order to make it a place they think of only in terms of sleeping.

In the community in which I spend most of my time, we have a concept we call "mindfulness", where you go through rituals and activities that put you in a state of mind conducive to feeling and being dominant or submissive (whichever you happen to be). For some people, it involves putting on the collar, or appropriate clothing, or kneeling, or saying certain words, that pops them into that mindset.

That is what attending church should be: putting yourself into a place that facilitates a mindset of worshipping God, and contemplating spiritual matters, and behaving as a Christian, and hopefully it will help you carry that mindset over to the rest of your life between visits.

And this is probably the only time you will ever hear Christianity explained in terms of BDSM, so enjoy it. ;)

You need to be in church otherwise you can't reach the collection plate.
 
And how do we rate between Christians? You either believe in Christ or you don't. And if you Believe in and accept Christ then you recognize that you are in the same exact position everyone else is: You're a sinner who needs the Atonement.

Not sure how you can be a better or worse Christian when you recognize that.

Of course, Christ did mention that the greatest among you will be the servant of all.
 
This is an interesting discussion. In my opinion it's all about the personal relationship, experience and calling rather than the outward forms. So when I feel called I go. If I feel called, I speak. When I don't, I don't. Often I feel prompted to privacy and contemplation rather than fellowship, or even more often to service without bearing witness in any verbal sense - evangelism simply isn't my calling. I'm perfectly comfortable with that and I don't feel that my spirituality suffers because of it. But everyone needs to be true to their own needs and calling, obviously what works for me isn't going to work for everybody.

CS Lewis said this in "The Screwtape Letters":

"At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference in their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls."

Now, Lewis is talking about things like kneeling while praying and actually composing prayers of words and speaking them, as opposed to "composing the spirit to love and indulging a spirit of supplication", as Coleridge put it. But it also applies to the question of actually taking your butt out the door and planting it in a pew at your church, as opposed to the whole "God is everywhere, so I can worship Him just as easily in my backyard" argument we so often hear.

While it is certainly theoretically possible for one to worship God anywhere, the reality is that it likely won't happen. Humans really are affected mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by their physical positioning. We know, for example, that insomniacs can combat their condition by establishing a nightly routine of physical activities that they will come to associate with falling asleep, including removing all distractions from their bedrooms in order to make it a place they think of only in terms of sleeping.

In the community in which I spend most of my time, we have a concept we call "mindfulness", where you go through rituals and activities that put you in a state of mind conducive to feeling and being dominant or submissive (whichever you happen to be). For some people, it involves putting on the collar, or appropriate clothing, or kneeling, or saying certain words, that pops them into that mindset.

That is what attending church should be: putting yourself into a place that facilitates a mindset of worshipping God, and contemplating spiritual matters, and behaving as a Christian, and hopefully it will help you carry that mindset over to the rest of your life between visits.

And this is probably the only time you will ever hear Christianity explained in terms of BDSM, so enjoy it. ;)

You need to be in church otherwise you can't reach the collection plate.

Had I wanted childish comments without any substance or productiveness, I'd talk to my toddler. At least HE'S cute.
 
CS Lewis said this in "The Screwtape Letters":

"At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference in their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls."

Now, Lewis is talking about things like kneeling while praying and actually composing prayers of words and speaking them, as opposed to "composing the spirit to love and indulging a spirit of supplication", as Coleridge put it. But it also applies to the question of actually taking your butt out the door and planting it in a pew at your church, as opposed to the whole "God is everywhere, so I can worship Him just as easily in my backyard" argument we so often hear.

While it is certainly theoretically possible for one to worship God anywhere, the reality is that it likely won't happen. Humans really are affected mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by their physical positioning. We know, for example, that insomniacs can combat their condition by establishing a nightly routine of physical activities that they will come to associate with falling asleep, including removing all distractions from their bedrooms in order to make it a place they think of only in terms of sleeping.

In the community in which I spend most of my time, we have a concept we call "mindfulness", where you go through rituals and activities that put you in a state of mind conducive to feeling and being dominant or submissive (whichever you happen to be). For some people, it involves putting on the collar, or appropriate clothing, or kneeling, or saying certain words, that pops them into that mindset.

That is what attending church should be: putting yourself into a place that facilitates a mindset of worshipping God, and contemplating spiritual matters, and behaving as a Christian, and hopefully it will help you carry that mindset over to the rest of your life between visits.

And this is probably the only time you will ever hear Christianity explained in terms of BDSM, so enjoy it. ;)

You need to be in church otherwise you can't reach the collection plate.

Had I wanted childish comments without any substance or productiveness, I'd talk to my toddler. At least HE'S cute.

Like you can't pray or whatever at home and need to go to church absolutely?
 
And how do we rate between Christians? You either believe in Christ or you don't. And if you Believe in and accept Christ then you recognize that you are in the same exact position everyone else is: You're a sinner who needs the Atonement.

Not sure how you can be a better or worse Christian when you recognize that.

Of course, Christ did mention that the greatest among you will be the servant of all.

I think the "better" and "worse" parts start with "what do you do once you realize you're a sinner in need of atonement?" In other words, what are your actions after that point?
 
You need to be in church otherwise you can't reach the collection plate.

Had I wanted childish comments without any substance or productiveness, I'd talk to my toddler. At least HE'S cute.

Like you can't pray or whatever at home and need to go to church absolutely?

Thanks for demonstrating to everyone that you're just here to throw out nasty, insulting comments and try to derail the conversation without bothering to read any of the posts, let alone understand them. Now get your snotty, ignorant, puerile ass off my screen. I need the space for mature, thoughtful adults.
 

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