If you haven’t noticed, I’ve referenced a few songs from Lyfe Jennings’ “Lyfe 268-192” album. Besides being one of my favorite R&B albums, the content is not made up of the typical ‘I Love You’ ballads. He actually builds a musical storybook of life events; a great deal of which I can personally relate to. So FYI, I might cover the entire album at some point. Now on to the column…
A friend recently asked me when I was going to attend service at church. It’s not like I hadn’t thought about it. My mom always encouraged me to go. I’ve gone sporadically here and there on a whim. I guess I’ll go more consistently when I’m ready. For right now, I have my reasons.
My family is of Baptist faith. If you’ve never been to a Baptist church, you don’t know what you’re missing. It is quite an experience. I attended Catholic High school and was exposed to Mass services so I can say first hand that there is a huge difference in how we celebrate the scriptures. I have a fun time at church when the service is good and the pastor preaches as if it was his last sermon. I guess you’re curious about what the issue is…
…church folk.
I know that religion can sometimes be a touchy subject and the right combination of the wrong words can make you the anti-christ but I have to tell you, there is some shady ish going on at church and a whole host of interesting characters to go along with my opinion. Now I’m not saying I’m right but “It’s like when I’m right I’m right, when I’m wrong I coulda been right, so I’m still right cause I coulda been wrong, you know, and I’m sorry cause I could be wrong right now, I could be wrong, but I’m right” (a quote Terrence Howard said in 50 Cent’s movie, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”).
Let’s exclude the true church goers. These are the folks that come to church every Sunday religiously to praise the Lord. I have no issues with them. Now let’s talk about the remaining 90 percent. We have a mixture here:
1. The “just came from the club” folks who need to repent their sins that occurred a few hours ago at the club. They go to early service because they got home not too much sooner than before service begins. The bold ones show up in the same club outfits. The less bold, hide in conservative garments which don’t fit their personalities. I can even tolerate this group because at least they are coming to cleanse their souls.
2. You have women who come for the pastor. Oh please note, a pastor’s fan base is huge. If this were the music industry, they’d be known as groupies and if you know like I know, groupies do anything to get what they want when it comes to the star of the show.
3. Let’s talk about the saved people; shaking my head to this one. Is it me or when people get saved their spirits turn cold toward human beings? Granted, getting saved is a step towards a better relationship between that person and God. However, does that mean the whole human race is wrong and now the enemy? I’ve seen newly saved people turn selfish, cruel, and disheartened and have the nerve to say all that they do is for the Lord.
4. Last but not least, and this is the majority, are the judgmental ones. Now, I’m not saying that I’m an angel. I would sometimes go to church for therapy but some of these folks swear that they are holier than thou. If someone ever tells you that you will never to be judged under God’s roof, they lie. I’ve never seen so much eye screwing and heard so much gossip than in a church.
I’m probably going to hell after this but ask me why I hesitate to go to church again…
4 comments
Kimberly says:
Nov 27, 2012
You should not allow any group of folk to stop u from attending service. Your focus should be The Lord. You serve Him not them.
Big Money says:
Nov 27, 2012
By and large, I am suspicious of church folk because a) I feel like they stand in judgment of me and b)many of them are-plain and simple-hypocrites (actually, this is related to point A.) C) In 90% of cases, when I’ve attempted to have discussions with so-called Christians about spiritual matters (or even just asked “hey, what do you really think of me?”) then I get ignored, which makes me believe that they’re not being truthful with me-which then makes me wonder if they’re being truthful with themselves.
I consider myself a spiritual person, and if there is any lessons to be learned from any religious text, they are the golden rule and the concept of universal law. Do unto others as they would do unto you, and you get back what you put into this world. I don’t need to be under a church roof to understand and follow that. I distinctly remember a mutual friend of ours proclaiming that people only get saved when they’ve freaked so hard they have no choice but to go in the polar opposite direction (I’m paraphrasing there) and I agree with that as well. Point being-I think that if there is a God (and I can’t say whether there is one or not) then He or She would want us all to enjoy our lives and treat our fellow man (as well as other creatures and the Earth) with respect. Most people I know who call themselves Christian can’t even do that.
To sum up–this was spot on. Aside from the whole Baptist Church thing, I could have written this myself.
Nikki says:
Nov 27, 2012
Preach June…PREACH!!! I agree wholeheartedly with you and I’m a big church goer. The difference is I’m a Christ follower who believes in what Jesus taught…LOVE and COMPASSION. If we had more of that in our churches we would have less doubters.
Mook says:
Dec 8, 2012
I’ve got to agree with Kimberly on this point. Although I can completely understand your position on the church goers,this can be found in any area of religion. When you attend service you should be going for spiritual nurturing. Theres a reason that theres more than one place to worship. Find a place that feels like home and feeds you spiritually and those mentioned in 1-4 wont even matter.