Help in Becoming "Normal"
Hello. I've been lurking here off and on for awhile, and would like to ask a question for other ex-members of the Local Churches.
Ever since I left many years ago, I have been meeting with a denomination. It is a good church, and it has helped me get over many of my bad experiences in the "recovery."
But there's one category of problems I have, that I think is from having been in the Local CHurches for so long. And I can't get over it. This keeps coming up in my life, and I thought maybe this forum would be a good place to bring it up. I could really use some help.
I have a hard time with things that we used to think were "worldly" in the Local Churches. I mean things like enjoying sports, hobbies, recreation, things like that. I still have a very hard time being what I would call "normal." I'm surrounded by Christians who have no problem just enjoying life. They play sports, or watch sports, and they don't think twice about it. To them it's just a normal part of human life. They don't get bothered in their consciences because they are doing something worldly or un-spiritual. They do things with their families, they play games, they do fun stuff, and for some reason I'm still bothered by all this.
I know this sounds really weird. I wish this weren't a problem, but it is. I would like to be able to watch a football game, or have a favorite TV show, or be with friends that have the same intersts, like a group that has a hobby together. And I just can't, without getting all messed up inside. I feel very condemned, like I should still be a "super-Christian" like I was in the Local Churches, or like I pretended to be. Or I just feel very strange, like I don't fit in anywhere, like I can't participate. Does this make any sense? There are things I'd like to do more of in my life, and inwardly I get bothered. Maybe it's what some people call an "over-senstive conscience". When people talk about things that I really enjoy, I feel like I have to hide it. I remember doing this all the time in the Local Churches. We weren't allowed to be normal. We had to be spiritual about everytyhing. I remember even feeling guilty for reading a novel, and I didn't want anyone there to find out. It's crazy. But I'm still like that after 2 decades, and I can't figure it out.
When I talk to people about this, they basically say just get over it. But it's not that simple.
I forgot to mention holidays. That's still an issue for me. Halloween is coming up, and I'd like to just enjoy it, hand out candy to kids, maybe even dress up. And anyone in the Local Churches remember how that was looked down on. We even called it "Satan's night." In my denomination it's no big deal, people can do what they want. But little things like this still cause really strong reactions inside of me, and very few people understand it.
In the Local Churhces we took that verse about love not the world very seriously, and we didn't do anything that could be the world. Going to a football game was loving the world. Watching a sitcom on TV was loving the world. Listening to rock music on the radio was loving the world. Having a hobby was loving the world. Definitely if you did something with your family on a holidy it was loving the world, unless you were at a training somewhere.
Why am I still dealing with all this garbage? I feel like all those years messed me up, and I don't know how to be just a normal human being. Can anyone relate to this?
How do you become normal? How do you learn to just enjoy life without thinking that God is going to judge you because you should be more spiritual? I didn't mean to ramble on and on like this but I could really use some help.
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