Quote:
Originally Posted by movingon
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.
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Being around other Christians is an odd experience at first I think because the LC system is more than a church - it's a lifestyle. It demands a 100% commitment. Activities and friendships outside of the church are not encouraged except if you are trying to get a friend to join the church.
So your social life (such as it is) is tied up with people in the church and the narrative is the LSM curriculum. So after a meeting on Sunday you might go over to someone's house for lunch and what do you talk about? The message from that morning or the upcoming conference or some other "spiritual" thing related to the church. It never stops. Meetings, conferences, trainings etc are your social life and the content within that framework is LSM curriculum.
After a Sunday morning meeting outside the LC system you may hear a brief discussion about the message. "Wasn't the sermon good?" Or "I liked this part but don't agree with what he said about..." And then you'll start talking about the football game yesterday and what a mistake the QB made in the 4th quarter. Or the skiing trip you just got back from. Or how much you liked that indie movie that was a sleeper but just won an Academy award and now will get wide release. In other words, the narrative of the church members lives is not dominated by the messages given on Sunday mornings or whenever. They don't feel and are not made to feel obligated to keep repeating it over and over to each other. The time it is given occupies a segment of
their lives and hopefully the good parts affect
their lives afterwards but that's it.
So to those in the LC system occupying your time with church activities and non-stop spiritual talk = not being worldly. But to most Christians applying what they have learned in church to their lives as they do various activities = not being worldly. The latter makes more sense to me because it more closely matches real human life as we live it without artificiality.