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Originally Posted by Ohio
I now am a recovering "judgaholic" learning to love God and His people, rather than be obsessed with teachings. I also have little appetite for books about the Bible, and prefer to just read the Bible, especially the Gospels.
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The greatest revelation is arguably God's love for us in sending His Son, and our responding, in faith and love, toward God and each other. Any truth, so-called, that turns our attention away from this is highly suspect, in my book. Everything should enhance this gospel message.
Now some may strongly feel that without "church" there is no way to hear the message, no way to preach the message, and even no way to express the message of love, both from and toward God, and toward one another. Although I wouldn't dismiss such an argument out of hand, I would ask them, How much of your focus on the collective is culturally derived? In the LC of Lee, a lot, clearly. They are unwilling to gather without a "master plan" given by "God's oracle of the present age." Even where the plan deviates from the Bible, from common sense, and from our own present leading.
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Originally Posted by Camil0
today my focus is not at all on "Christ and the Church" or any other doctrinal hobbyhorse. We try to just positively contribute where we can..
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I went through the same thing, and still do... trying to fit into the larger Christian conversation. One of the things about being older is that you don't fall for the next guy who comes along and proclaims something as if it were so; this is good because you don't get led by the nose as when you were 25. But this is bad because being led by the nose was once the basis for your communal experience of Christ, and when that is gone, how to meet and interact with others? What to say, when Big Brother isn't dictating the conversation?
First, to find a group where the Maximum Brother or Sister complex isn't dominating the conversation. Jesus alone is the mediator between humanity and God. Second, a place where your own journey, such as it is, will be welcomed. (The second point is greatly abetted by having the attitude
Camil0 suggests, above.)
I'm an opinionated know-it-all type, who constantly has to struggle to let go, to shut up, to admit my ignorance and foolishness, and in church my struggle is to sit there with believers who bray like donkeys, and just sit there until one of them turns and speaks forth God. Because it will happen, sooner or later. You just have to be patient. Because I am also one of the donkeys. The heavenly promise is: if you show mercy to others, God will show mercy to you.