Quote:
Originally Posted by Melo
What has been people’s experience with their campus ministry (both good and bad)?
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The good: they were there even during a time when I felt incredibly lonely. I didn't know anyone on campus and I went through some stuff. Just meeting with them on campus and at their houses helped a lot psychologically. I think I would have had a much worse time without them.
They were also accepting of other Bible versions (despite obviously preferring the Recovery version) and what I really respect them for is that not a single time did they ask for money. That showed that they are at least honest in their intentions.
The bad: At the time a friend of mine became an atheist. Being a young earth creationist at the time I did not have any good arguments to make to convince him to stay a Christian. The LC dismissed this. They don't seem to care for any rational discussion of anything really. My one LC friend said in a similar discussion he would just repeat "Jesus loves you" or something similar. That really put me off. How many non-believers go away thinking the Church has nothing to offer?
Also, their references to man becoming God became very scary and seemed more and more heretical. I began to seriously consider whether this group is a cult. Their disdain for other denominations as I mentioned made my suspicion even worse.
Tying in with what I said earlier about my loneliness, in second year things were better. I made good friends on campus and I stayed with my best friend nearby. At the same time the two LC members I were close with moved to other campuses, which basically removed any personal links I had. So leaving them became easy. The last time I went to a meeting I brought a friend with me. During that meeting I saw the whole thing through my friend's eyes: I realised how utterly weird this whole thing is: the people, the music, the "Oh Lord Jesus". My eyes were opened and I never went back.
Also, a minor thing, at one point where everyone shared something they learned, one guy told a Biblical story that was completely wrong scripturally and no one bothered to correct him.
tl;dr The good: they are nice people. The bad: they are exclusionary and don't care for reasoning.
As a last note I'll say this: you mentioned that it's difficult to leave because of your parents. And that's just it, isn't it? It's all so personal. It's all so a part of you. Not grounded on truth, but on relationships. That's not always a good thing.