People don't come to Church because they don't want to be indoctrinated with negative ideation, especially about sex.
People are beyond being told what to think about God.
They want to get rid of the middle man and experience the Divine for themselves.
This is what was so attractive about yoga. It offered a way of experiencing the Divine directly.
Unfortunately this individual path was sabotaged by Satanists in the rock music industry. As a result each individual was picked off and nothing seemed to work.
This is why being part of a community of like minded people is so important.
At the moment most Churches are still preaching the old paradigm - Fall/Redemption Christology and a Judgmental God.
Nothing will change if we just dress up the old theology.
We need a new positive theology:
- Original Blessing.
- A healthy attitude towards sex.
- No punishment, judgment, or hell.
- Acceptance of homosexuals.
- Equality of women.
- A path to personal experience of God
- through prayer and contemplation,
study and action.
Through these practices it is my hope that modern people might experience the love and forgiveness of God for themselves.
"People don't come to Church because they don't want to be indoctrinated with negative ideation, especially about sex."
ReplyDeleteNot sure I agree with that Mike. Main reason for not attending at laziness, hangovers on sunday (for younger generation), some places the lack of people attending in 20s-35s could be hard to maintain consistent attendance due to big age gaps. There are many other reasons which I'm missing here.
I believe you cannot have a successful marriage without faith and attending church as a family on a regular basis.
Sam
Sam,
DeleteThanks for your comment.
Its O.K. to disagree.
Maybe the original statement was a bit negative.
I attend Church regularly myself.
But many of the newer Churches don't accept gay people.
If it works for you that's good!
Michael E. East.
Michael...again thank you for this post. It was so inspiring. I know we aren't agreeing on everything...but I couldn't agree MORE on your list of what the Church of today's world needs to focus on...especially the first 2. As to the 2nd one - healthy attitude towards sex....this is so direly needed because i am learning from a man named Davide Deida that sex and the metaphor of sex is so intimately connected to our connection to the Divine and to each other that we Christians are desperately and sadly missing out in so many ways!
ReplyDeleteHope you will continue to read my posts on why I am a "divorcing the Church" and offer your feedback!
To Sam -
ReplyDeleteI just have to say that your last sentence was a little stingy...because I do not believe our lives can be formulated like this. I was in a marriage that for all apparent reasons looked like a "successful" marriage. We had "faith" so I thought and religiously attended Church every Sunday. But it was a completely unhealthy marriage. I realized how unhealthy as I sat around a table with 2 other couples who were not Church goers...but whom both seemed to completely have something that my marriage was lacking - respect and awe and dedication and faith in each other. That is when I knew my marriage was and had been dead for quite some time...just some food for thought...
In case you are curious, removing myself from this unhealthy, abusive pattern has led me to discover who God, who the Divine really is...even though I thought I had found him before. Leaving my marriage was something I KNOW the Divine called me to do...and standing up to the abuse I see in the Church is also something I know the Divine is calling me to do...so me leaving the church has NOTHING to do with being lazy or hung over. I was completely dedicated...sometimes more than once a week. I listened to messages at home, I prayed, I studied I even applied to seminary. But now I see that the reasons Mike lists are some of the reasons I am leaving...and if we love the idea of the Body of the Church - even though we might not identify with them - we as a Church need to be aware these are reasons dedicated people like me are leaving in order to find the Truth in other places. www.practicejoy.info.