Should I give up on being a Christian?

Question

Since I have been a Christian, I have experienced some moments of intense joy , but so much more hypocrisy and dissapointment. My inner conflict between my natural and 'spiritual' natures is depressing, guilt laden and painfull, with no hope of it getting any better. I am in despair, and feel it would be better to just drop the relationship with God thing entirely...I am sick of getting it so wrong and feeling bad all the time, as well as being told that it is wrong to feel bad about it. Advice please?

By the way...I work for the CofE, and my church is completely screwed up.

Answer 1

If you want to find the truth thats the only way.

Answer 2

I'm so sorry that you have had such disappointments but if I could give you any advice at all it would be to deepen your relationship with God and ignore the negative voices around you.

God intended you to live a life full of joy, peace, blessing, abundance, prosperity and success in every area of your life. But if you keep looking to other people for their opinions and listening to their comments which drag you down, then you will end up disillusioned because they are guaranteed to let you down.

Don't worry about the conflicts that you're going through because God understands them. It was an area that Paul struggled with because he said 'the things I want to do, I don't do and the things I don't want to do, I end up doing' (paraphrased - before you all shout at me). The most important thing is to know that God loves you so much. You are amazing, unique, special and you make Him so happy. He doesn't want you to be in despair. Just have a chat to Him and tell Him how you feel and you'll feel a lot better.

Keep your chin up sweetie and have a lovely Christmas xx

Answer 3

Get out of ur church now! Move to a spirit filled loving church. Condemnation and shame are of the devil. Once u ask for forgiveness all that should be wiped away. If not just say i break this shame in the name of Jesus. It's not easy being with God all the time. But it's a lot easier being in relationship with Him than without Him. Get some good christian fellowship around you. Also do some serious praying to God. Read the bible and get the revelation from God yourself on the things u r struggling with. God bless!

Answer 4

I will be honest, working within a Christian organisation, can be one of the worst place to work as a Christian. I have experieced it in the past and do not want to go there again, and what made it worse was my church leader was making up stories about me that was not true, and lead to me loosing my job. I am now quite happley working in the rail industry, where I get respect for my faith.
My advise is that you should keep the faith, and try looking for a new church.
Mind I must remind you that all churches contain people and none of us are perfect.
As for being guilt laidened and having inner conflict, you have to remember that we have God and all thing are possible through him, so trush in him, and he will guide you through your darkest hour. It might seem hard, but everyone goes through the highs and lows. remember that in the end you will become a stronger person.
I wish you well and will be thinking of you.

Answer 5

Oh, my! I've been through exactly what you are going through. I found it hard to quit God and Jesus since it was really people I was mad at. That doesn't mean I was angry for a while I was. I think I was angry for a year or so. Eventually, after meeting a Buddist, I learned it was not God that was the problem, it was humans. People who are just as human as I am and making the same mistakes I've made or will make. Being Christian does not and will not make you or anyone else perfect. It simply makes you forgiven. Forgiveness is a powerful thing, just as unforgiveness is also a powerful thing. Unforgiveness, if you let it take root in you will turn on you and poision you. See, the people who hurt you have moved on, they sleep at night without another thought about you and what they did to you. Many of them don't remeber. If you have no place in their hearts and minds why give them any place in yours? On the other hand forgiveness, forgiving those who have hurt you is freeing. It liberates you from your pain. I used to say out loud over and over again, (until I felt it), I forgive...who ever the person was. One day it was true. I gained something very powerful from doing that, I was able to forgive myself. Now, that is liberation!!! Not only that but those people and what that had done no longer had an affect on me. I was finally free of pain, hurt, shame and guilt. The next time they did something I could just laugh. I wasn't scarastic or hateful. I laughed because I was shocked how it did not bother me. Don't give up on God he would not give up on you. Plus, I don't think you really want to. If you did you wouldn't be talking to anyone about it, you would just do it. You know what people are like who don't have Jesus in their heart, and you are not one of those people. And considering how senistive you are to the pain other people can cause, I am sure you don't want to be one of those people. Hang it there. It is worth it. Give God time to move and work in your life and in the lives of the people who have hurt you. God bless you.

Answer 6

I have question or you.. In you faith did you come to a place that you for certain you had eternal life? In other words did you "Believe" (trust ) in Jesus to bring you to Himself in heaven.. If you did you became a Child of God... Can you tell even one instance that a GOOD parent ever dropped a child from their family.. Oh the child may walk away for a time but dismissed from the family NEVER... You know you don;t have to deal with the hypocrisy and disappointment that you have found in organized religion. You can study the bible learn about Christ right here and if you have question ask one of the Christians online for help. We will talk to you and be your friends give you the fellowship we are called not to forsake. And tell us of your hurts we will share the burden. Tell me about those inner conflicts maybe I can help you thru them. I can show you that your guilt isn't yours and the only one who would be telling you you don't deserve salvation is Satan... I don't know what you have wrong or why you feel bad but believe me we can get thru it together.... Jim

Answer 7

The decision to become a Christian is often about a lot of different things - to become a member of a group, to acknowledge that you believe that Jesus was the son of God, to be on the side of goodness. As a former Christian I can tell you that this is a decision you must come to on your own. You must realize that it is human nature to have imperfect people in the world, and some of them are Christians. No matter what they tell you, as long as you are on the side of good (versus evil) you are on the right path. If you study the early origins of the Christian church you might be quite surprised to find things out about it that you did not know before that will influence your decision. I decided to think of "God" as the natural universe and not a supernatural being and think it makes a lot more sense. Whatever you decide, good luck to you, and peace in your mind and life.

Answer 8

I am a Druid. And my faith works for me as it is a purely philosophical stance.

To believe is important as it gives you something to hold onto so as to not leave you on your deathbed fearing oblivion.

Therefore it is not WHAT you believe, it is THAT you believe, be it Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and even Satanist (creation of the Roman Catholics).

If your church does not work for you might I suggest that you get back in touch with that that you have, which is the land that you walk on. Look around you and marvel at that which is natural and not fabricated. Find a spot and make it your own in your mind and open your senses to the heartbeat of the land.

The land will always listen to her children and she will always be there. You just have to be receptive to faith.

And to all the atheists out there....

You are Pagans.

You just don't know it yet.

Answer 9

I suggest you follow your heart on this one. If you feel that being christian just isnt working out for you then you might wana look into other religions and spiritual ideals and also look into atheism ect... Know what your options are before you make your choice because its a huge choice to make. I myself used to be christian mostly because its the religion my parents taught me but I have learned that religion isnt always what its cracked up to be so I have made the choice to believe in the universe itself and I find my spirituality in existance itself. I am kinda walking my own path spiritualy and maybe something similar is the path you'll take who knows. I would just suggest that you find out what your core beliefs are and then work from there as to what religion or non religion you want to follow. And also dont expect this change to bring intense joy right away infact it will probably put you through more unfriendly situations for awhile while you learn what you're really about.

Answer 10

NO don't give up. This is just a test and you know the right thing to do. Don't let Satan tempt you. He is a lier and a deciever. Don't let him get to you. I know what it feels like to be in pain and wonder why it has to be this way. You may never know the answer why but know that God has a plan for you and he knows so much better then we do about what we need. Pray about this even more and see what God reveals to you. If I were you I would find another church. See if you can find one that has groups or things that you can particiapte in. The church is meant for believers to help one another and if you aren't getting that at the church you are attending then find another one. I am in the same position you are in. I have been away from the church for the past few months and my faith is really broken. Despite the fact that my husband of 11 years had a 10 month affair, I need to trust that God knows what is best for me. I think we both just need to pray more about our issues. Don't give up on God and he won't give up on you. See if this helps you at all. I know it gives me hope.

Footprints in the Sand



One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”

The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.”


Mary Stevenson

Answer 11

I think that if you are expecting religion to "remove" your human nature you will be disappointed.

I don't believe that GOD "talks" to Pat Robertson.
I don't believe GOD "talks" to anybody.
And the Televangelist that sits at his TV desk and pauses and scrunches up his eyes and nods his head and acts as though he is holding some sort of CONVERSATION with GOD is putting on an act to elicit contributions from people he has no respect for.

Suggest quieter contemplative prayer.
Get into deeper stuff ...Like Thomas Merton or something.
Buddha Mindfulness is a good thing.

I am agnostic with Buddhist leanings.

I have been to thousands of AA meetings.
But not recently...enough is enough.
The Fourth Step is......

"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

When I see a little timid woman scribbling away....scribble scribble ....in a fat college ruled 9 subject notebook, Working on her fourth step, I almost want to tell her
"lighten up on yourself...you ain't the ANTI-CHRIST"
And that is their approach to program...
very methodical...step by step....
waiting for that flash of light.

And when it doesn't happen they blame. themselves and start doing what you are doing.

That it keeps them sober is another issue.

But they can get themselves into guilt filled twist if things don't occur "on schedule".

And then there is there is the "Bank of God approach" which only applies to the people in the audience. Like every dollar you give "them" is actually a dollar invested in the bank of GOD.
And there was one guy out here in Seattle Tacoma area.
Makes a commercial plugging his church.
He is sitting in hummer or some other high priced ostentatious rig and going on as if GOD rewarded him with toys.
it's a racket

I think EXPECTING something to happen is wrong approach.