Hey Andy, why does my family try to convince me to go to church when I am agnostic and I hate religion? Churches are like high school and there are cliques in churches too. I hate religion and I don’t think religion will help me. I live in Alabama as a 21 yr old college student. Everyone my age is getting married and/or having kids. I feel like an oddball and they think going to church will “help me.”
Hi, you know, you’re absolutely right in that churches are sometimes like high schools, though they’re not all the time. However, in terms of cliques, I will have to admit that I have yet to serve in, or even visit a church without them. How awesome that would be if we’d found one though!
You’re also right about religion, and I’m a Christian, lol. No, seriously though, religion sucks. God hates religion, too, and Jesus even preached against it, believe it or not. Religion basically makes you feel better about yourself because of what you’ve done to make you feel that way, but it doesn’t really do anything for you. Only faith in Christ and a relationship with God through Christ can really make any difference. I mean yeah, there is religion that comes with being a Christian, but we don’t do that stuff for our sakes or because it’ll do anything for us. We do it in response to our relationships with God (like when you’re in a relationship, you do nice things for that person and things that interests them – similar idea).
Look, from my own life’s events, I can tell you that a life without Christ is nothing compared to a life knowing Him. But you need to find that out for yourself, and forcing you to go to church isn’t going to speed up the process. Heck, I didn’t meet Jesus in the church, I met Him well outside of it.
Also, in terms of feeling like an oddball because all your friends are getting married and having kids, maybe it’s not your time to join that party. I mean, I understand the South usually has stiff expectations of how you’re supposed to grow up, but maybe you’re meant to do other stuff first. Also, maybe you’ll meet the “one” who you’ll marry and have kids with while doing this other stuff first. Being the oddball isn’t always a bad thing, either, it just means you’re different from the others – you stand out from the crowd, and that’s often a good thing.
Please Leave a Reply