Why go to Church?

by Cellist 8 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Cellist

  
  There was an article in one of our local newspapers. It's not a local happening, just some little tidbit that the editor used to fill space. It was entitled, "Why go to Church". I'm going to type the article up for everyone to read. I'd like to get some feedback on it.

  "A church goer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote "and in that time I've heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

  This started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column and went on for many weeks until someone wrote this clincher... "I've been married for some thirty years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 3,200 meals and for the life of me I can't remember the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this; they all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today."

  When you are down to nothing, God is up to something. Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible. Thank God for our spiritual and physical nourishment."

  This is the end of the article. I don't believe that this answer would have ended the debate. It wouldn't have for me. What I'd like to know is; what are your thoughts on this "clincher"?

  Cellist

  p.s. at the end of this article was a paid advertisement titled: "Neck or Back Pain?" Rather appropriate I thought.
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  skyman

  I don't need to have someone else cook for me all the time. I only eat out once in awhile. If you let someone else allway cook for you you could be eating posioned food and not know it. So after eating a life time a posion I will not let anyone else posion me.
• 

  These3Words

  I like your anoligy Skyman. Like food we need God in our lives. I think God is a good enough chef to nurish me!

  Agape
• 

  Cellist

  Yes, Skyman. You hit on the first thing that set me off. He would starve if his wife didn't cook for him? And, he can't remember what he ate? Is that a comment on his wife's cooking or his mental health?

  The thing my that my husband noticed first was the numbers inconsistency. One guy heard 3,000 sermons in 30 years and the other guy ate 3,200 meals in 30 years.

  I can't believe that this thing was in our newspaper. (And not a religious newspaper). The whole thing just sounds wrong. It sounds like the type of story that the WTS would come up with. Maybe that's what bugged me the most.

  Thanks for the input.

  Cellist
• 

  anewme

  sorry Cellist, I rather liked the analogy of the meals for nourishment.
  
  If Gods word is a spiritual guide for our lives, it makes sense to take its nourishment consistantly and daily.
  
  Attending meetings where Gods word is spoken and explained is a good way to get that nourishment.
  In addition it is a place to enjoy the fellowship of likeminded believers.
  It becomes a place of mutual encouragement.
  What was that phrase? Metal sharpens metal?
  
  Anyway, sometimes it feels good to stay home too!
  
  I do like going only when I want to.
• 

  These3Words

  The Bible has been rewriten hundreds of times. If you filtered coffee hundreds of times it would get diluted each time it was filtered.I personaly go right to the source for my nurishment and everone else can too, without anyones aproval. Part of the problem with setting foot in a Church or Kingdom hall is that now you are dealing with there agenda and you miss the real reason for being there.
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  anewme

  I agree you cant use church as your only source of spiritual nourishment.
  
  Most of the work of feeding yourself spiritually is done at home and in your own heart.
• 

  Cellist

  Anewme,

  I wasn't finding fault with going to Church. I would by no means discourage anyone from going if they're getting something out of the experience. The whole article struck me as "wrong". My complaint is that this bizarre, poorly thought-out tale showed up in my newspaper. If someone was getting nothing out of their Church going, why would they write a letter to the editor? Why not just quit going? Or find another Church that they get something out of? I personally would never write a letter to the editor asking whether I should keep going to the Kingdom Hall.

  The whole article sounded like a phony make-believe story. It was presented in the paper as fact, but it had no means of checking whether it was fact. No names, no dates, no place. etc. As I said before, it sounds like one of the "encouraging" stories that I read in the pages of the Watchtower.

  Again, I'm not discouraging anyone from seeking spiritual nourishment wherever they feel the need. I'm asking whether this article makes sense to you, as it's written. I'm sure with some work you can make a spiritual/physical analogy make sense.

  Cellist
• 

  undercover

  Why does one need to go into a man-made building to find a spiritual diety who is supposed to be able to hear us, see us and help us where ever we are?