What would get you in church?

Howdy all!
I'm curious for the folks who regularly post on this site--
Some of you are probably churchgoers. Some of you decidedly are not.
What would it take for you to visit a church? That is, what would a church have to do or say that would make you interested enough to try visiting some Sunday?

Please give it some thought. I'm trying to reach out to parts of this community that are usually ignored and judged by the churches in this area.

I grew up in a church, but after my parents died. The church I knew, became different. I guess the new came in an the old time religion went out. If the old time was still there then I guess I would be too. Now a day's they play church, the old day's it was the real thing. So I know deep in my heart I can be saved, an worship with out going to church. If that help's you then go out to the community, an I'm sure they will tell you the same thing. If not they are Hypocrit's.

Church is an outdated concept.
Going to church looking for religion is like going to a whorehouse looking for a wife.
If you want to pray or worship, I'm sure God can hear you just fine no matter where you are.
After all, supposedly he created the entire universe for just that reason.

Church is becoming more of a tax free money making scheme it appears .

Well, I don't know what would bring me in to church. But, I hear a snake might get me in a church around here.

1.) nap time

2.) lunch after morning service

3.) dinner before evening service

4.) recliners instead of pews

5.) a preacher that is not corrupt

A church that isn't a falsehood for taking up collections to get one or two people wealthy. Ever since Roman times. Churches are not what they would like you to think. The core of most churches are as evil as satin himself. A lot of good people go to church without a real clue as to how much a stray the church can be. If people wanted to really live as Christ, it doesn't take a church. That is simply a dwelling, a structure. If you want to serve the Lord. You, turn your car around when you see a mom and two young kids walking the streets. You find out if they need a ride, or food, or the light of the lord. Jesus didn't hang out in church to spread his work now did he? Start a shelter, food pantry..not over in tin buck two. Right here, right now! There is plenty evidence people need help in this town. Just read Topix. There is enough druggies, thieves, and generally poor sinners all over the place. Dig down, find a way past the judgement of they don't want to work, they don't want to change, she or he's always been trouble. Maybe, your right. But if you don't try to help find out, then your as bad in Gods eyes as the drug dealer. If your not part of the SOULution then your batting for the other team. So, before you go give your ten% earnings to the local preacher at church, why not take it and buy a loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter. Put it in a basket and leave it on a door step of someone you know in your heart needs it. When there's a church that raises up, has a preacher that preaches with out pay, and takes community action. That will get me in a church. Until then, its like Big and Rich's new song. Why I pray. I'm only one, but I can see a change. But I have to make my one life count, toward the change.

I totally agree with every single thing that you just said, 1bitten2shy.

money.

A modicum of compassion for fellow humans amongst parishioners. A damn job fair would be nice too...... No church for me, I guess!

Acts 7:48
Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

Acts 17:24
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

I was wondering how many comments would be made before somebody started spouting bible verses.
Wow. A self-referencing religious statement that is to be taken as "proof." Never seen THAT used as an argument before.:P

Bah wrote:

I was wondering how many comments would be made before somebody started spouting bible verses.
Wow. A self-referencing religious statement that is to be taken as "proof." Never seen THAT used as an argument before.:P

LOL!!
The Bible; Incoherent, self serving, crowd soothing, maniacal ramblings of demented old men. It's incredible! The vast majority of humans fail or refuse to recognize that "The Good Book" is nothing more than an anthology of fairy tales based on a language that NOBODY past or present can translate.
Here's the thing. People can be spiritual without organized religion! You don't have to buy the God,Santa, Jesus, Odin, Shiva, the Krampus story to feel the divine nature we all possess.
Try this: Do something nice for a stranger. Buy a a boquet of flowers for that cashier at the gas station that always looks pissed off. Pay for a single mom's groceries when she's behind you at the grocery store counting change to buy milk for her kids. Sit down and talk to that lonely old man sitting on a park bench. Take food to a group of Habitat for Humanity volunteers, or even pick up a hammer. Tutor for an illiteracy prevention organization. Feed a stray dog.
THAT is how you find god.

Well said, Awake. My view exactly.

Old Man wrote:

Well said, Awake. My view exactly.

The worst part is that everybody knows this! No matter how deeply it's been stuffed or beaten down, this knowledge is common sense. Who cares what flavor of dogma one subscribes to, it's basic and built in framework. Pineville is a dangerous place for free thinkers, though. It's incredibly heartbreaking.

Thank you all for your responses.

Of course I'm hearing some folks who are against organized religion at all. that's okay. I understand that.

I'm hearing many of you say that people don't need church to find God - or, as one of you so colorfully put it, "Going to church looking for religion is like going to a whorehouse looking for a wife." I appreciate the image, even if I don't exactly agree.
Of course God can be found outside church. God is most often found outside church - out in the dirt and the pain of real life. That's where the God that I serve lives. I value church as a place where a) anybody with questions about the Eternal knows that they can come for a conversation, and b) believers can gather to strategics and best plan their path of service to the poor and disenfranchised of this world.

Finally, I'm hearing that people would be a little more likely to take church seriously if we "put our money where our mouths are" - if we actually lived by the love for all that we preach, actually give to those who need it, actually work to help this community and the people who are suffering within it.
I agree completely. I like to think that's what my church has been trying to do. It's slow going, because churches tend to try and stagnate and stew in their own juices, but it's absolutely crucial.

Here's what I ask of you who are disillusioned with church - try to change one. Enter a church as a spy. Enter a church as a subversive agent. I don't even particularly care what you believe right now - just enter a church with the goal of compelling them to be that church that churches ought to be.

You who are passionate about the poor - I commend you. I praise that passion. I beg you, use it to help turn some of the complacent Christians back towards the good work that they should be doing. We need you. Churches need people with fire in their bellies for service, for helping, for love.

We aren't perfect. Neither, as I suspect you know, are you. Together, hopefully, we can create something good and true.

Just do me a favor. If you think that there is any potential here, try a church. If that church doesn't speak to the work of love, then either change it or try a different church that does. I promise they're out there.

Thank you all for answering. I hope to hear more.

Shalom