Itching Ears?

[Lara 0]

Lately, I've been feeling quite disillusioned with church. I went through a period last year where I felt like if a lot of what went on in church was a con and that christian culture was built on pretense and ignorance.

One of the last sermons I remember hearing at church last year was given by this man who had traveled from the US. I remember feeling surprised and happy since I didn't have to strain my brain trying to make out what was being said in another language (though I enjoy doing this as I see it as a way of improving in my L2).

I left feeling disappointed as it was the same "tired" message I'd heard before. God has a plan for your life etc. I came home feeling restless. I've gotten to the point where I feel as though I've heard the same things over and over. And I don't really feel as though I'm getting anything from the messages. I prayed to God for spiritual "food".

I am wondering if its a case of me just having itching ears and wanting to hear something new. Why am I so jaded? Why do I feel as though I am not hearing the truth.Why do I feel as though I am not being fed. I feel as though sometimes that a lot of these people aren't telling people the truth about God. At one point I told God I want to know the truth about him. I have been a "Christian" for many years but I recently realized I don't really know God. Sounds strange but that's the way I feel sometimes.

Is my struggle with certain sin issues contributing to this? Do I have itching ears or are my concerns valid?

[TheWhiteShadow 0]

Hi, Lara -

I don't know that I have any advice. I only share the same sentiment through my own experience. When I first came to know the Lord, my Pastor and the others in leadership shared some fantastic truth and insight from the Word. I longed for that part of the service. In fact, if I could have just had a couple hours of that kind of teaching, my hunger would have been more than satisfied. But, alas, others needed to be fed, too...and so a service had multiple facets to it.

Over time, things began to change. Worship was longer (which is fine), but the content of the preaching/teaching time began to slip into a watered-down version of what it was. More prosperity and feel-good messages, less actual Word. By the end of my time there, it seemed to be all about "head-count" rather than truth. A "what can we do to get more people in here" approach. The place reached a technology point where they wanted to be seen across the internet, and I'll never forget one of the last things I heard: The camera was about to go on for the teaching portion, and the crowd was pretty sparse that day - the pastor told everyone to move in together to the front of the auditorium so it would look like there were more people there than there were. That pretty much did it for me.

But, there is hope, of course. Not all churches are that way. And what this did for me was cause me to take responsibility for my own feeding, rather than expecting someone to prepare my meals for me. It was a step toward spiritual adulthood, if you will. From that, I've been connected with a handful of others who desire the same thing, and from a small group we're able to minister to each other out of a mutual hunger. So, if you're not feeling fed...I encourage you to round up a few who share your desire and go for it, yourselves. You never know what could be born out of that.

-Mark

[astra 0]

This is exactly what has been on my heart lately. This is the same issue I feel with the church I go to and the one I used to go to. I feel like something's missing. Something MAJOR is missing. I used to participate in small Bible study groups where we met every Wednesday 7 pm at group members' homes (we would all take turns). We had to bake something so everyone would eat and have tee/coffee and chat for a bit first, then we would go and "study" certain scriptures according to the Bible reading plan. You know what it looked like? It looked like reader's club gatherings. This got stale for me fast and I couldn't even figure out why. There was NO LIFE OF GOD in it! There was no Holy Ghost movement. The same with the church.

My heart so longs to belong to a church and I go there on Sundays with so much excitement. But I too feel underfed after the service is over. Of course I don't stay whole week on just there lean Sunday "meals". I go get the MEAT daily elsewhere or else I'd just die spiritually.

This brings one of my dreams to mind that I've shared here. I saw a big commercial passenger plane in the sky just sitting on a cloud. Now I understand that I saw the Church. The plane was not flying. This was my question "Why is the plane not flying on its own?"

I am trying to figure it out. Today I was listening to Pastor's sermon and what he was saying was not wrong. It was right. But still it felt wrong. As many people who walked in sick, needy, broke and under oppression, walked out that day still sick, broke, oppressed. But we heard the Name of Jesus glorified. We heard Pastor saying that "Jesus is HERE". Is there something terribly WRONG with this picture? Would we walk away sick, broke and in bondage if we actually met Jesus face to face? NO!! So was Jesus there today?

You know, when we tell kids "Lets' go to Church" and they say "No, it's boring"? Out of mouth of babe's... I know God's NOT BORING, Jesus is NOT BORING. So why are our churches boring? Because God's no allowed there as He should be. Maybe He's allowed in as a guest of Honor. But not as the HEAD!

Why when I feel oppressed by evil spirits, I won’t even think of going to my church and ask the elders to cast it out? Sure, they'll lay their hands on me and say a prayer, but I will walk out of there just the same way I walked in. Maybe if they say "In the Name of Jesus' I command this spirit to leave NOW" and actually see it leave, many people would think they are nuts. Or maybe they are afraid that when they say this nothing will happen. So they play it "safe".

Say something like "in due season, Sister. Maybe you need to wait just a little bit longer, God will get through to you." That's exactly the message they were preaching today.

So a message like this will put people in bondage. They would think that if they prayed and nothing happened, maybe this is just not the right season for me to be healed. This is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Where in the Bible did Jesus say "I will heal you later"? Or "this is not the season or time for you to get healed"? Nowhere! So why do they preach this in churches? God's not there, that's why!

[Lara 0]

Hmm...this is part of my frustration..I am tired of the promises...I want to see results.

I understand that we have to wait for some things. But then sometimes it seems as though we wait and wait for things that never come. And then the question is why don't they come?

[dreamster 0]

L,,,i hear wat ur sayin,, i went tru a simila experiance a few yrs bak,, i got burned out an otha stuff, ,,i herda lotta simila messages but didnt hav goin on 4 me, ,,plus real life dramas that felt like lordy had lost the plans 4 mi life ,,then i transitioned 2 a nu church and a certain sunday i gotta werd that stired me , and im now revived like born again ,again, i realy look 4ward 2 every meetg, which i havnt had 4 yrs ,,mi observation is its quite hard 4 long term beleavers 2 keep da faith,, ,,i still hav dramas,,but love mi church, even tho thers aspects that dont suit me ,,,i think u need a fresh werd 4 ur lifethat will energize u ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, D,,,,, full of beans