Which Is Worse?

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The other day, I was telling my sister about participating in the church bake sale and how we're having extra choir rehearsals in preparation for Christmas Eve, and she suddenly laughed and said, "I love how you're doing all these heathen church activities! People in the church of Christ would be shocked and appalled! Of course, I don't know which of us they would hate more--you for going to a church bake sale or me for going out to buy smokes, booze, and lottery tickets?" I had a good laugh and said, "I think they would say I'm worse than you, because at least you're not actively participating in a false religion. They would think they still had a chance at converting you back."

I encountered this attitude many times over the years when I was in the church of Christ. Someone would "fall away" (i.e., stop attending church three times weekly), but as long as they didn't join a different church, there was always the hope that they could be bribed or bullied into coming back to the fold. But if that person started attending a different church, then they pretty much gave up on that person because they were entrenched in "false doctrines" and they disfellowshipped the person right away. I'm not exactly sure what proof texts they used to back up this practice (not that they needed any), so I can't explain why they have that attitude, but I saw it happen several times.

My gut feeling is that they're willing to forgive someone for leaving the church as long as the person did it for "emotional" reasons, such as having your feelings hurt by a fellow church member in a personal dispute. But if you have logical, rational disagreements with their doctrines, there is no coming back from that. You are a false teacher and could potentially lead others astray, so they have to get rid of you tout suite before you corrupt anyone else.

In any case, I am glad to be out and done with such nonsense. I'll take my chances with the heathen church's bake sale any day. 

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