Keeping up appearances

[NeverAgain]

Cotjockey, you former church was keeping up their totally believable appearance as a bunch of idiots and jackasses.

[MusicMan826]

The church I grew up in was generally against fundraising or donating to charities of any kind, even if you did it on your own time outside of church. That money was supposed to be used to do "The Lord's work". Apparently the Lord's work wasn't helping people who were in need, but giving it to other preachers around the world and keeping the rest sitting in a bank account somewhere. "What would people think if the saw the Lord's church using his money to help people who aren't even in the church?" Oh, I don't know, they might actually think you all were decent people instead of the [derogatory term] they think you are now.

[Tsathoggua]

I have told this story before, but I am in a mood today, so I am going to repeat it. The nephew of one of our members had cancer. Friends of his family were doing a fundraiser to help cover medical and travel expenses. We were encouraged not to go to the fundraiser because it was in the Methodist Church. We didn't want to be seen going in or coming out of the Methodist Church...people might think we were worshiping there! We were also encouraged not to donate to the family because they were getting treatment at a Catholic hospital in Denver. It did not matter that there was no other hospital in the area that could offer the treatment that he needed.

Good Lord, that is just completely nuts!

[GMan]

The church I grew up in was generally against fundraising or donating to charities of any kind, even if you did it on your own time outside of church. That money was supposed to be used to do "The Lord's work". Apparently the Lord's work wasn't helping people who were in need, but giving it to other preachers around the world and keeping the rest sitting in a bank account somewhere. "What would people think if the saw the Lord's church using his money to help people who aren't even in the church?" Oh, I don't know, they might actually think you all were decent people instead of the [derogatory term] they think you are now.

Down right insane.

[Lev]

What would people think...

Four words that have kept a lot of really good ideas from ever getting off the ground in the COC.

Lev

[Opie]

I think that one of the main motives that drives this kind of behavior is the desire of the CoC denomination to deliberately try to be 'different' and 'holier' and more 'set-apart' than other religious groups. The thinking sort of goes like "If the Baptists are going to walk in through the front door, then we will go around to the back and climb in through the window, because it's wrong to do anything the way the other denominations do". Of course, they will then need to find a verse and rip it out of context in order to try to justify their actions.

[illuminator]

There was a church on my route that had fundraisers such as spaghetti dinners and hotdogs. Awesome food, and great prices. The folks so friendly and nice. I'd stop there every Friday for lunch. Then one Sunday the preacher all but mentioned my name in his sermon. I sure hope that brother was correcting them and setting up Bible studies instead of supporting his gluttonous habit with the devil's meat (yes, the devil's meat). Lunch is a gluttonous habit? These people are insane!

[GuitarHero]

Saying "what would people think" implies that these barely sentient sheep ever had a single thought in the first place.

[Miss40+]

Everything was always about what other people thought. I remember more than one preacher talking about what you should do if your car were to break down in the middle of a storm right in front of a liquor store or bar. You were supposed to get out and walk down to the nearest place that wasn't a liquor store, even if it were a mile up the road, and call for help (this was before cell phones and all that). What if a member of "the church" were to drive by at that exact moment and see you walking into a liquor store? What would they think? You would be a "stumbling block" for them.

I had a discussion regarding 'evil surmising' with a member who brought up this story. At what point does the act of "evil surmising" come in to play. I mean, I could be a stumbling block for the weaker person forever and ever, in soooo many ways.....what if my skirt is way below my knees, but the weaker brother still has a problem seeing ANY leg at all? Do I wear a skirt to the floor? This stuff was really discussed! One woman wore skirts to the floor, and held herself up as an example of modesty. She didn't want to be a stumbling block. Found out years later, her husband had a problem with pornography. So sad that she had/has to live with this burden. But this problem was her husbands issue, not mine, not hers, but his issue. As far as walking in to the bar to use the phone, what about thinking the best of your brethren, until you hear otherwise. Oh boy, this brings back icky memories.....

[OneStrike_ur_out]

Thw whole "what would people think" thing is funny. I mean, at the end of the day, nobody has any clue what the person next to them is doing. I think back to my first stint in the cOC. I was 22 as that stint was drawing to a close. I was addicted to strip clubs and was at them practically every weekend. My mom knew that I hung out in bars, but she did not know what kind and she sure as hell did not know the specifics. I just let her continue to assume that it was just regular bars. She would say "well, what if someone from church saw you?". I could not help but laugh. I would reply "look, mom, in order for that to happen, that would mean that they would have to be going down the exact same street as me at the exact same time (which was late at night) AND they would have to be able to recognize my car in the dark, not to mention, they would have to be 100% certain that it was in fact me. And let's face it, being able to see into a vehicle at night well enough to be able to see who is driving is VERY difficult, at best!" She would then say "well, stranger things have happened". To which I would come back with "but, let's just say that by some freak occurrence, I did get seen and positively identified somehow. I would have a bit of ammo myself. I could flip it back to them and say "well, how exactly do YOU know that?" "What were YOU doing in that part of town so late at night?".