"I mean, I don't know if I believe in Jesus or not, but the times I've been to church I've hated it because it's just a room full of self-absorbed judgmental people pretending to worship to make themselves feel good about themselves."
That's in quotations because I can't tell you how many times I've heard this.
First thing's first. I totally understand that some people in church were partying into the early hours of the morning. I understand that some of them may be whispering about how they don't like the way you dressed. I understand that they do things they shouldn't be doing. But church isn't for perfect people, and it's not a place where people go to feel perfect. It's a safe place for sinners, it's where people go to ask for forgiveness and to ask for help dealing with things that maybe you can't even imagine having to deal with. You see their pictures on Instagram where they're holding red solo cups, but you don't see the thoughts inside their head, or when they break down because they don't know how to turn their lives around. So, when you say, "Why do they even go to church? They're not true Christians", you're stooping to their level. Below their level, even, because who are you to decide who is worthy of Jesus? The Bible itself says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:6.) Let EVERYTHING praise. That means you can worship how you want, that means a man in prison can worship however he wants, that means anyone can worship however they want. It doesn't matter if you think they're good enough to step in a church. What matters is that they came. If you choose not to go to church, that's fine, it's not for everyone, but don't feel all high and mighty because you choose your sins differently. We are all sinners, we are all equally loved, and we all have a right to come close to God in our own timing and our own way.
The most common complaint I've heard about church is that it's full of judgmental people. You know what? It's true. Church is full of judgmental people. So is school. Work, too. The restaurant you go to on Saturday nights to watch ball games? Also full of judgmental people. So is the movie theater you went to last Friday, the airport you'll be flying out of for Christmas break, and so is the prison on the edge of town. The night clubs, too. We are all judgmental people. We're all guilty of the above paragraph--looking at someone and wondering why they would bother going to church. We've all looked at someone on the beach and thought they could have picked out some better swimwear. We've all been annoyed beyond repair with someone because their personality just clashed with ours. We've all felt really good about ourselves walking through Wal-Mart. So once again, if church isn't your thing, there's nothing wrong with that. But stop using this as an excuse, because you are just as judgmental as every one of them.
"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more
value than they?" -Matthew 6:26
God feeds every single one of us. Don't try to assume his roles and decide who deserves His love. He's got it all figured out.
