Toxic Church Culture

There is a huge difference between having a relationship with God and perfecting the "good church person" image. There is a difference between praying and loving God and expressing this throughout your actions towards others, and performing your best role as a church goer. Church culture can be toxic, especially in this new age. However, church culture has been toxic in many denominations throughout Christian history. How I wish church culture was back to its pure form as it was when the Church even came into existence. 

But, let me not forget that Christ's mission was to not even create a religion. Neither was the Buddha's, nor even Zoroaster. Theologically, Christ came to teach, unify, and enlighten people's hearts in order to know who God is. However, Man ruined this. He created religion. He took God out of the picture and embellished it with idols, rules and forced traditions. This is how many churches are run. Not all churches, but many. I refuse to put such a broad assumption and stereotype on such a diverse population; yet, I have witnessed it plently of times. 

For many, being religious is a performance. However, being personal is anything else but the former. The church is not your stage, it is a community where you can be with people who also are personal with God, a community for connection. Yet, people put up a front and continue with the facade of I'm in church; therefore I am perfect, I am correct on everything  and I am doing all the right things. Do you not know how broken and imperfect you are? Your ego posts selfies everyday with captions full of hashtags concerning "god." I laugh. 

Toxic church culture is the womb that holds egotism and idolatry. New Age Christianity is a culprit of such toxicity. Congregants look the same, sound the same, have identical worship movements, identical vernacular and rhetoric -- it is exhausting. Millenials are searching for approval from leadership within the church in order to be seen by said leadership and seen by God. They feel the need to “look the part” in order to be a “good Christain” when really there is no such thing. I thank God I fled  the phenomenon. I could go into a deeper hole on determining what good is, but I digress. 

I hate religion, but I love God. I find myself lost in a black hole criticising religious culture because of my outrage. I wish that I could identify as a nihilist due to my hatred of religious rules and principles, but I love God too much to do so.