As a whole, church is supposed to be a supportive network of people who believe in the word of the Bible but also support their community. If a church isn’t coming together for a greater good, then what’s the point? An Illinois woman was, therefore, stunned when she went to church and found that all they cared about was money. After several minutes of begging, she had enough and decided she was going to leave mid-service.
P (@pfinn1414) said, “I walked out of church for the first time in my entire life today.” She said that the church read the gospel, and then there was supposed to be a sermon by the priest. However, on this particular Sunday, things were handled a little differently. A second priest walked up to the altar, and they didn’t give a sermon. Instead, he spoke for about 20 minutes about how they had an $800,000 goal to meet. He told the congregation that they were only at their $600,000 goal. She said the priest told them that they should be “making more sacrifices” for their church so they could meet their goals.
This didn’t sit right with her, as it probably wouldn’t for many other churchgoers. Being expected to tithe weekly and then being confronted with those massive numbers is not okay. This is especially true when churches need to understand their community could be going through a lot in this economy. I thought the church was supposed to help its people, not the other way around. She said after a few minutes of hearing this, she leaned over and told her sister she had to go. She said the entire experience made her feel “icky” and “did not sit right with me.”
Commenters agreed that this church was asking too much. One person asked, “In this economy??? They don’t even pay taxes.” Another person pointed out, “Churches are supposed to build up your community & be there for others. There is no reason they should need $800k unless it’s to build homes for & feed the homeless. It’s one of the biggest reasons I’m no longer religious.” Consider the fact that there are so many mega churches that funnel in millions of dollars every year but can’t help the homeless. As one commenter even pointed out, large churches in Texas “didn’t even open their doors during storms and power outages.” If they’re not going to help their community, why should their community help them?
