The Lone Ranger Christian

[Sir Robbins]

For quite some time, I conversed with my home church pastor via email countless times about scripture and about my curiosity towards certain subjects and topics. One of those subjects was my attitude and absence towards church. I grew up going to this church and the pastor dedicated me there in 1990 a year after being born. He's known me and most of my family for some time. To make a long story short, I've had a plethora of medical issues, friends committing suicide, isolation and loneliness and feel I have no place in a church or around "those kind of people". He informed me there is no such thing as a "Lone Ranger Christian" as the term he used but can that really be true? I know there shouldn't be but I feel as though I am. I have never been a church person. I have a general dislike of people to begin with, I cannot tolerate the types of music they play and sing. After all, if I'm living with a chronic disease that is slowly killing me, causing pain every day, losing everyone and everything around me why would I be singing of the joys of life? I understand suffering is a part of many Christian lives but there are those who suffer until death which dictates every person I ever heard use the phrase "it will get better" or "no one suffers forever". I base my Christianity on my relationship with God. I don't have relationships with other Christians as I cannot relate to nearly anything with them. It baffles me they all have ideal lives while I am dying and dysfunctional. I can't be around positive people sadly. I have no place in being a missionary for obvious reasons.

So, I go at life alone. Just God and I for the most part excluding interactions between my parents and other relatives. My 2 closest friends live over 1000 miles away in different states. I know we are supposed to be a part of community and relationships but I've said "to hell with em". Has anyone else felt this way, live this way or have opinions about it?

 

[Dave-W]

I submit that you read 1 Cor 12. (not the part about the gifts) It describes both the overall christendom and the local churches as a "body." that is where a member is in relationship with other members like a forearm is in relationship to the upper arm via the elbow and the hand via the wrist. If you are a forearm there is a hand and upper arm waiting for you to properly connect them. This is not mere metaphor; it should be a functional reality in each and every congregation.

In another passage that same apostle wrote this:

Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Every relationship (elbow, wrist) is to bring strength to the overall body. Not necessarily every member, but every relationship between members.

That cannot be done without regularly being part of the assembly.

 

[mark kennedy]

For quite some time, I conversed with my home church pastor via email countless times about scripture and about my curiosity towards certain subjects and topics. One of those subjects was my attitude and absence towards church. I grew up going to this church and the pastor dedicated me there in 1990 a year after being born. He's known me and most of my family for some time. To make a long story short, I've had a plethora of medical issues, friends committing suicide, isolation and loneliness and feel I have no place in a church or around "those kind of people". He informed me there is no such thing as a "Lone Ranger Christian" as the term he used but can that really be true? I know there shouldn't be but I feel as though I am. I have never been a church person. I have a general dislike of people to begin with, I cannot tolerate the types of music they play and sing. After all, if I'm living with a chronic disease that is slowly killing me, causing pain every day, losing everyone and everything around me why would I be singing of the joys of life? I understand suffering is a part of many Christian lives but there are those who suffer until death which dictates every person I ever heard use the phrase "it will get better" or "no one suffers forever". I base my Christianity on my relationship with God. I don't have relationships with other Christians as I cannot relate to nearly anything with them. It baffles me they all have ideal lives while I am dying and dysfunctional. I can't be around positive people sadly. I have no place in being a missionary for obvious reasons.

So, I go at life alone. Just God and I for the most part excluding interactions between my parents and other relatives. My 2 closest friends live over thousands of miles away in different states. I know we are supposed to be a part of community and relationships but I've said "to hell with em". Has anyone else felt this way, live this way or have opinions about it?

Traditionally Christians have always saw themselves as a community, the body of Christ, a Temple wherein the Holy Spirit resides. I don't go to church much because I think the preaching is just three points and a poem and Bible studies seem superficial in a lot of ways. I tried Bible college but being inundated with Biblical criticism became burdensome, I felt like I was suffocating. I can understand someone not wanting to be part of a local community church, being constantly pushed for contributions for ministries that largely evangelize in other parts of the world. So many of my Calvinist and evangelical brethren have withdrawn into upper middle class ivory towers, largely isolated from what is going on in places like the inner cities of the US.

Still, believers are a part of the body of Christ and the mission of the Church remains to build up the body of Christ. I spend a great deal of my time studying the Bible and reaching out when I can find like minded Christians online. I'm still puzzled at how hard it is to get a real Bible study going online but the Church seems to have been lulled into some kind of complacency. So many resources and tools online, so many believers seem to have a bunker mentality. I'll never forget at a seminar once Bill Gothard of the Institute of Basic Life Principles said, 'more and more Christians are going to have to stand alone'. Some 25 years after that seminar those words seem almost prophetic.

I understand the situation you find yourself in, been through something similar. What is most important is that you realize you are a part of the body of Christ and take fellowship where you find it.

Grace and peace,
Mark

 

[ken777]

For quite some time, I conversed with my home church pastor via email countless times about scripture and about my curiosity towards certain subjects and topics. One of those subjects was my attitude and absence towards church. I grew up going to this church and the pastor dedicated me there in 1990 a year after being born. He's known me and most of my family for some time. To make a long story short, I've had a plethora of medical issues, friends committing suicide, isolation and loneliness and feel I have no place in a church or around "those kind of people". He informed me there is no such thing as a "Lone Ranger Christian" as the term he used but can that really be true? I know there shouldn't be but I feel as though I am. I have never been a church person. I have a general dislike of people to begin with, I cannot tolerate the types of music they play and sing. After all, if I'm living with a chronic disease that is slowly killing me, causing pain every day, losing everyone and everything around me why would I be singing of the joys of life? I understand suffering is a part of many Christian lives but there are those who suffer until death which dictates every person I ever heard use the phrase "it will get better" or "no one suffers forever". I base my Christianity on my relationship with God. I don't have relationships with other Christians as I cannot relate to nearly anything with them. It baffles me they all have ideal lives while I am dying and dysfunctional. I can't be around positive people sadly. I have no place in being a missionary for obvious reasons.

So, I go at life alone. Just God and I for the most part excluding interactions between my parents and other relatives. My 2 closest friends live over 1000 miles away in different states. I know we are supposed to be a part of community and relationships but I've said "to hell with em". Has anyone else felt this way, live this way or have opinions about it?

I suppose I am a "lone ranger Christian" but my reasons are different to yours - age & physical limitations. So sure, you can be a lone ranger Christian but I can tell you that when I was part of an assembly, it was very helpful & encouraging. Not all churches are the same though.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

QUOTE="Sir Robbins, " For quite some time, I conversed with my home church pastor via email countless times about scripture and about my curiosity towards certain subjects and topics. One of those subjects was my attitude and absence towards church. I grew up going to this church and the pastor dedicated me there in 1990 a year after being born. He's known me and most of my family for some time. To make a long story short, I've had a plethora of medical issues, friends committing suicide, isolation and loneliness and feel I have no place in a church or around "those kind of people". He informed me there is no such thing as a "Lone Ranger Christian" as the term he used but can that really be true? I know there shouldn't be but I feel as though I am. I have never been a church person. I have a general dislike of people to begin with, I cannot tolerate the types of music they play and sing. After all, if I'm living with a chronic disease that is slowly killing me, causing pain every day, losing everyone and everything around me why would I be singing of the joys of life? I understand suffering is a part of many Christian lives but there are those who suffer until death which dictates every person I ever heard use the phrase "it will get better" or "no one suffers forever". I base my Christianity on my relationship with God. I don't have relationships with other Christians as I cannot relate to nearly anything with them. It baffles me they all have ideal lives while I am dying and dysfunctional. I can't be around positive people sadly. I have no place in being a missionary for obvious reasons.

So, I go at life alone. Just God and I for the most part excluding interactions between my parents and other relatives. My 2 closest friends live over 1000 miles away in different states. I know we are supposed to be a part of community and relationships but I've said "to hell with em". Has anyone else felt this way, live this way or have opinions about it?QUOTE
If YHWH leads you to true ecclesia,
you will be comforted, nourished, made whole, and healed.
This is HIS business. Y'SHUA'S WAY.

 

[SolomonVII]

The aesthetic tradition of hermits withdrawing alone into the desert was at one time very mainstream Christianity, and it was very influential to for the community outside who were often in awe of the privations of these holy men.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/innertravelers/antony-of-egypt.html

 

[jimmyjimmy]

For quite some time, I conversed with my home church pastor via email countless times about scripture and about my curiosity towards certain subjects and topics. One of those subjects was my attitude and absence towards church. I grew up going to this church and the pastor dedicated me there in 1990 a year after being born. He's known me and most of my family for some time. To make a long story short, I've had a plethora of medical issues, friends committing suicide, isolation and loneliness and feel I have no place in a church or around "those kind of people". He informed me there is no such thing as a "Lone Ranger Christian" as the term he used but can that really be true? I know there shouldn't be but I feel as though I am. I have never been a church person. I have a general dislike of people to begin with, I cannot tolerate the types of music they play and sing. After all, if I'm living with a chronic disease that is slowly killing me, causing pain every day, losing everyone and everything around me why would I be singing of the joys of life? I understand suffering is a part of many Christian lives but there are those who suffer until death which dictates every person I ever heard use the phrase "it will get better" or "no one suffers forever". I base my Christianity on my relationship with God. I don't have relationships with other Christians as I cannot relate to nearly anything with them. It baffles me they all have ideal lives while I am dying and dysfunctional. I can't be around positive people sadly. I have no place in being a missionary for obvious reasons.

So, I go at life alone. Just God and I for the most part excluding interactions between my parents and other relatives. My 2 closest friends live over 1000 miles away in different states. I know we are supposed to be a part of community and relationships but I've said "to hell with em". Has anyone else felt this way, live this way or have opinions about it?

You raise some good points, and with just the information given, you don't need to be churchless. You need a new church. A new denomination to be specific.

The average evangelical happy-clappy church is not anything like what a church should be.

Read the psalms. They are real. They cover both joy and sorrow - mountaintops and valleys.

If you have a PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) or a conservative Anglican Church nearby, I would recommend trying them.