There was a time when I didn't want anything to do with Christians, because 'they', (I said to myself), —and specially those who came before me as long-time 'mature' believers who should have 'done it right',— instead betrayed me (as it seemed to me, though not me in particular, but in effect), by false living and useless man-centered doctrine. (I had trusted them, but was badly misled, and my life became unlivable as a professing believer, as a result.) These were sincere believers, who, I didn't know, were themselves trying to 'figure it out' and 'doing the best they can'. At that time, I abandoned church too, but I did not generalize, but only held that I was averse to them. I knew there was probably a church I could attend without feeling like I had to stifle my comments.
I do not fault the sheep, but the shepherds. But there are MANY good churches, that don't pursue money. The one I currently attend never even mentions it, nor 'passes the plate', and entertainment is the farthest thing from their mind. And, not all that pass the plate are false, and, not all within which worship is grand or emotional are doing so to gain membership. In my church, at least, the worship is all about who God is, and so is the teaching. Unlike where I grew up, the teaching is not about us, and the worship does not aggrandize how thankful we are.
BTW, in none of that, did it occur to me that God was false or irrelevant. He never did me wrong.
