Why are pentecostals so.....

[Lavenderain]

'Lavenderain',great to hear of your experience on Sunday with the people you gathered with. I think fellowship is tremendous. This past Sunday I was'nt able to get to our meetings,because of hospital treatment and I really missed being there. They were praying for me,I knew. We are accepted in the Beloved and accept one another,even though we all at times have our funny ways! God bless!

aww thanks quietbloke!yeah so true, we can just accept eachother even though we all are different.

 

[Elle_For_Short]

I'm not judgmental, i'll leave that to the republicans.

HAHA.............JUST KIDDING. Please read the rest.

Well, you are totally correct. I have been in a pentecostal church my whole life so far. (20 years in fact. Hehe.) But I can tell you there are many judgemental people in our churches especially in the older crowd. The younger people tend to be less judgemental but there are always a few who are very conservative. Like last week there is this certain lady who told my mom it was wrong of her to marry again because her her husband had died. I mean come on my mom was a 30 year old widow. She is 60 now and some oe was telling her that she sinned. and she felt like apologizing to that sister at church. I told her I love that sister in Christ but you don't need to defend your actions. It was a decision you made long ago and it was noone elses buisness to judge you for it. I mean it was one lady out of 500 church members. Many people know this fact about my family and could care less. Alot of people have gone throught different things in there life and have been brought up with the same line of beliefs at church but from our parents own beliefs we tend to see things differently sometimes. Some people become extremely judgemental others really laid back. I on the other hand am not judgemental when it comes to looks or peoples past. If I wanted to bring one of my friends to church and I know some people are going to judge them just for the way they dress or how they wear their hair, i would rather not take them to church at all. They might swear off church forever. And that is what are church not just mine but alot of them have to see. People must change on there own with the Holy Spirit guiding them, not people forcing them to change. I know that is only one of many things the church does to dicriminate people, but you need to see past those people that small amount of people who are "holier than thou;" I do. I mean there are a few girls who would just faint if they saw me put in all my earrings. Seriously, come on, my parents a very conservative Christian women and man who love God with all there hearts taught me that a persons outward appearnace or lifestyle is to be respected. Show love to all and it will be given back to you. My mom was very judgmental of homsexual people. But when she started to teach her class at cosmotolgy school she learned to love them although she didn't agree with there lifestyle. Now a few of her students ask her about Jesus and God and she prays for them and asks us to pray for them at church and at home that they find Jesus. Thats what we need in our churhes. Love your neighbor no matter what color his hair is.

 

[Holyroller125]

I'm not judgmental, i'll leave that to the republicans.

HAHA.............JUST KIDDING. Please read the rest.

Well, you are totally correct. I have been in a pentecostal church my whole life so far. (20 years in fact. Hehe.) But I can tell you there are many judgemental people in our churches especially in the older crowd. The younger people tend to be less judgemental but there are always a few who are very conservative. Like last week there is this certain lady who told my mom it was wrong of her to marry again because her her husband had died. I mean come on my mom was a 30 year old widow. She is 60 now and some oe was telling her that she sinned. and she felt like apologizing to that sister at church. I told her I love that sister in Christ but you don't need to defend your actions. It was a decision you made long ago and it was noone elses buisness to judge you for it. I mean it was one lady out of 500 church members. Many people know this fact about my family and could care less. Alot of people have gone throught different things in there life and have been brought up with the same line of beliefs at church but from our parents own beliefs we tend to see things differently sometimes. Some people become extremely judgemental others really laid back. I on the other hand am not judgemental when it comes to looks or peoples past. If I wanted to bring one of my friends to church and I know some people are going to judge them just for the way they dress or how they wear their hair, i would rather not take them to church at all. They might swear off church forever. And that is what are church not just mine but alot of them have to see. People must change on there own with the Holy Spirit guiding them, not people forcing them to change. I know that is only one of many things the church does to dicriminate people, but you need to see past those people that small amount of people who are "holier than thou;" I do. I mean there are a few girls who would just faint if they saw me put in all my earrings. Seriously, come on, my parents a very conservative Christian women and man who love God with all there hearts taught me that a persons outward appearnace or lifestyle is to be respected. Show love to all and it will be given back to you. My mom was very judgmental of homsexual people. But when she started to teach her class at cosmotolgy school she learned to love them although she didn't agree with there lifestyle. Now a few of her students ask her about Jesus and God and she prays for them and asks us to pray for them at church and at home that they find Jesus. Thats what we need in our churhes. Love your neighbor no matter what color his hair is.

I concur and well said.

Even within the law and temple theology of the Old Testament, God wanted people to properly treat widows, orphans, and aliens. How one treated their neighbor was a correlation of how they treated God in the Old Testament. If you do not know how to love your neighbor, you cannot tell me you know how to love God. Is Jesus your lover today?

God Bless,
Greg Norton

 

[Lavenderain]

'Lavenderain',great to hear of your experience on Sunday with the people you gathered with. I think fellowship is tremendous. This past Sunday I was'nt able to get to our meetings,because of hospital treatment and I really missed being there. They were praying for me,I knew. We are accepted in the Beloved and accept one another,even though we all at times have our funny ways! God bless!

Thanks quietbloke

 

[Jere209]

Why are pentecostals so judgmental. I was a part of the pentecostal church for a loooong time. I am now more nondenominational...but one thing I noticed growing up in the pentecostal church is that most...not all...of them were very very judgmental.

I know that not all are this way and that you should not focus on one bad apple...but from what I have seen its been more than one bad apple....its very prevelant from what I have seen. Just wondering what your thoughts on this are.

Hi! I haven't read through this whole thread, just made it through page 1. I very seldom venture into this forum,but thought I'd wander in here tonight.
For the record, I'm Pentecostal. Assemblies of God. Proud of it. But more proud to be a Christian. The title of the denomination God did not give me, man did. I bear the title Christian, for that is who I am. Reading further down, I see you were correct, I, along with others, did not completely read your statement. Sorry about that. But, I'd just like to say this in regard to your first sentence.
"why are Pentecostals so judgmenatal?" lol, they are not. Not any more than the Baptists, and the Catholics, and the Methodists,etc.. I would not even attempt to say one is more judgmental than the other, for that would be judging in itself.

I think its a christian thing in general

I have heard doctrine like that and you're right, it is a cult. They are preaching a different gospel (Gal 1:6-8 - not a good practice).

What are you meaning here? Who is a cult?

But again, if it isn't speaking in tongues that's required for salvation, it would be getting baptized a certain way or eating the right foods. Anything but being saved by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus is false teaching.

sigh, show me where it says Pentecostals believe this.

A lot of Pentecostal churches ARE quite judgemental, from what I've seen recently. Mine isn't quite so. They prefer their women to wear skirts, and the women of the church don't seem to WANT to cut their hair, so that's not an issue. As for guys with their hair, they don't seem to care if it's cut short or not, though most men like a nice trim anyway.

As for the conditions for being saved, I am not knowledgeable. I am not saved by baptism as of yet, but I am welcomed in the church with open arms. I have been saved by praying to the Lord and asking for salvation, though. And the members of my church get very excited about new members as well, which I guess is an evangelical thing. The people of my church would rather have the chance to tell someone the Truth than shun them because they don't know it.

Sounds more Apostolic than Pentecostal. My hair is quite short, and I wear whatever I like.

It seems like some of ya'll did not bother reading my whole post...because if you did there would be no need for comments like this.

I said I know its not all pentecostals but...I have been in several different type pentecostal churches as well as nonpentecostal...even catholic and by far the ones who were most judgemental were the pentecostals....again...this is NOT ALL PENTECOSTALS...but most.

Now to read further.
Nice to meet you all.

 

[Jere209]

bama,

i did read your whole post, but you asked why pentecostals are so judgemental. you didn't ask why baptists, methodists, or whatever are so judgemental. it seemed that you pointed out pentecostals.

but i do agree with you. i am pentecostal and there is a lot of judgemental folks in the pentecostal movement. i can't speak for other denominations since i have never been part of any other.

however, i cannot answer your question. i myself try not to be judgemental, or get worked up if i think someone else is being judgemental toward me. but to answer your question (why are pentecostals so judgemental) i cannot.

i will ask this question that i asked my wife. she is always saying that this one or that one is being judgemental.
by saying that this one or that one is judgemental, are you not being judgemental yourself? when i asked her this, she like to hit the roof.

i guess what i am saying is just let God handle those that are being judgemental and not get worked up over it.

God bless

One quick thing here..

God says in scripture that whatever we judge others for, (what we don't like about them) we are guilty of the same thing ourselves.

 

[Jere209]

Anyway, for instance, if you are going to preach that a woman will go to Hell for wearing pants. Do not lay on your shoulders and watch all the women that wear pants go to Hell. Go up to them and at least do the mission of God of restoring souls to Jesus Christ.

Anyway, now why did God give you the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire? What is the anointing for? What is the empowerment for? Please use the Holy Ghost that God gave you to bring souls to Jesus Christ, or we are hypocrites to stand behind a pulpit, preach, and put people in Hell just because they do not wear what one says within the church.

Just some important things to consider to be an authentic Pentecostal rather than be a hypocrite and watch sinners go to Hell.

God Bless,

Greg Norton

Kind of confused by your posts here. I'm a late comer here and trying to walk through all this.
are you saying you agree that women cannot wear pants, or vice versa?

 

[Jere209]

i absolutely agree that it is a CHRISTIAN thing not a denominational thing....Pentacostals in general do have a more "confronting" way of doing things...perhaps this is what you're picking up on? But as far as judgement....I converted from Catholicism, and let me tell you, there is JUST as much if more judgement with catholicism as there is with pentacostal churches....the way I was treated was actually quite cruel.

I think its dangerous to single out ONE denomination above another and say "they're the most judgemental" or even "they're MORE judgemental" because even if you have been to a variety of denoms, you've only been to so many CHURCHES in those denoms, and indivdual churches do vary quite considerably in their attitudes, values, and overall treatment of other people. I can only speak for my own CHURCH within my denom..and Im not even going to say what my denom IS because I don't think it matters, but I really do love my church...they're beautiful and very very accepting and loving, and the one thing I love the most is that they lead by example rather than by judgement. Not all churches are like that, I know. I just dont think its wise to lump all pentacostal churches in together, because just the TERM pentacostal covers SUCH a broad range of SUB denominations that you really cant be accurate in your assessment.

This aside, i am sorry that your experiences are that of judgement rather than love. It is unfortunate, sad, and a product of a broken world that we don't always treat eacother the way we should. I hope that your relationship with God goes from strength to strength despite the judgement of others.

 

[Jere209]

I actually thought it was just from being so charismatic that they didn't want to discourage their 'blessings' by us "imperfect" heathens...but when I actually attended other churches, like other denominations, I found out it's a general thing.

Pentecostal is the worst I've been to...in that you aren't encouraged to share with one another what you struggle with, or what's going on. One of my 'friends' recently was on his cell phone talking to a very depressed friend and his advice was "just pick yourself up and get past it." I know that one would ALWAYS make me feel great.

Baptist churches have done the same to me, as have Methodists and non-denom. It's a general thing, not particularly one denom over another imo.

I'm sorry you experienced that.
But let me assure you, all Pentecostals are not like that. I know. I am one.
But, you'll find that in all denominations.
As far as telling your friend to "pick their self up and get on with it", well, I would have said it alot gentler, but that's exactly what I would have said too. But, I would have included alot of the Word of God. Sadly, too many people have too much zeal and not enough heart knowledge to connect what they know of scripture, ..in other words, they don't know how to treat people, don't know how to minister to each other, and are more like a loose canon with the word of God and do more damage than they help.
hugs

 

[Jere209]

I grew up in a Pentecostal Church and saw plenty of self-righteousnesses and judgmental behavior. On the other hand, Pentecostals usually have higher standards than the world, and that comes off as judgmental when it is not. One's man judging is another's man's righteous indignation.

I like how you put that.
We also expect alot of ourselves, and I think we hold ourself to a higher accountable level ..ONLY because we take the Word literally and apply it to our life.
I pray that makes sense and does not come off sounding like I am "miss High and Mighty"..Because I am not.

 

[Jere209]

Kind of confused by your posts here. I'm a late comer here and trying to walk through all this.
are you saying you agree that women cannot wear pants, or vice versa?

I think I figured it out the further I read.

 

[PeNtEcOsTaLkOiFiSh]

Why are pentecostals so judgmental. I was a part of the pentecostal church for a loooong time. I am now more nondenominational...but one thing I noticed growing up in the pentecostal church is that most...not all...of them were very very judgmental.

I know that not all are this way and that you should not focus on one bad apple...but from what I have seen its been more than one bad apple....its very prevelant from what I have seen. Just wondering what your thoughts on this are.

Oh jeez, I see what you are saying.
I do not intend to drag others, but it is not only pentecostals.
I can not say for you, but i have been around equally jugdemental baptists, luterans, & methodists.
And you know, know that I think about it...I, too, find myself seldomly & secretly judging people. For instance, not having children before marriage, flip/cross-dressing or etc., pagans/wiccans & witch-craft, and homo-sexually.
I don't know if it's a down-low "eye for an eye" thing or what, but I am really praying that I stop that.

 

[lilmissmontana]

Oh jeez, I see what you are saying.
I do not intend to drag others, but it is not only pentecostals.
I can not say for you, but i have been around equally jugdemental baptists, luterans, & methodists.
And you know, know that I think about it...I, too, find myself seldomly & secretly judging people. For instance, not having children before marriage, flip/cross-dressing or etc., pagans/wiccans & witch-craft, and homo-sexually.
I don't know if it's a down-low "eye for an eye" thing or what, but I am really praying that I stop that.

Just keep working at it ... I haven't found the Pentecostal church to be any different denomination than any other ... I think there's a misconception that when one enters the door to a church that all becomes changed "in the blink of an eye". The truth is (sorry to those who've heard this before) ... if you're looking for perfect friends, family, and churches ... you're going to be pretty lonely ... the trick is to grow to hold up and praise the Lord so that the glory goes to Him ... not the enemy ... so it is what it is ...

 

[PeNtEcOsTaLkOiFiSh]

Just keep working at it ... I haven't found the Pentecostal church to be any different denomination than any other ... I think there's a misconception that when one enters the door to a church that all becomes changed "in the blink of an eye". The truth is (sorry to those who've heard this before) ... if you're looking for perfect friends, family, and churches ... you're going to be pretty lonely ... the trick is to grow to hold up and praise the Lord so that the glory goes to Him ... not the enemy ... so it is what it is ...

Oh my gosh, you are so true!!!
I try not to be the way i am, but I really haven't thought about it until today.
Because the things I do not like to see people do & say are ALL around me. That and I know I was taught better than that.
Yeah, I really must pray for my judging behavior.

 

[lilmissmontana]

God bless!

 

[Holyroller125]

Oh jeez, I see what you are saying.
I do not intend to drag others, but it is not only pentecostals.
I can not say for you, but i have been around equally jugdemental baptists, luterans, & methodists.
And you know, know that I think about it...I, too, find myself seldomly & secretly judging people. For instance, not having children before marriage, flip/cross-dressing or etc., pagans/wiccans & witch-craft, and homo-sexually.
I don't know if it's a down-low "eye for an eye" thing or what, but I am really praying that I stop that.

Well Said,

I believe we get hung up on being judgmental because of not knowing the Word of God and not being secure in God.

First, this misconception is that God is a God of judgment in the Old Testament and a God of compassion in the New Testament. This is "canon-within-a-canon" theology. Second, God was a judge in the Old Testament, and Jesus is the judge in the New Testament. God is a God of compassion in the Old Testament. And to really tell you the truth, more verses are about God being compassionate in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. We can therefore say that the saying the Old Testament is the book of God's judments and the New Testament is the book of God's compassion is inadequate. Both compassion and judgment were in both of them, so please thoroughly read your Bibles.

Unfortunately, we often judge because we are insecure, have not started processing the Word, have not really engaged in sanctification either. For example, some Pentecostal churches are very judgmental about girls wearing mini skirts. Churches often say no for the singleness of wearing mini skirts when the truth is the person has not really engaged in a process to be secure in God. The person needs to have internal sanctification and not judge just to protect our insecurities. Often, a lot of what we say is being "judgmental" is people making statements and presuppositions to protect their own turf, super-ego mentality, insecurity, fear, and inadequate experience of sanctification themselves. The call is to be like Christ, process through sanctification, and become transformed. Then, the church will have the more spirit-led place in the community to communicate God's unadulterated judgments without the flesh or personal insecurities getting in the way.

All The Best,

Greg Norton

 

[Holyroller125]

Just keep working at it ... I haven't found the Pentecostal church to be any different denomination than any other ... I think there's a misconception that when one enters the door to a church that all becomes changed "in the blink of an eye". The truth is (sorry to those who've heard this before) ... if you're looking for perfect friends, family, and churches ... you're going to be pretty lonely ... the trick is to grow to hold up and praise the Lord so that the glory goes to Him ... not the enemy ... so it is what it is ...

Well Said,

Please read the post before this one as well.

God Bless,

Greg

 

[lilmissmontana]

Well Said,

Please read the post before this one as well.

God Bless,

Greg

thank you, Greg! ... and may I return the compliment ... also well spoken! ... God bless!

 

[dmhforJesus]

Why are pentecostals so judgmental. I was a part of the pentecostal church for a loooong time. I am now more nondenominational...but one thing I noticed growing up in the pentecostal church is that most...not all...of them were very very judgmental.

I know that not all are this way and that you should not focus on one bad apple...but from what I have seen its been more than one bad apple....its very prevelant from what I have seen. Just wondering what your thoughts on this are.

dont you think you are being a little "judgemental" Just kidding - I am Pentecostal and I dont think that this characteristic has any denominational boundaries at all. IMHO I think some people dont mean to be its just that somewhere deep in their psyche they think if they keep people looking at you and your faults they wont have time to look at them and their faults. I have friends who always have to make the first negative comment like "what did you do to your hair " that way if I say anything now about theirs it is only in retaliation......its kinda hard to express what I am trying to say but I hope you see where I am going with this.....Anyway let me be the 1st Pentecostal to NOT JUDGE YOU !!! [sign] God Bless you ! [/sign]

ps I was born in Anniston AL (Roll Tide !!)

 

[divineelements]

Praise the Lord Everyone!
I don't think it's just a Pentecostal thing at all. I think it's a human nature aspect that makes us judgemental of others. We judge others when they don't fit the "mold" and don't think how awful we make that person feel. I am sure there are Pentecostal women who are comfortable with wearing their long skirts, not cutting their hair and not wearing makeup, etc. These women might feel bad because other people judge them and make fun of them. Just remember that the dangers of judging others goes both ways. The same speck of glass you spot in someone else's eye might be in yours (if not bigger) as well.