Do you think other churches, religions, traditions, or faiths suck because they’re different than yours? For something to suck, something else has to be better right… to not suck? People are compelled to rank things; to put stuff in order from best to worst. It’s human nature. It helps us make sense of things and feel better about that which we don’t have the time or energy it takes to truly understand.
Most people can drive by the numerous local churches in their cities and towns without really knowing how they all differ. A lot of people claim they attend a church, but few can give you good reasons why they attend. The questions really shouldn’t be “if” or “where” you attend, but “Why did you choose that one?” The names of the churces on the signs out front mean little to most people because they’ve never taken the time to really look into it.
Except for a rare few theologically educated and astute individuals, (myself excluded), descriptions like evangelical, episcopalian, baptist, presbyterian, methodist, lutheran, pentecostal, adventist, etc., mean very little to most people because there is little understanding of what these words mean and what these denominations actually believe.
So why do so many adhere then to some “religion” that they don’t fully understand? And why do so many (yes I’ll say it), blindly follow a set of faith principles that they really only understand on a surface level. And why do these same people then criticize others who disagree with them? For example, to claim to be a “Christian” in the United States can have very different and diverse meanings, though few really understand these differences.
Good communicators and individuals of influence are able to disagree without being disrespectful.
So, no, your church doesn’t suck. Neither does mine, or hers, or his, or theirs. That’s the whole point… that’s the irony here. I am not shooting down any specific religion, tradition, belief or faith. Rather, I’d propose building them up through awareness from discussion and exploration. Endorsing or opposing anything without proper and thorough knowledge is ridiculous. Though we’ve all been guilty of this from time to time if we’re being honest.
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” – Herbert Spencer