25 Things I Thought About God And Church At Age 25

 

It’s amazing how your perception of God changes as you grow older.  I have been a Christian for 30 years now and married for the last 19 of those years.  When I got married at 25 I had a completely different view of God and church than I do now.

Hopefully I’ve matured.  Like all relationships, there is a different level of intimacy with Jesus that exists after those 19 additional years together.  At 25, I was so immature with all passion and no brains.  The core problem was I was confusing exposure with experience.

Looking back though, the following are 25 things I thought about God and church at age 25 after being a Christian for only 11 years.  Five of these were wonderful thoughts which I will put in bold print because they provided me a foundation for my entire adult life.  However, most I no longer think.  See if you can relate.

1. Life is ultimately meaningless apart from Jesus Christ and everyone needs a savior.
2. God loved me unconditionally but I thought He was “more pleased” with me if I did certain works.
3. To be a mature Christian you had to go to Monday night visitation.
4. You had to read at least three Bible chapters a day.
5. Spiritual maturity was directly tied to how fast you drove over the speed limit.
6. Baptists were holier than other denominations.
7. God wanted me to have a girlfriend.
8. Rated R movies were no big deal.
9. Every nice person I knew went to church.
10. Church was a haven in a world of chaos.
11. I mattered there.
12. You had to wear a coat and tie to church.
13. Only the New Testament mattered.  
14. I thought if you completely gave your life to God He would make you sell everything and be a missionary in Africa, India, or the Amazon Rain Forest.
15. Drinking was a sin.
16. Being judgemental was actually a good thing because I had to hold people accountable.  And also, “they would respect you more if you told them what you think”. 
17. You could reach people for Christ by being mean.
18. Christian music was good for the soul.
19. All pastors’ wives had to be able to sing and play the piano.
20. Your giving should be between you and God and the pastor should not know how much you give.
21. Working on Sundays was a sin.
22. It was a good thing to “burn out” for God.
23. I thought I was always right.
24. I knew God could do anything for me He wanted.  The question was would He?
25. My favorite day of the week was Sunday.

Well, that was me at 25 before getting married.  Several things on that list are embarrassing and there is no telling how much damage I did to other people.

Maybe I’ll do a post on 25 things I think after 25 and compare.  Hopefully, I’m far less judgemental than those days but still deeply love Jesus and the core of elements of church and Christianity.  Oh, and Sunday is still my favorite day of the week.

Tell us how your thinking about God has changed over the years.

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