On the other side, conservatives (and Christians) tend to be the ones who spend more time actually manning the soup kitchens and food banks.
I have spent some time manning soup kitchens and food banks.
Good! I'll admit, it's a place in my life I feel convicted about. I am okay at serving others in ways mostly that I feel drawn to, not so good at finding ways to serve others where I might be uncomfortable.
Back in Arkansas Karen and I were as poor as church mice and so a bit of volunteering was prescribed as a means to an end, namely that of getting a bit more in our paper sack at the end of the day.
Conservatives manning the soup kitchens and food banks?
I am so sorry, but they manned the offices, they manned the books and they manned the public pulpit but the folks actually handing out the soup and food were not "according to Hoyle conservatives" except maybe in a nominal sense.
:shrug: It may not be your personal experience, but them's the numbers.
The Jonesboro Church of the Nazarene booted the two of us out of the congregation.
Well, I can't speak for them, but, Church Discipline is explicitly required per the New Testament. If you were doing something they believed required it, such as living together while unmarried, that is a morally consistent action for them to have taken. I'm sorry if they were jerks about it :-/
We could not afford to marry because my job at the pallet factory would put us in too high of an income bracket for Daryl to receive the three open heart surgeries before age five that he needed in order to survive.
Good Night.
That sounds horrific and absolutely
wracking for a parent. How is he now?
My job banging pallets together paid a whopping $7.25 an hour.
So when it was discovered that we were "cohabitatin' undercover" it was decided that we were putting Pastor Ken Stallings in an untenable position. And we were no longer welcome at their food bank either.
As a volunteer and representative of the Church? Well, again, yes - that is not only imposed by scripture, but was actually also intended for your own spiritual benefit.
You probably were too upset to see that (and it is quite likely also that you were dealing with people who either didn't communicate it, or who themselves were judgmental jerks, and didn't live out that intent of the command), being rather naturally more concerned about your kid. I'm surprised that simply being married by the church but not by the State wasn't an option.
But I also have to ask - if you wanted to be a member of the Church, but weren't willing to participate fully and live out a life according to the beliefs of the Church... respectfully, what you describe here kind of sounds like you were dishonestly using them as a charity, while pretending to be a member in good standing. As you say, "a means to an end."
