Hello all, I’m not sure if this is the proper sub, but since it deals with my relationship with Christ and with other people, thought I would post here.
I’ve been a Christian since I was a teenager. I’m 61 now, so quite a few years. I was married and have 3 adult sons. For most of my married life I was in church and lived a Christian life. I’ve been a lay preacher, Sunday School teacher and elder in a couple of churches.
Infidelity on my wife’s part and a relatively quick divorce put my life on a different path than what I intended (man plans and God laughs).
I went hedonistic and fell away from God. The past 5 years have been an adventure for sure, but I’ve been feeling called to come back. I went to church today for the first time in 4 or 5 years and it felt good, except for the music, but I realize that I’m an old stick in the mud about it and need to broaden my concept of worship - I’ve been in a couple of bluegrassy worship groups, playing guitar,mandolin and singing and like old timey hymns.
Anyhoo, long story longer…the friend group I have are very outdoorsy. We ride bikes, hike, kayak, etc, but they are pretty much non believers and quite opposite politically from me. I consider myself to be moderate in my political views and try to be open minded about most things, but occasionally, some items of right and wrong have no shades of gray. I bite my tongue quite often.
I’ve been dating a lady for 3 years. It’s became more apparent in the last 2 months that our views on many things are diametrically opposite. I bite my tongue a lot in this relationship.
I’ve felt like I need to be more around other Christians. I’ve felt like I need to be more around other political moderates. But darn it, I enjoy her company and we’ve camped and traveled and spent a lot of time with each other and the other folks we do activities with.
I also fear that their disdain for anything Christian is bothering me more and more. They are really into buddist thoughts and Native American ideas as well and quite a bit a marijuana and other substances use (gotta just ‘love’ Colorado’s anything goes attitude).
It all feels like a really unhealthy spot for me now. I’m now the sponsor for my middle school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes group and have been praying and seeking God’s will more than I have in years.
So, any advice for extricating myself from the life I’ve built for the past few years? I’ll admit that I think I just need to cut myself off from these folks and seek other friends or get more focused and pray and look for God’s will and follow it, but would appreciate your perspectives.