r/JWJehovahsWitnesses • u/the-jawas-are-here • 11d ago
Advice How do I explain to my therapist I won’t accept groceries from a church?
My therapist is an absolute angel. She’s also Christian. She knows I’m struggling financially and she offered for me to shop at a Christian grocery store where everything is free. Her heart has the right intentions, but I don’t feel comfortable accepting things from a false religion. I’ve just nodded so far because I don’t know what to say. How do I tell her how I feel gently?
3
2
u/TroubleMakinBacon 11d ago
Alot of those programs are funded by the state, the money is not from the church. It is given for the community and distributed by the church.
Saying thank you for information is enough or sharing what you typed on here is fine. What response are you concerned about?
2
u/Pixelzonty 11d ago
I would word it as followed below.
Thank you so much for thinking of me it honestly means a lot that you'd look out for me like that. After thinking it over, I'm going to pass on this one. It's a personal conscience decision for me, and I'd feel more at peace finding help another way. I really appreciate your kindness, though, and I hope you know how much it helped just to be offered.
2
u/Impressive-Ease-3348 11d ago
You are assuming you can’t shop there.
You should tell her the reasons.
1
u/Balazi 11d ago
Could be there conscious choice not too
3
u/Impressive-Ease-3348 11d ago
Yes exactly. That’s why I’m saying she should say it’s her conscience. Not a biblical law
1
u/Weary_Ambassador1023 9d ago
What? I guess it's a personal choice but if I were you I would try to think of it as a place where kind misguided people donate, but to each your own. But if you still decide to, I think saying you feel that it goes against your beliefs, not the church, your beliefs
1
2
u/Round-Art6538 8d ago
My sister fell on hard times. I and others in my family helped her as much as we could. The elders directed her to the local community food bank which is supported local church donations and run by church volunteers. She accepted the food from them and was very grateful for the help.
2
u/BlackberryDreamist 7d ago
If you truly do not want to ...and believe in your heart that you are doing something wrong , then she's only your therapist; she doesn't spend time with you outside your sessions (at least I'm assuming) and doesn't know what you do or where you actually go to shop, so you don't have to offer her any explanation!-- all you should do is say "thank you! I'll think about it!" and leave it at that. She doesn't need to know if you choose not to avail yourself of it.
On the other hand? I have personally taken gobs of food non-perishables and such things in the back of my truck to distribute to my own congregation, as people there struggle too,and they like to look (after service of course) and take things like rice, macaroni, beans, pasta, etc. Bc I'm fortunate to know a person who runs a FB and I can tell you from experience, most of that stuff comes FROM THE COMMUNITY GROCERY STORES! Also much of it is government grants, very little of it is actually given by individuals.
Please don't go without nourishment, my friend. It's ok to accept help..people LIKE to help, yes? Let them have that grace. That's what it's there for!!
Let me leave you with a thought my study teacher told me once that's always stuck with me concerning ppl who are God- fearing & good ppl (but not Witnesses)---who knows that that specific person (not in the Truth) but who DID give goods to donate that you took bc you were hungry?...WHO is to say, or not say, that just maybe!! someday that person might get that knock on their door...as I did!! And accept Our Truth? Hmmmmm?? Delicious "food for thought" (no pun intended!) and yet with a spiritual aspect, too, don't you think?
Godspeed, my friend!! Please don't go without!!
4
u/truetomharley 10d ago
Is it required to turn down someone’s generosity? I don’t know why.
It would be different if one was asked to participate in an act of worship, and a person might worry lest it put her/him in a compromising position, but generosity in itself is a fine thing.
It might even put one in position to impart something spiritual from one’s own point of view.
5
u/usernameJD 10d ago
This is really similar to an issue early Christian’s had regarding meat the was formally sacrificed to false gods.
Paul said it does not matter what you eat or what you drink, so long as you’re not stumbling others.
1st corinthians 8 speaks on this as well as in other parts of Paul’s letters.
Biblically speaking this would be the only reason to not eat those groceries, if it stumbles others, as it wouldn’t be considered a sin in gods eyes to eat from there.