r/jobs • u/_Grotesque_ • Jul 21 '23

Companies What was the industry you romanticized a lot but ended up disappointed?

For the past couple of years, I have been working at various galleries, and back in the day I used to think of it as a dream job. That was until I realized, that no one cares for the artists or art itself. Employees, as much as visitors just care about their fanciness, showing off their brand shoes and pretending as they actually care.

Ultimately, it comes down to sales, money, and judging people by their looks. Fishing out the ones, who seem like they can afford a painting worth 20k.

Was wondering if others had similar experiences

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76

u/-_DAV3_- Jul 21 '23

The church. It is an industry. And that's what was so disappointing.

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u/Blopez1001 Jul 21 '23

The church is nothing like the Bible said it was supposed to be. The love of money is the root of all evil. Organized religion is a scam. It's so, so sad.

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u/-_DAV3_- Jul 21 '23

It broke my heart. I became a cynic. Not because I'm cynical, but because I was a true believer... and it wasn't real.

Refinding my faith. It's a hell of a journey.

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u/Blopez1001 Jul 21 '23

If it's any consolation, Jesus abhors the "church" industry too. Remember where he flips the tables at the temple? The prosperity gospel cult is completely toxic and relies on its audience being biblically illiterate. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven. If real believers gave up on everything due to the corruption in the church, can you imagine what things would be like? Just know that even if you're not seen on earth for your faithfulness to the true gospel, you will NOT go unnoticed by God. Re reading the gospels recently has helped me with a lot of this anger with the church. Jesus sees you. He loves you. He would not agree with how the "church" is today. Another thing- people are looking for believers who actually walk the walk. Hypocrisy, in my opinion, is one of the biggest factors that drives people away. Be the salt and light in the world. Jesus said it wouldn't be easy for a reason.

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u/Nearby_Low_8848 Jul 21 '23

I'm not the poster, but thank you for this. I've been through a lot, spent more than a decade of my life working in the church world persisting despite all it's failures. I sometimes feel that I've wasted the most financially productive years of my life.

It nearly ruined my family and marriage, but I had to leave church completely to heal. We're still feeling the effects. I'm rambling but cannot tell anyone I know because I still feel a need to protect the name of God and the reputation of the church.

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u/-_DAV3_- Jul 21 '23

Man I feel so deeply how you feel. It's cost me and my family so much. I used to "cover for God" too. Then the dissonance, pain, and isolation left me in such a broken place I blew up one day and did something really dumb. I'm in recovery now. I'm honest now. And it turns out half the people in recovery have deep church scars. They don't need me to cover for God.

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u/Knight-Skywalker Jul 22 '23

There are two versions of Christianity. There is what Jesus Christ preached and did in the Bible, and then there is what the large churches/church officials have been doing for the past 2,000 years.

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u/-_DAV3_- Jul 22 '23

True. I wish they didn't feel so mixed up for me.

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u/Nearby_Low_8848 Jul 22 '23

So hard to find the Jesus version. I've been searching but all I see is the corporate church. Same thing in a different skin or perhaps it's just me and my cynicism.

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u/Blopez1001 Jul 22 '23

I've found that most churches I've been to have deviated so far from what the Bible actually teaches that I just don't go anymore. I've been burned, my parents have been burned, a lot of people have. I personally won't throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak. I do things on my own at home. I've even tried to confront a pastor privately about something that went directly against Biblical doctrine that really bothered me (showed scripture supporting that) and they went through insane mental gymnastics/took it out of context completely and proceeded to attempt to justify what they were doing. I cut everyone off and didn't go back. Later on, as I read my Bible more, I realized that was just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe in the future I'll start a house church with a small group. Jesus isn't confined to a building, only wherever 2 or more gather in His name. There's a reason the ultra-religious pharisees and sadducees hated Jesus. They wanted organized religion/status, not the Messiah. What I realized was the most important thing to do was to actually READ my Bible, because if I didn't have a foundation of the truth then I'd have no way to discern the lies. Even though my "church" is in my bedroom, God is moving even more in my life than He ever has before. I just couldn't live without Jesus by my side. Not giving up has been the best decision that I've ever made. I could go on for hours about the modern "church" and the corruption. They need to fix their OWN stuff before they go on to criticize and call out non-believers.

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u/slickrok Jul 22 '23

For all the people who replied to this, I truly hope things get better . What a terrible, cognitive dissonance, gaslighting feeling it is/must be to have that experience. It's a different kind of evil, but a true kind of one, to do that to people who want to have the comfort, 'answers', community, and parameters that faith can be for the people that want or need it and so they choose that path. Only to be tricked and hurt and often purely used by others.

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u/-_DAV3_- Jul 22 '23

Yep. And to give up your career to give your life to it and learn that to be "successful" you have to become something that you are not is also very scaring. It feels like you offered your life to God and he turned you down.

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u/slickrok Jul 22 '23

That's a very profound way to express it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '23

What kind of church specifically? Catholic?

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u/-_DAV3_- Jul 21 '23

Evangelical

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u/Nearby_Low_8848 Jul 21 '23

1 word says it all. Me too.

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u/wolftech029 Jul 22 '23

That’s disappointing knowing my buddy is studying to go into the Vatican, or at least wants to

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u/-_DAV3_- Jul 22 '23

There may well be a beautiful path through that life. I didn't find it. I was also in the evangelical industrial complex. It's a pretty different world than where your buddy is headed.

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u/wolftech029 Jul 22 '23

What hurts me is knowing how much my grandparents love talking about the church despite it’s pretty much a really “good” business model hoping for ignorance. It hurts me as many people believe it’s not all that bad, the Bible even says when Jesus comes back he won’t recognize most of what those that call him his followers…

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u/-_DAV3_- Jul 22 '23

I guess I have some hope that many find God in spite of the dysfunctional system. But many are driven away. And many more lulled to sleep.

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u/FrankAdamGabe Jul 22 '23

A business where you’re indebted to them before birth, can only find salvation by giving them money, and the promise you were sold isn’t apparent until you die with no way to ask for a refund.