Ok...that was really unexpected. I use this space to vent, rant, and keep myself real. I am overwhelmed at the response and the amount of readers from my last post. There were a lot of great responses and a lot of passion that came through in your posts. I've realized that religion and or belief systems are incredibly strong. Most wars and conflicts find their roots in some type of religious disagreement.
So, I feel like I need to explain myself a little more in depth and why I don't go to church anymore. Just promise me one thing...read the whole thing before you pass any judgement. At the same time, if you choose to respond (which I hope you do), do so respectfully with others in mind, who may not be entrenched in the same belief system you are. If you are going to bring out a bunch of scriptures to prove your point, do so in a way where people that aren't scripture-savy can understand. Avoid "christian-eze" and elizabethean English. Thanks!!
FIRST, I never "lost" my faith and I do have a strong belief system. The problem I struggled with for many years is that I didn't believe the status quo/politically correct version of Christianity. I respected it, and the huge following it has. Therefore, I decided to keep my mouth shut and brush my convictions and beliefs under the rug. But, there comes a point where you just can't continue to lie to yourself any longer and you feel like you are doing a disservice to God. For me, it was SIN.
I need to stop here and ask everybody that has ever been under my teaching or I was friends with to forgive me. I held back and for that, I apologize.
To help you understand what I'm talking about, I want to ask you a question..."Have you ever heard something over and over and over and there was just something deep down inside you gut that said, 'this is just wrong.'" But, out of the fear of rejection and people just thinking you are crazy, you just went along with it, because everybody else did. I know, I know...it sounds really childish and embarrassing, but this was the fire that was burning within me. When you are married, have three kids, and bills to pay, you don't want to rock the boat to much because it is your job! Without "this" I would not have been able to provide for my family--I was living in straight fear!
THERE HAD TO BE SOMETHING MORE!!
What I was seeing very clearly is that many (not all, so please don't think I am pigeon-holing all churches) in my tradition were teaching/preaching not what people needed, but what people wanted (traditions that brought comfort. Not traditional churches, but traditional orthodox Christianity). Basically, the teaching was for a response, and that response was then translated to "it must be God." If there was no "response" or psychological stimuli then it must be wrong and not from God. Sometimes it was from God, but sometimes it was just traditions and mannerisms people are used to. Sometimes is was manipulative music. Hey, everybody knows that God needs some really good slow music to talk to people (wink, wink).
Soooo, for the first time, I am going to list just a few of my convictions/beliefs and why that doesn't fit within the context of many churches. Churches are about finding common ground in beliefs. If people don't find a church that believes what they believe then most likely they will find another place...I would probably do the same, so I'm not knockin' on anybody. There is one slight problem though, there is a set of orthodox beliefs that were set roughly 300 years after Jesus that have become the "standard." To stray from these would be heresy. Here is where it gets sticky...who got define what a heretic is? A heretic is merely somebody who doesn't believe the same way you do or the way your tribe believes. Does it make them wrong? Only to the one who labels them as wrong. To label somebody as wrong, lost, or needing to be saved, is a religous way of "playing God" and maybe a cute form of idolatry.
Can you still be in fellowship with me if I believe different? Is unity, really just a religious word for "uniformity." Because I believe different than you, does that make me "lost?" If you are a church-going person, I think these are things you need to think about because if you are not careful you make it about "us vs. them", "in vs out", and exclusiveness.
The "majors" I differ with:
1.) God is one (De. 6:4). I can't believe God is 3 (trinity). When I ask people to explain it they say it is a "faith thing." If we are made in the image of God, then why aren't we three persons...it just doesn't make sense to me. To separate our breath (ruach--spirit), our flesh, and our mind into three departments or people just doesn't float. It is all another element of our total person. I'm not a trinitarian.
2.) Salvation: I just can't buy into the doctrine that the Creator of the universe is only privy to people who say a sinner's prayer or to a group of people called "Christians." That is not good news, and the Gospel has to be better than that! 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 is really good news! The Jewish people that were wandering in the desert were not happy with their wanderings. The complained, they bickered, and even cursed Moses. Yet, when they were dying they drank from that which was provided, and didn't even know what it was. They had no clue that this water was Christ, but it was the very thing that saved them. I believe that is happening today. People are "drinking" from the rock and don't realize it is Christ. It may have a different name than what you or I think is right, but God is saving everybody. You can call me a universalist, a heretic, or whatever, but I really think the good news is good news--not about who is in and out, right or wrong, or heaven or hell--it is about the finished work of Christ redeeming all men--no matter what. God is love!
3.) I believe the Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic--NOT ENGLISH. Some words just didn't translate over well. For instance and this is a big hang up for a lot of people (me being one of them)--The word "hell." I don't buy into some literal hell where unbelievers will go and burn for ever and ever. That is our human way of getting justice into religion. There are 4 different words for hell in the Bible and one was borrowed from Greek mythology to prove a point metaphorically. Depending on the context of where "hell" was written, it can mean a multiplicity of different things. It can be as simple as "the grave", a trash heap just outside of Jerusalem, or deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans (see 2 Peter 2:4). It's really tough to pull out Dante's inferno version of hell out of these words--you really gotta stretch it. Maybe there is something deeper that the writer is trying to show us than what we have on hell and heaven. So, saying all of that, I don't buy into the p/c version of hell--just can't believe it. I believe this world is important and that the end goal is not just to be beamed up out of this world like a Star Trek movie (Beam me up Jesus). This world has purpose, meaning, life, good, and God is restoring all things through us. The same is true with demons and angels--just not superstitious. Demons were another word for worthless idols and angels were just messengers of God. That could have been anybody, not just exclusively some white, winged, creature with a large harp. Most westernern interpretations of death, heaven, and hell are formed out of their cosmological view. Let me remind you that the Bible was written on the other side of the planet with a completely different cosmological perspective on death. I don't want to ruin it for you, but study it some time--western cosmology and eastern cosmology. Israel is strategically located in the middle of these two worlds :)
4.) The 2nd Coming: Nope...this one just doens't fly either with me. Most end-times stuff is based on fear and really poor interpretations. Every generation for the last 1000 years thought it was them and had an anti-Christ picked out, along with all the "signs and wonders." Historical records and the language of the Bible point to the fall of the Temple as the "end of the age (aion)." The time of Temple sacrifices ceased after the Romans brutally came into Jerusalem and slaughtered thousands of innocent Jews. The woes were for those people who had to go through that hellish experience. Basically, Revelation is the story of the continual struggle humans have with doing good in the face of injustice. The example it gives is the Jewish Christians and Jews that struggled against Rome. I'm not saying I'm right and everybody else is wrong, just trying to explain how I came to believe this way. What I can't believe is the whole rapture thing/left behind that is a fairly new (150 years old). Makes for great Hollywood movies, but not real good in real life.
5.) The church is not an exclusive building, institution, or particular group that I have to meet with weekly. If so, then Jesus would have said so if it was that important. Guilt is the new "spirit". I heard somebody said that if they didn't go three times a week (to a church service) they would feel guilty. Therefore, it must be God. I had a secretary one time that came into my office and told me that I wasn't preaching in the "spirit", but was teaching. I ask her "why" and she just couldn't figure it out. I then prodded a little more and asked her was it because she didn't feel guilty about what she did and it didn't move her to come forward and pray at an altar. BOOM!! "That is it," she said.
I then replied, "so, guilt is your "holy spirit." Then she just got angry and chose not to speak to me. This was my secretary, who was supposed to be a seasoned Christian! Didn't Jesus say, "if two or more are gathered...I'm in the midst." I know, I know, I've heard it quoted a million times and many quoted it on Facebook to me about "forsaking not the assembly..." I'll ask, "who was that written to and what where were they assemblying?" It was written to Jewish folks who were used to going to synagogue. Just because Jesus came didn't mean that they were to quit meeting. To put that in a church context and place the burden on somebody who has never been a church-goer is a burden to heavy to carry.
I'm not for sure what that looks like today, but I do know we need to rethink how we are gathering today. I think the whole system needs revamped!
6.) Here is a real biggie for me: Jesus was a Jew--not a Christian! To be more like Christ is to understand his Jewish context. Paul said we have been given the "ministry of reconciliation." Jesus talks about restoration. The Bible is constantly describing things that once were, being destroyed--but rebuilt (read Nehemiah). I don't' think Jesus came to start a new religion, just to fix something that once worked, became corrupted, destroyed, and now through him we can bring restoration to it. THIS IS NOT A LAW AND GRACE THING!! I'm just saying there was something that used to work and we need to get back to that.
7.) Human beings are created in the image of God. Saying this, I differ from Christianity in the fact I don't believe Genesis 3 is a fall of man, but an elevation to a more "god-like" status. Fall insinuates guilt, self-image problems, and dependency on a system...just like our version of welfare. In order to fulfill God's commandment they needed a deeper knowledge or God wouldn't have put that tree in the middle of the garden where he knew they were going to eat it. I have yet come to any final conclusions on this, but I think there is something much deeper here than what has been presented. I'm wading through all my baggage to be able to really see this.
This is just a few I have listed, but you can probably tell that I differ quite a bit from the norm. Therefore, the fear of going somewhere to be told over and over I am wrong is not something I'm interested in. I feel as though we all have something unique, a story to tell, and an insight we can bring to the table. Is there a place where people listen, are heard, can be open-minded, and conversational rather than unidirectional? I'm sure the word new age, relativist, and heretic will be thrown around. I would just suggest that if you say these things, be careful because the person you are saying this too has feelings and beliefs they feel strongly about. They probably didn't just come up with these beliefs on a whim, but researched it, are convinced, and it could be all they know. For those Christians who are into labeling others as "wrong", "lost," or "heretical", are doing nothing more than driving them further away and establishing their own kingdom.
Ultimately, God defines himself. He said his name was, "I am that I am." Good enough for me. I feel as though I'm on some really shaky ground when I start making absolutes about who God is and what he is going to do with the human race. That is not my place! If so, then I'm my own god, made in my own image, according to my likings. God made you to be you and me to be me...not you to be me and me to be you. Lech lecha!!
