If I ever have a 2nd blog I would call it The Confused Christian and I would debate and question and wrestle with all the things I so often do in my confused mind. I often feel like I don't fit and struggle to accept many Christian beliefs that others see as absolute gospel...applaud the pun.
You already know my feeling on homosexuality and my belief that anything less than 100% acceptance, tolerance and equality is just a repeat of the terrible prejudice that have caused our world so much pain in all our history of hate, apartheid and elitism. This doesn't sit well with many of my fellow clappers and it does make me question my authenticity as a 'real' Christian. I am just not supposed to feel and question many things that I do and I actually envy others absolute 100% belief that the bible is the final word.
Of course the fact that we have 100's of different denominations all with their own interpretations doesn't help me much. I go with my gut, my inner being where the Holy Spirit lives inside me. I listen to people who have been Christians far longer than I have, full of wisdom with an incredible knowledge of the bible. I want to believe all they say yet I just can't. The God of my heart, the God of creation and world I live in just doesn't allow me to. The bible you say? I know! I am supposed to believe it 100%, the final authority, the final word. I love the bible, I love the way God uses it to speak to me so many times, to comfort and teach and show and counsel. And yet...my biggest issue is as follows:
Heaven. Who gets in and who doesn't? According to the bible, only those who believe Jesus is the son of God, believe it and profess it, get in. The rest....sorry buddies, you all burn in hell. In fact our recent discussion at our bible study was about the souls of those who were once Christians but have back slidden. Take Joe Soap. Joe went to a Christian youth camp and gave his life to Christ at age 15. He was on fire for God and the happiest clapper you ever could find. Joe is now 30. Somewhere along the way he lost his passion for God, he stopped going to church. He married, started a business and made all sorts of dodgy deals along the way. He drinks too much and likes to slap his wife and kids around just to show who is boss. Then we have Rabbi Goldstein. He has served God faithfully all his life, he loves his wife and 5 kids and observes all the Jewish holidays and customs. Nam Wadee is a Thai Buddist and lives in a country where 95% of his countrymen are Buddists. He spends most of his days in silence and meditation, owns no possessions and observes all the practises of Buddhism with absolute unwavering dedication. Lastly we have Fatima Kahn, a Muslim lady who makes local pastries and sells them to support a local orphanage where she has dedicated her life. Her husband attends prayer at the crack of dawn each morning and their shop is closed each afternoon so they can pray to their merciful loving Allah.
So according to Christianity based on the bible, Joe gets in to heaven. Once saved, always saved. He spends eternity with God. Rabbi, sorry. He never professed or accepted Christ as God made man on earth. My gentle kind peaceful Buddhist, nope, off to hell for him too. Fatima who served the poor all her life and who loves Allah, no, turn left Fatima, you have to go to hell. Really? 95% of Thai people are going to hell. All the Muslims who many Christians believe are deceived and their religion demonic. The faithful Jews, Gods own chosen people, also Left. I can't, I can't believe it'. So if the bible says we only get to the father through the son, then I have to believe that somewhere along the way on the big escalator up to heaven they meet Jesus. I just can't accept that their religion isn't real, that their love for God is less sincere than my own or that they are loved less.
PS: As a Christian of almost 11 years I still feel amazed and blessed by the acceptance, love, grace and compassion of Jesus. I never have to do anything or go anywhere to experience 100% fellowship with God...the cross has done it all for me. I do want this same peace, love, acceptance and a 2nd chance for all I know and love. If I could sum up Christinity and share the gosple in 1 easy step, I would sing Amazing Grace to you. As I cannot sing I leave you with this clip instead:
Don't worry about Rabbi Goldstein, Nam Wadee and Fatima Kahn. They have their own heaven probably and are worrying about you ;-)
Posted by: AD | 03 October 2011 at 04:35 AM
Or it could be a case of 'all roads lead to Rome' and they have different route/different entrance criteria.
Posted by: AD | 03 October 2011 at 04:38 AM
I saw an interesting picture on Facebook today, a Christian's take on the coexist sticker. I searched it and found it on another blog: http://badgercatholic.blogspot.com/2010/11/coexist-bumper-sticker-explained.html
My take on it all is why would Jesus tell us to tell others to follow Him if they could follow whoever they want and get to heaven? It is a sad condition to think about so many "nice" folks not getting to heaven, but the reality is that NONE of us are "nice"... all of our righteousness is filthy rags to God.
This is not meant to be judgy at all... just sounding off. I admire your love for those who don't follow Christ (something a lot of Christians lack, sadly) but I think we've got to love them enough to tell them that they've got to follow Jesus for life.
Posted by: KESW | 03 October 2011 at 11:53 PM
I recently had a similar discussion with my SIL who also believes that you only go to heaven if you are “saved” – whatever that means…
Am I allowed to call myself “saved” if I haven’t been baptised as an adult but do have a beautiful and pure relationship with God? Am I allowed to call myself “saved” if I haven’t been baptised but allow every single decision that I make to be guided by Him? Am I allowed to call myself saved if I believe in God and the sacrifice that HE made for me if I don’t attend Church?
I asked my SIL about people who are not born into Christianity. I asked her about Muslims and Jews and Buddhists. I asked about people who are born into Agnosticism or Atheism who have never had (through no fault of their own) ANY exposure to Christianity. What about them? I asked her if she honestly thought that God would reject them? She could not answer me.
What you have done with this post is to point out the dangers of religion. This is EXACTLY why I prefer to focus on RELATIONSHIP above EVERYTHING else.
I went through a phase for a while where I stayed away from Church and anything religious because I didn’t like the whole “we are the chosen folk” trip that they were forever on. I am going back to Church now after an absence but I am VERY aware and VERY conscious of being caught up in the “rules” and “regulations” and the arrogance. YES. The arrogance. The judgement of non Christian or rather “unsaved” folk. I really hate when people think that if others don’t do things the way THEY do it then it is somehow wrong. It is EXACTLY this thinking and reasoning that gives Christianity the constant bad rap.
If Christians really believe that God loves ONLY them and will accept ONLY THEM in heaven then EVERY SINGLE THING that we believe about God is flawed. EVERYTHING! The thinking that ONLY Christian folk will go to heaven smacks of arrogance and judgement and nothing else because ultimately God decides. NOT US.
This is what I believe:
God is love.
God is LOVE.
GOD IS LOVE.
Everything else is just noise
Posted by: Julia | 04 October 2011 at 11:44 AM
Goodness me! So sorry about the essay. x
Posted by: Julia | 04 October 2011 at 11:45 AM
My 5c worth (a little jumbled): For me, I think the frustrating part of any religion is that if you are not a jew, buddist, christian, muslim, etc. (insert whichever is applicable), then you will be punished and doomed to a godless life in a very hot spot (and not an exotic one at that). However, I choose to worship a loving, benevolent God who created us all. I believe he loves us constantly, eternally and unconditionally. Maybe that's a very child-like view but for now, it works for me. I believe the "hell" that is spoken of is man-made, not God made. I also believe that God didn't create negativity, chaos and evil... for him to have done that part of Him would have had to be all those things which I think is completely untrue. God gave us free will, and some people have used theirs to reject the light whilst others have embraced it (to varying degrees). Bearing in mind that sometimes betrayal/rejection is also an important lesson - consider Judas. He betray Jesus for money and was probably one of the people most responsible for Jesus Cruxifixion, yet that betrayal was essential to the birth of Christianity. There is also no doubt in my mind that God wants our reverent devotion to Him to come from adoration, not from intimidation, fear or terror of his wrath which I am afraid to say a lot of religions seem to encourage. I am also convinced (and can't give you quotes or researched facts although I know there are some) that the Bible is "man made" and not necessary "the word" directly from God - many, many things were twisted or left out so that the Church could continue to "rule" with an iron fist and instill fear. So, I've read part of it and enjoyed some of it but living by it is not a prerequisite for me having a loving relationship with God.
Posted by: Missy | 04 October 2011 at 05:52 PM
I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion. I guess I am not the only one having all the enjoyment here keep up the good work.
Posted by: online jobs at home | 03 January 2012 at 07:43 PM