I will concede that it’s impossible for me to provide you the proof that you ask for. Jesus said it best … that the works that he did are sufficient proof that he came from God. And I’ve found that the works he’s done in my life are proof enough.
- Novato

And there we have it. I believe that as Christians, we have to admit that many of our beliefs are experiential. There is no way to prove many of the things we hold to as reality. In fact, we have to give similar credibility to the scholars and their conclusions even though there is no way to substantiate all of their theories either.

I was taught our faith is not a “blind faith.” That it is based on actual facts and reality. However, the reality is, all we have to back up our beliefs are our own experiences. Some of us, have more experiences than others, and there are some who do not have any.

We also have to face the fact that there are many in other belief systems who have similar experiences. Why are our experiences any more credible than theirs? We have beliefs that we believe by faith and so do they. We have experiences to back up our beliefs, but so do they. As a result, I believe we should not be dogmatic about our beliefs.

I believe this is a healthy outlook to have on our faith. I believe it is with this viewpoint we can teach the principles that we believe can and will change lives. I believe it’s impossible to teach a message of love, compassion, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, and tolerance when we believe that we have the only truth. In fact, this is the root cause of a culture of intolerance and spiritual abuse.

My beliefs work for me. They bring peace to my life. I can face myself when I wake up in the middle of the night. I do my best to have a positive impact on those around me, to not judge, to not sit in the seat of a scoffer, and to not be intolerant of others, their beliefs or their faith. Are my beliefs right? Well, from my perspective they are, but who knows?

You know that in this world there are tyrants and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant. I came here not to be served but to serve others.

He not only spoke these words but demonstrated them. Many of today’s Christian leaders, by contrast, demonstrate the opposite spirit.

In 1997, the church I attended were having meetings with a well known Tulsa based minister. For the meetings, there was a special parking lot designated for VIPs. The entire front of the church was sectioned off for these special guests. There was special childcare for their children and a welcome room with food and drinks for them. There were those who stood in lines for hours to get into these meetings. However, even if they did, because of the reserved seating, I’m not sure the seating they received was quite worth the wait.

I remember watching how these special guests were treated and thought to myself, if Jesus was here, he’d be sitting in the back with the ones who stood in line for hours to get in versus sitting in the special seats with those we classed as “leaders.”

So there we were, catering to the every need of these “leaders.” Parking their cars, caring for their children, making sure they had lots to eat and drink, and giving them the best seats of the house. While the masses were standing in the cold for hours hoping to get a good seat and to experience something from God.

What was also ironic about this event, is that my pastor at the time was one of my heroes because he had classed himself as a true representative of the people. Yet here he was, now a part of the inner circle, and participating in the very things he spoke against for many years. Not much different than the pigs in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”

I would not class these “leaders” as “servants.” I’ve been in conferences with high level CEOs of multi-million dollar companies who did not receive this type of treatment. This is yet another great example of a contrast between what we call “Christianity” today and the teachings of Christ.

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that you have faith in Jesus if you favor some people more than others? For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”–well, doesn’t this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives?
- James

I would like to expand on this by addressing the issue of redemption. Being forgiven from our past sins and getting a fresh start in life has helped many individuals to turn their lives around. There is no shortage of testimonies of the transforming power of redemption. Many have turned from destructive lifestyles to the ‘straight and narrow’ and as a result, have seen great improvements in their lives.

However, should redemption stop there? Is it enough for us to be forgiven by God? Is being ‘saved, sanctified, and on our way to heaven’ all that’s important? What about those who our past sins have negatively impacted? Many times we have no idea how our actions may impact others. A simple apology to one of those individuals may do wonders for their psyche.

Back in 1999, I left my home church to work with a startup church in the same city. I was shocked to find many wounded, discarded souls from our former church littered all over the area. Many of these individuals carried very deep hurts that won’t begin to be healed until they have a conversation with their ex-Pastor. However, this pastor’s mode of operation is to refuse to speak with these individuals. Since that time, we’ve learned of many others who have been discarded from this church including many in leadership, worship leaders, and even an associate Pastor.

The sad thing is that this pastor can justify his actions using scripture and feel no guilt or even care about how his actions have affected others. However, let’s assume that one day he wakes up and realizes his sin. What will he do next? Christianity teaches that he simply has to turn to God, ask for forgiveness, and his sins will be remembered no more by God. Great! That helps the individual feel better about themselves and helps them to face the next day free of guilt. However, what about those who he’s wronged and who still carry the weight of his actions?

Redemption may help the individual, but it does not make restitution for a stolen item or heal the emotional scars we’ve caused along the way. I wish that at least attempting to right our wrongs of the past was a part of the redemptive process. As Christians, we preach grace with pride. However, I believe we need to rethink many of these ideas. We should not only focus on the individual and the future, we should also encourage that restitution journey into the past.

Can you think of an individual whom you’ve negatively impacted in the past? Make a call to apologize. It may or may not immediately help, but it may start that process of healing for that individual.

The authenticity of the Bible has nothing to do with my faith in my creator and the way I believe we were designed to live – walking in love, compassion, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, and tolerance to those around us and honoring and respecting creation in general. From my perspective, this is a higher way to live than attempting to follow a confusing book that has spawned zillions of denominations because we cannot agree on its meaning. If I give my kids direction, believe me, I make it as clear as possible because I want them to understand what I’m saying. I am very careful that there are no misinterpretations. The concept of speaking in parables so those hearing will not understand is just wierd. Stories are there to make things clearer and so people can relate to a higher concept.

I believe the basic truths are very simple. They include – love God, love your neighbor, and be kind one to another. Beyond that, the rest is just noise and in most cases is the root of wars, terrorism, genocide, and intolerance.

This makes so much sense to me. Who gives a damn about the meaning of Revelations? How does that apply to my life now and how I treat my wife, my kids, my co-workers, and my neighbors? Since I’ve quit trying to defend the Bible, its contradictions, its inconsistencies, its concepts that we just will never understand or agree on the meaning; and simply focus on these basic truths, I actually feel more in touch with God than I ever have before.

Lately, I’ve read some very good studies on hell including The Case Against Hell by Mercy Aiken and a chapter in Lee Strobel’s “A Case For Faith.” It’s nice to see Christian’s standing up and openly questioning the belief that God will eternally torture those who just happen to be born in a Muslim country or in the East.

There are many doctrines designed to control people that are clearly unscriptural even for those who embrace the Bible as the Word of God. Hell, tithing, and submission to leadership are among the most dangerous of these. Of course, I should mention that I have seen have actuals photos of hell. Check it out.

Exodus 30:17-21 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; When they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the LORD. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”

God tried to kill Moses for not circumcising his son.

Exodus 4:24-26a At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the LORD let him alone.

In a very disturbing passage, God forbids physically challenged priests from offering food to him and so as not to “desecrate [his] sanctuary.”

Leviticus 21:17-24 “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the offerings made to the LORD by fire. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.

These are just a few examples. Throughout the Old Testament, God is portrayed as being consumed with outward things.

Then Jesus came and set the record straight.

Matthew 15:16-20 Listen to what I say and try to understand. You are not defiled by what you eat; you are defiled by what you say and do. Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes out of the body. But evil words come from and evil heart and defile the person who says them. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands could never defile you and make you unacceptable to God!

In Matthew 23, he states:

How terrible it is for the teachers of religious law that are careful to tithe on even the tiniest part of their income but they ignore the important things- justice, mercy, and faith.

How terrible it is for the teachers of religious law that are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are filthy – full of greed and self-indulgence! They try to look like upright people outwardly, but inside their hearts are filled with hypocrisy.

Matthew 12:7 sums up his thoughts on the subject:

They need to learn the meaning of this Scripture, “I want you to be merciful; I don’t want your sacrifices.”

Of course, the New Testament also contains a few verses that seem to lean towards the Old Testament view of the importance of outward things especially when it comes to women.

However, in Galatians, Paul was “astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all” because of the tendency of these early believers to revert to focusing on outward things.

The bottom line is that it is the state of our heart that’s the issue. I do not believe God cares if you wear shoes in his presence or not. He wants us to be kind, merciful and compassionate.

In 1 Samuel 16:7, it states:

“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Then I began to think of other laws that are legislating a moral code vs. protecting the rights of citizens. Even though I do support gay marriage, am I willing to support the removal of all laws, like polygamy, that in some way legislates morality?

What about the laws requiring us to buckle up or to wear helmets while riding a motorcycle? What about an 18 year old who can be sent off to die in Iraq but cannot legally drink a beer?

I’ve stated many times on this blog my desire to be consistent in my beliefs. I sometimes wonder if this is even possible? We see these inconsistencies on a regular basis. Pro-abortionists are usually anti-death penalty. Liberals spew as much hate towards the religious right because they claim the religious right is hateful. There are those for free speech unless the speaker is in disagreement with their beliefs. Some support the rights of gays and lesbians but try to deny Christian kids the rights to hold Bible Studies in schools.

Is it possible to be totally consistent in our beliefs or do we live in a tainted world where this is not possible? I will continue to try, but please show mercy towards me when you see me being a hypocrite. So, I can say that I believe that we should not use laws to legislate morality but do I really?

[Originally written on 12 May 2005, updated today]

Here are some original comments to the blog:

Monk-in-Training said…

First of all the “slippery slope” comment is a red herring. Marriage law has changed all throughout history. Modern North American Marriage law has about as much to do with the culture of the Bible as my old ’78 Mercury Bobcat had with moutain lions. Clearly polygamy is an accpetable type of marriage in the Bible, the only restriction against it in the Christian scriptures is by Paul for Church leaders. Not for anyone else. Roman civil law has more to do with the Chruch preaching monogamous marriages than the Scriptures. I do not support polygamy, but I can’t deny it scripturally, either.To be consistant, you have to discover the basis of your morals, and for me it is love, justice, redemption, and freedom in Christ. If consenting adults want to form a union what is it of concern to me? Is each party free to stay or go? No one is being coerced? Then from a civil perspective, I say it should be permitted. After all, this country is about personal freedom, is it not? ….

Jacob said…

Ya, I’m really not a fan of legislating morality. I look at it like this: regardless of what my own convictions may be, the role of the legistators is to make laws that reflect the convictions of society in general. I would consider fighting against laws that I believe hurt innocent people, but not against those that allow adults to pursue lifestyles that I disapprove of. That means that should polygamy ever be legalized, the issue would not be whether I find it gross or even whether I disagree with it on moral grounds, but whether polygamous relationships are detrimental to children or others. (Which may in fact be the case.)I guess what I’m saying is that we should be legislating not morality but safety, freedom and wellbeing. And we shouldn’t be too concerned about changes in legislation, nor should we look at these changes as neccessarily being either progress or decline. Change happens……

Unregulated Female said…

The Founding Father of our country – Thomas Jefferson – was so for separation of Church and State, he didn’t use the Bible to be sworn into the presidential office. The separation exists for a reason, even though there is a “righteous” movement” trying to tear that safety down. Remember when our country was founded, people’s rights were extremely limited if someone did not belong to a particular faith. This belief only encourages others to behave one way in the public and another in private. It seems if the religious right have their way, our country would revert to this thinking. God forbid.Time is a good judge. There are some issues that just seem to be answered when we give them space to find out the results. This is the basis for my stance on gay marriage. We must stay open for dialogue and communication with those in both the gay and straight community, not separate because we are afraid of our own (or our children’s own) sexual identity.

Additional comments on this post are here.

Many other religions focus on “good works” and, as a result, their followers demonstrate acts of kindness. A Christian will be quick to denounce those “good works” as irrelevant and damn them to hell anyway. In the typical Christian view, a person like Bob Tilton ,who has stood on television and milked the masses out of their money BUT trusts in Christ for salvation, is bound for heaven. However, Ghandi, who gave his life in service of his people, is bound for hell. Does this make sense?

Here’s what James says on the subject:

James 2: 14-25
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

I firmly believe that we need to start a campaign for Christians to engage in good works, to show kindness, love, mercy, compassion, and tolerance. What a difference we could make in this world.

What many Christians ignore is the fact that the God described in the Hebrew Bible is NOT the God they believe in. We believe God is a loving Father who cares for his children. God is merciful, kind, compassionate, and a protector. While those types of images are portrayed in the Hebrew Bible, the exact opposite is also displayed. How can this be reconciled?

Let’s look at a small sampling of these images of God. God killed the enemies of his chosen people, the Children of Israel. He even killed those among his chosen people who dared defy him.

1 Sam.15:2-3 This is what the LORD Almighty says: `I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation–men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.’ “

Ezek.9:5-7 Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all–old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple.” So they began by killing the seventy leaders. “Defile the Temple!” the LORD commanded. “Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!” So they went throughout the city and did as they were told.

Jer.13:14 I will smash them one against the other, even parents against children, says the LORD. I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.’ “

Lam.2:2 Without mercy the Lord has destroyed every home in Israel. In his anger he has broken down the fortress walls of Jerusalem. He has brought to dust the kingdom and all its rulers.

Num.25:4 The LORD issued the following command to Moses: “Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the LORD in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel.”

God killed children for calling his prophet “baldy.” He even killed someone for trying to keep the Ark from falling and killed 70 or more men for simply being too curious and looking into the Ark.

1 Sam.6:19 But the LORD killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the LORD. And the people mourned greatly because of what the LORD had done.

(Note: NKJV says 50,070 men).

These images of God cannot be reconciled with how we view God. Yes, we have our “covenant” explanations, but we do also believe that God cannot and does not ever change. He is the “same yesterday, today, and forever.” How can these radically different portrayals of God be reconciled?

If you’ve never heard the song I referenced, here’s the lyrics:

OH BUDDHA
Words and Music by Mark Farrow

Well old Buddha was a man
And I’m sure that he meant well
But I pray for his disciples
Lest they wind up in hell.
And I’m sure that old Mohammed
Thought he knew the way
But it won’t be Hare Krishna
We stand before on that judgement day

(Chorus)
No it won’t be old Buddha
That’s sitting on the throne
And it won’t be old Mohammed
That’s calling us home.
And it won’t be Hare Krishna
That plays that trumpet tune
And we’re going to see the Son
Not Reverend Moon.

Well, I don’t hate anybody
So please don’t take me wrong
But there really is a message in this simple song
You see there’s only one way Jesus
If eternal life is your goal
And meditation of the mind
It won’t save your soul.

(Repeat Chorus)

Well, you can call yourself a Baptist
And not be born again
A Presbyterian or a Methodist
And still die in your sin
You can even be Charismatic
Shout and dance and jump a pew
But if you hate your brother
You won’t be one of the chosen few.

‘Cause it won’t be a Baptist
That’s sitting on the throne
A Presbyterian or a Methodist
That’s calling us home
And it won’t be a Charismatic
That plays that trumpet tune
So let’s all just live for Jesus
Because He’s coming back real soon.

(Repeat Chorus)