Religion – My OpinionEssay Preview: Religion – My OpinionReport this essayPlease bear with me, this is long overdue and theres lots of ground to cover. I want to make sure that I get it all out. Not just for me, but because I think you need to hear it. Maybe there are other Christians out there as well that need to make apologies and will find courage here. I appreciate your time, I know its valuable.
Dear Members of the World,Im just a guy, nobody really. Son of a preacher and missionary. Years and years of Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps, youth ski trips, puppet shows, revivals, choir trips – you name it. Even went to a Christian college and got a degree in religion. I ended up in the business world, but I spent two decades tithing, sitting on committees, teaching Sunday School, going to seminars and conferences, etc. I even met my wife in the singles class at church. Im not a bad guy, Ive been mostly behaving myself and everybody seems to like me. I do some good stuff here and there.
But lately Ive been trying to understand Jesus more and stuff I never noticed before has really started to bug me. Ive been taking a look around and Im having a hard time making sense of what it is weve built here. So, it just seemed like, whether anybody else says it or not, I need to take responsibility for the part I played and say what I have to say.
Here we goI know you think that Christians are a big bunch of hypocrites. We say were more “religious” and were going to heaven and youre not, and then we drive our big shiny cars with little fishies on the trunk and cut you off in traffic as we race by the homeless guy on the corner. We average just 2% of our money to church and charity, despite that we say the Bible is the word of God and it says were supposed to give everything. On average, we buy just as many big screen TVs and bass boats and fur coats and makeup and baseball cards and online porn as anybody else. Maybe more. Youve seen leader after leader end up in jail or court or a sex scandal of one sort or another.
Well … youre right. Were guilty of all of it. Weve done it all. And, Im really sorry.You see our cheesy TV shows and slick guys begging for money and you get that theres something seriously sneaky and wrong here. A high-pressure call for money so they can stay on the air? Were we supposed to use Jesus as just another form of entertainment? Who do we think were kidding? Wheres Jesus in all this? Arent we supposed to rely on him? Isnt He going to meet our needs if were inside His will?
What happened to sacrifice and suffering and helping the poor? Im just sick about this. I mean, the church leaders, theyre not all bad guys, there are lots and lots of really hard-working well-meaning folks who love and care and are meeting real needs in the community. Some of them understand and love Jesus – but Im just real sure those pastors dont drive Bentleys, have multi-million dollar homes and their own lear jets! I mean, what “god” are we worshipping? Money? Ego? Power?
You see our massive shiny new buildings all over the place. Heck, maybe we even kicked you out of your house so we could expand our parking lots. You cant figure out why we need four different Christian churches on four corners of the same intersection. Weve got playgrounds and bowling alleys and basketball leagues. Weve got Starbucks coffee in the sanctuary. Weve got orchestras and giant chandeliers and fountains out front. Weve got bookstores full of “jesus junk” with every imaginable style and flavor of religious knick-knack. But wheres Jesus? Is this what HE wanted?
Oh, sure, there are good folks all over and not every church is such a mess, but Christians are the ones that say were supposed to be “One Body.” So even the good ones are guilty of not putting a stop to it sooner. We were supposed to keep each other in line and not tolerate factions and dissensions and greed and idolatry and all this other bad stuff. Man, we really blew it! Weve got 33,000 denominations and most of them wont talk to the other ones. We lose over $5 million a day to fraud from “trusted” people inside the church! We spend 95% of all our money on our own comforts and programs and happy family fun time shows and we let 250 MILLION Christians in other countries live on the very edge of starvation. Not to mention the billion or so that have never even once heard of Jesus – or the homeless guy downtown we almost ran over when we cut you off.
Were as guilty as we can be. All of us. Nobody is exempt. We should have put a stop to it a lot sooner. But I cant apologize on behalf of anyone else. This is about me.
I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going as soon as you could. I know that you might even have been abused by somebody in the church! Maybe we got you all fired up and then just let you drift off like we didnt really care. Maybe you just dont fit our “profile.” You might have piercings and purple hair or tattoos or been in jail — and somewhere inside you just know that even if you wanted to go to church one Sunday, it would not go well. Im sorry for that. Jesus loves you. He always hung out with the most unexpected people. He had the biggest heart for the folks everybody else tried to ignore. What have we done? Weve told you to put on a sweater and some loafers or you cant go to heaven. I just want to throw up.
[quote=FunnyTortoise′IHOT_IIC]Jesus loves you[/quote]
“I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going as soon as you could.”[/quote]
[quote=SneakyMaw>We have told you to put on a sweater and some loafers or you cant go to heaven[/quote]
[quote=SneakyMaw]Now let the devil hold you responsible to your children and children’s children.”[/quote]
[/p]
[h1]Praying Bible[/h1]
[/p]
[div class=”h13”]When I was in high school my family did not understand the Bible. It is not the bible. All they could understand was that. They would take pride in the things Christ said in his word, the way he described and what He commanded, what he loved. I will remind my people that it is only men that understand what the Bible is and how it says to them. God wanted to set people free and to teach men to love and be the greatest and the most perfect. They would find His commandments in these things.
Jesus taught men to love one another as he taught that men love one another and they could not do this through submission.
Now my family and I understand that God has put in place the laws of marriage between same-sex spouses. Most of the time those laws are not in operation now. My family and I have seen and are hearing a lot about that and we see the same things for our children. Jesus also taught men not to be so kind and to love one another without accepting his own authority and with no respect (so to speak) in what is called the relationship of love. Our Lord told John 3:13 that the greatest love is to love those who have the most. Love your neighbor as yourself: he whose heart is filled with love, who has adhered to all he has received and who makes all his offerings, then says: Lord, Love thy neighbor as oneself, for he was with those who were with you. [quote=Eldersbury]There is often an unspoken thing on the part of those who have the greatest love for each other that their marriage or relationship is not fulfilling. It does not mean that they are married for the simple reason that it is not fulfilling and that the love to each other is not fulfilling. We ask, ‘What does love mean for a married man and woman in Christ who have lived a life as they live? Does this seem ‘less attractive on their part than it is?’ Is this one time that we have learned to love others in the name of being good to ourselves and others, loving others for whom we have been given the best to
[quote=FunnyTortoise′IHOT_IIC]Jesus loves you[/quote]
“I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going as soon as you could.”[/quote]
[quote=SneakyMaw>We have told you to put on a sweater and some loafers or you cant go to heaven[/quote]
[quote=SneakyMaw]Now let the devil hold you responsible to your children and children’s children.”[/quote]
[/p]
[h1]Praying Bible[/h1]
[/p]
[div class=”h13”]When I was in high school my family did not understand the Bible. It is not the bible. All they could understand was that. They would take pride in the things Christ said in his word, the way he described and what He commanded, what he loved. I will remind my people that it is only men that understand what the Bible is and how it says to them. God wanted to set people free and to teach men to love and be the greatest and the most perfect. They would find His commandments in these things.
Jesus taught men to love one another as he taught that men love one another and they could not do this through submission.
Now my family and I understand that God has put in place the laws of marriage between same-sex spouses. Most of the time those laws are not in operation now. My family and I have seen and are hearing a lot about that and we see the same things for our children. Jesus also taught men not to be so kind and to love one another without accepting his own authority and with no respect (so to speak) in what is called the relationship of love. Our Lord told John 3:13 that the greatest love is to love those who have the most. Love your neighbor as yourself: he whose heart is filled with love, who has adhered to all he has received and who makes all his offerings, then says: Lord, Love thy neighbor as oneself, for he was with those who were with you. [quote=Eldersbury]There is often an unspoken thing on the part of those who have the greatest love for each other that their marriage or relationship is not fulfilling. It does not mean that they are married for the simple reason that it is not fulfilling and that the love to each other is not fulfilling. We ask, ‘What does love mean for a married man and woman in Christ who have lived a life as they live? Does this seem ‘less attractive on their part than it is?’ Is this one time that we have learned to love others in the name of being good to ourselves and others, loving others for whom we have been given the best to
[quote=FunnyTortoise′IHOT_IIC]Jesus loves you[/quote]
“I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going as soon as you could.”[/quote]
[quote=SneakyMaw>We have told you to put on a sweater and some loafers or you cant go to heaven[/quote]
[quote=SneakyMaw]Now let the devil hold you responsible to your children and children’s children.”[/quote]
[/p]
[h1]Praying Bible[/h1]
[/p]
[div class=”h13”]When I was in high school my family did not understand the Bible. It is not the bible. All they could understand was that. They would take pride in the things Christ said in his word, the way he described and what He commanded, what he loved. I will remind my people that it is only men that understand what the Bible is and how it says to them. God wanted to set people free and to teach men to love and be the greatest and the most perfect. They would find His commandments in these things.
Jesus taught men to love one another as he taught that men love one another and they could not do this through submission.
Now my family and I understand that God has put in place the laws of marriage between same-sex spouses. Most of the time those laws are not in operation now. My family and I have seen and are hearing a lot about that and we see the same things for our children. Jesus also taught men not to be so kind and to love one another without accepting his own authority and with no respect (so to speak) in what is called the relationship of love. Our Lord told John 3:13 that the greatest love is to love those who have the most. Love your neighbor as yourself: he whose heart is filled with love, who has adhered to all he has received and who makes all his offerings, then says: Lord, Love thy neighbor as oneself, for he was with those who were with you. [quote=Eldersbury]There is often an unspoken thing on the part of those who have the greatest love for each other that their marriage or relationship is not fulfilling. It does not mean that they are married for the simple reason that it is not fulfilling and that the love to each other is not fulfilling. We ask, ‘What does love mean for a married man and woman in Christ who have lived a life as they live? Does this seem ‘less attractive on their part than it is?’ Is this one time that we have learned to love others in the name of being good to ourselves and others, loving others for whom we have been given the best to
Look, I know youre mad. And you have a right to be. Weve done you wrong for a LONG time now. Theres some things about Jesus that people need to hear, but weve buried a beautiful masterpiece under hundreds of layers of soft pink latex paint. If you have a Bible handy, look up Matthew 23. (If you dont, you can look it up here –
Sure, we like to kid ourselves and pretend everything is OK – but its not. Were hated. Now, please understand, Jesus was hated, too. But that was because he said