Religion

It seems as if many of my friends are spitting out their thoughts onto Facebook. I greatly respect a person who can put their thoughts into words, a coveted skill by many. Some want to write their everyday thoughts and share them with the world daily; I’m surprised they don’t list when they use the bathroom, and others pick their words very wisely. If I shared what went through my head everyday, I’d probably be shot or something, so I’ll just share every once in a while.

Today I went through Wikipedia looking at all the different religions that people can “choose” from. There are four main groups consisting of Abrahamic religions, Indian religions, Far Eastern religions, and Ethnic/tribal. Three and a half billion people follow Abrahamic religions, which consist of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. They believe in one deity, or the oneness of God. Indian religions originated in Greater India; they share beliefs in dharma and karma. I would say Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism are the main Indian religions. Far Eastern religions consist of Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto, and Far Eastern Buddhism. Now I can continue to list off all these religions, but you can go look them up yourself.

Recently I’ve really thought about how Christianity really blows.

I mean think about it, Christians are supposed to give up everything they have to something they can’t even touch or see. In return, they receive “love”. This love can be seen has pure luck to some, blessings to others, and sometimes just simply disregarded. There’s also this really confusing part about how three people are really just one. Ok, what? Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Why is it that the materialism of affluent Christians contradicts the claims of Jesus Christ? I mean at times, the example that today’s Christians set are probably the biggest contributory factor resulting in atheism.

I’ve heard some Christians say that “Christianity is simple: love Jesus.” But wait, what about the trinity? If I just love Jesus, am I doing wrong? Or do I love all three already when I love Jesus.

Why are we supposed to be spoon fed milk like little children to grow up in our salvation (1 Peter 2:2, Hebrews 5:13), but Paul is miraculously turned from his ways on the side of the road, and became most notable of Early Christian missionaries? Unlike the chosen twelve apostles, there is no indication that Paul even actually ever met Jesus before the crucifixion.

There are also so many divisions of Christianity, all making up different denominations. If we all believe in Jesus Christ, why are there so many different viewpoints that make up separate religions?

How is our personal outcome of eternity, which is forever, based on the very short time that we are here on Earth? That doesn’t make any sense to me…

There’s so many confusing aspects that I can get caught up in. Then people try to Bible Bash the hell out of you, which totally pisses me off. What are they really witnessing? I guess I can honestly say that I know almost nothing about Christianity, even after going to church my whole life and attending a “Christian University” for over a year. So finally coming to the end of my career at a Christian University, instead of being so confident in what I believe in like I thought I would, I’m at the complete other side of the table. Like I said, I curiously just searched Wikipedia for religions; I mean come on now. It’s almost as if I’m sticking my fishing pole into life, and seeing what bites the worm. And the worst part is, people in our society actually do this.

Ever heard of Scientology? Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, and rumored even Will Smith are followers of “the study of truth.” Has anyone actually looked up what L. Ron Hubbard’s religion actually is? Again, I’ll let you read for yourself, but I’ll give you a preview:

The purpose of Scientology is to know; to achieve complete certainty of one’s spiritual existence and one’s relationship to the Supreme Being. In Scientology no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith, the tenets of Scientology are expected to be tested and seen to either be true or not by Scientology practitioners. That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true. There are also secret “upper” levels of Scientology, which are only available by invitation from the church, after a review of character, ethics, and contribution to the Aims of Scientology. Among these advanced teachings, one episode revealed is the story of Xenu and his Galactic Confederacy. Xenu is introduced as an alien ruler of the “Galactic Confederacy” who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth in a spacecraft. He then stacked the people around volcanoes, and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living. The alien souls continue to do this today, causing a variety of physical ill-effect in modern day humans.

Wow.

People believe this.

To me I never seem to come to the obvious answer that I’m hoping for. Most of you who are reading this are probably like, “What? Um is this kid stupid?”

Yes the answer should be obvious if you have grown up believing the same thing your whole life. And if that is your personal case, believing it because you grew up with it, then what different are you from a Muslim who has grown up with the Muslim faith. That’s like voting Republican or Democrat just because your parents do. You say you really believe in what you vote for, but do you?

I can say that there must be this “Jesus Christ”, but only because I have had recent experiences where I feel like I have had conversations with Him.

Yet, I still seem to be unsatisfied with Christianity.

The Homeless Man

Sometimes, I just hate Christians.

Be careful how you interpret what I am telling you.

Now I know some of you are reading this and are starting to get angry.

But that's ok if you are, because honestly I couldnt care, I just hope you continue reading.

Churches split because they can't agree on carpet color for the new sanctuary, or because they don't like the worship style that is being played. Christians complain saying that it is "too hard" to be a christian today.

They make it hard for themselves.

They do this by condemning anybody who stands up and believes anything slightly different from them, even if they also worship the one and only true God. Today's christians feel "persecuted" because "God is being taken out of the schools" and that their kids "can't pray in schools" or that the ten commandments are being removed from public places. I find this ridiculous. Why should that stop them from worshiping God? And God's not being removed from the schools, He will always be present, and when has there ever been a law saying a student can't pray in school? Because it is surely not being enforced at any school, no one can stop you from talking to God. He will always be with you.

Let's go back around two-thousand years ago, when laws were strict, and to repent you had to go and sacrifice your best lamb. You could not do anything physical on the Sabbath, and you were only allowed to enter certain areas of the temple. Then all of a sudden, a simple carpenter starts preaching in the streets and performing miraculous miracles. He says he is the Son of God, and that God loves each and every one of us the same not matter what. The priests and Pharisees condemn him, and want to put him in prison thinking he is just another crazy soul. This "crazy soul" tells the crippled to get up and run, even on the Sabbath. He makes the blind to see, and deaf to hear, and the sick healed. He is called by today's terms a witch doctor, an evil spirit, and even the devil. And now you don't know what to believe, and then this man, this Son of God is crucified by the people he healed and dies for your sins. Three days later he rises from the dead!

People who believed in this man were instantly thrown in jail or killed. They were not allowed to meet in public places. You freely walk into church while they were thrown into jail just for kneeling in prayer in the privacy of their own home. And you think its hard to be a christian today? While they were thrown in jail they prayed not for their release, but that the Word of God was still being preached and others were being brought to Christ.

I guess I could compare it to the way higher society complains when gas prices are raised two cents while the poor don't have two cents to buy their next meal. I recently attended a Reds game. You all know when you go to the games, there are always homeless people sitting outside the gates with signs asking for money. We usually just walk on by, trying not to look at them. But tonight was different; tonight we took some fruit and gave it to Jessie Johnson, one of the homeless who was sitting outside. One of the friends who I was with had talked to Jessie before, and Jessie was a Believer, who had been ripped of his wealth and now lived on the streets of Cincinnati. So as we sat down on the ground by him, and people walked by and gave us dirty looks, Jessie told us his story. As I sat and listened, I wondered how many church groups, how many pastors, how many youth group members just walked on by without acknowledgement. I thought about how many times I had walked right past.
Jessie talked about how Faith had kept him alive throughout his hard times. It was rather humbling when he told us he was so thankful that his shoes he had owned for five years had kept up this long, and here I was wearing a brand new pair of shoes. We ended up buying Jessie a ticket to the game, and he had a great time. He was just glad to have some company for the afternoon.

You don't have to find a homeless man to share God's love. Next time you're out and about, just do something nice for someone else and don't think twice about it. Let's say you're walking through a huge parking lot: you might get bored as you walk thru, so why not pick up some trash as you go and put it in the dumpster on the other side. Fighting for that parking spot at the mall or out in front of Oakwood? Let somebody else have it. You could brighten somebody else's day and not even know it.

Today's Christians are slipping into a "comfort zone". We have made it too easy for ourselves, thinking that dragging ourselves out of bed and sitting in the pews once a week is "good enough". The word "christian" means: somebody who believes that Jesus Christ was sent to the world by God to save humanity and who tries to follow His teachings and example. Well, what are we trying to do to follow His example? How are we trying to be like Him? I think in order to do this we must leave our bubble of comfort. I do not want to show up at the pearly gates with no one behind me because I just wanted to be "comfortable". We should be a taxi service to heaven, leading others to Christ. And we do this by example, not by scaring others from hell, but by having a true relationship with Christ. We lead them, showing them the way, not getting them to believe in Him only because they are scared of hell. Basically what I am getting to is this: do not just show people your church service, but show them your relationship with Him, the All who will always love all.

Just love people.