Religious Rant

This is a post that's been brewing for a few days. It comes down to a few biblical truths, such as "Judge not, lest ye be judged" and "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone".

In many ways my religious beliefs are pretty conservative, one might even call them fundamentalist. If I can't find it in the Bible I don't go there. At least, I try to avoid going there and repent when I do. I am a sinner after all. =)

Unfortunately, there are too many conservatives and/or fundamentalists who give the terms "conservative" and "fundamentalist" a bad taste in everyone else's mouth. This isn't what Jesus wanted.

Time and again, he told the Jews he wasn't there to change the Law, meaning the Jewish Law set down by Moses in the first five books of the Bible, but to fulfill the Law.

"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21 NIV) Jesus told the Galileans at temple at the beginning of his pastoral career.

The Oxford dictionary defines "conservative" as "opposed to great or sudden social or political change; having traditional attitudes and values". It defines "fundamentalist" as someone who believes "everything in the Bible is true and should form the basis of religous thought or practice".

That's me.

Many Christians today have a different view of "conservative" and "fundamentalist". It's no longer based on preserving the Bible. It's based on preserving social mores, whether or not they follow the Bible.

Things like trying to force non-Christians to pledge allegiance to our country "under God", despite Jesus' own words in Matthew 22:21, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; And unto God the things that are God's," instead of trying to share the Message of Salvation with them.

This is the same sort of "conservatism" Jesus fought in his days.

One Sabbath He and his disciples had been preaching all night and were hungry, so on their way to the synagogue, they walked through a wheat field. There, they pulled off some of the wheat heads and shucked the grains out by rubbing their hands together.

Someone saw them and reported them to the religious leaders who, in modern language, reamed Jesus out for allowing his disciples to "break" the Sabbath No Work laws.

Although based on the 4th commandment (Ex. 20: 8-11), these Sabbath No Work laws had long since been hijacked by men and no longer reflected God's common sense of having a day of rest. Instead, they made life more difficult for the common man.

In essence, Jesus told these religious leaders to take a "chill pill" and use a little common sense. "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Matt 12:8 NIV) He went on to say,"If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." (Matt 12:11-12 NIV)

And that brings me to the point that started all this. Just because someone does something different than you, doesn't make them unsalvable or even un-Christian. And it doesn't necessarily mean they're breaking biblical law.

So many of the differences, and arguments between Christian denominations or between "conservaties" and "liberals" are over cultural differences. When checked against the Bible, they become meaningless.

God could care less whether women wear pants, short skirts or long skirts in church or whether men are dressed in a three piece suit, a shirt with a collar or t-shirt and jeans. What he cares about is our relationship with him.

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and ith all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (Luke 10:27 NIV)

Yes, there are many things the Bible preaches against, mostly for our own good. But, beating people over the head with their "sins" and telling them they're "going to hell" and "God Hates" them violates the Bible as much as any of the sins it preaches against.

"For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16, KJV) This passage is so important it's re-stated a multitude of times, in different ways, throughout the New Testament.

The important wording here is "whosoever believeth". John didn't say, whoever follows the longest list of the most convoluted rules will go to heaven. He said, whoever believes in God will have eternal life.

All of us are at different points in our Walk with God. None of us is perfect. That's why God had to send Jesus, the only perfect man, to this polluted earth to save our sorry butts from OURSELVES.

God will meet us wherever we are in that Walk with Him and help guide our steps. It's not for us to try to "guide" each other's steps. That's for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So to say that because someone worships on Sunday instead of Sabbath, eats unclean meat instead of following the dietary laws in Leviticus, wears jewelry and makeup or has tattoos... means that person is going to hell, is just plain.. well... un-Christian.

Instead of fighting over details, why don't we all just sit down and read the Bible, then try to share HIS message with the world instead of our own.
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Well , not the rant I sat down to write, but... God works in mysterious ways.

Nimitz' Lady