Getting Unlost
Today's podcaster: Cat, Lazy Creek ZookeeperAfter attending a large gathering to sing religious songs, I came away discouraged and distressed. It seemed strange to be in a room full of people I knew, watching them sing songs about teachings I knew many of them didn't agree with or live by. I have no problem being in a room full of people with different concepts of God, as long as everyone feels free to be honest about it. But one major problem I have with the church culture is the enforcement of "nicey-pie" syndrome.
This simply means that people are expected to pretend they agree for the sake of looking like they get along. Not getting along is being a bad Christian. It doesn't matter whether we really get along, as long as we try to make the rest of the world think we do.
It feels like a form of fraud. It is pure public relations, intended to deflect criticism of the Christian religion rather than honestly deal with the obvious conflicts and problems. The world is not fooled, either.
I think we can do better than that. I believe in a God who is a person, not just a force or a part of the universe's fabric. I think this God is required by simple logic to be infinitely everything - infinite love, infinite justice, infinite reasonableness. Infinite relationship.
I think this God gives us answers to our problems, answers that are infinitely smarter than what we come up with. We're free to choose His thoughts or our thoughts. But we usually choose our ways, because the cost of fixing things is to give up pride in our religious accomplishments, our comfort, our self-assurance. The cost is to give up our cherished ideas and beliefs, and to believe instead in God and in His ideas. His definition of Himself.
I get in trouble whenever I bring up this matter. Not from the rest of the world, which often expresses the same sentiments about the state of Christianity. No, I get shushed by Christians.
But I'm not a "Christian." I don't come from a church background. All I am is a believer in God as revealed in the Bible. And I must say, I don't like being judged on the assumption that I'm "judging others" out of some kind of arrogance or lack of love.
So, on Sunday evening after that religious concert, I sat down and talked out my feelings. I wanted to make my actual tone heard, not just my words. Here's a little bit of the story of how I came to believe the things I now believe.
Click to listen to How To Get Unlost.
