I don’t feel like I need Jesus anymore. That was hard to write, but I suspect he would approve, because he knows what I am saying. The healthiest relationships are always the ones where you want to be with someone and not a situation where you desperately need to be with them to fill some empty void. It took me a while to come to that point, because I was raised in a society and among family members that will tell you you are pretty much going to hell without the church.
Growing up around that and ultimately ending up among the mother of all hypocritical religions (Roman Catholicism?) it took a while to find peace. The thing is I looked for peace in a lot of the wrong places, with cathedrals and shrines toping the list. Something tells me that wasn’t what Jesus was talking about. Take a look at the New Testament sometime. Unless of course you are Catholic, then you’ll probably need to go to the library to get your hands on an actual Bible.
When you open it up, you’ll see that Jesus spoke out wholly and rightly against the Pharisees and their practices. Read about them and names like Swaggert and the pope will come to mind. This wasn’t what Christianity was about. Jesus wanted to be a living witness to what your life should be like. We healed the sick, fed the hungry and stood up to the injustice that surrounded him. That is the Jesus I believe in.
I don’t, however, side with the “Christians” that love to dress up on Sunday and go to church and applaud each other for being so pious, only to go home and look at internet porn or beat their kids senseless. My brothers in Christ are doing Gods work. The funny thing is most of them don’t even realize who they are working for. So the way I see it, you have a choice. You can be like Bill Gates and be a proclaimed atheist, but give nearly half your income to charitable works or you can get dressed up on Sunday and drop $5 in the collection plate.
I have come to a place were I believe good works will be smiled on much more by God then hypocrisy. I always hear fundamental Christians say “only through Jesus can you be saved.” That is the truth. By his example, you can be saved. Doing bad things and then asking for forgiveness will not get you into heaven. Would love for you to show me where that is in the Bible. It’s OK, I’ll wait…right, see it isn’t in there. Jesus was setting an example, not giving you a get out of jail free card.
So when I meet the same ending we're all going to meet, I’m happy to say I don’t fear it anymore. The most effective tool towards keeping the masses in check is fear. The way I look at it, when I die, Jesus will tell me I did his work. Worse case scenario, I’ll just find emptiness and darkness, but at least I left the world a better place. I doubt very seriously I’ll be met with a bouncer at the pearly gates with an abacus checking off how many Sundays I came to church. Who is better, the man who is good with a hope of reward in the afterlife, or the one who is good because he knows in his heart that is the right way to live?
I have trouble believeing Hitler (A Christian) is in heaven and Ghandi and my grandma are in hell, but maybe that is just me.
“Empty prayer, empty mouths, talk about the passion”
Growing up around that and ultimately ending up among the mother of all hypocritical religions (Roman Catholicism?) it took a while to find peace. The thing is I looked for peace in a lot of the wrong places, with cathedrals and shrines toping the list. Something tells me that wasn’t what Jesus was talking about. Take a look at the New Testament sometime. Unless of course you are Catholic, then you’ll probably need to go to the library to get your hands on an actual Bible.
When you open it up, you’ll see that Jesus spoke out wholly and rightly against the Pharisees and their practices. Read about them and names like Swaggert and the pope will come to mind. This wasn’t what Christianity was about. Jesus wanted to be a living witness to what your life should be like. We healed the sick, fed the hungry and stood up to the injustice that surrounded him. That is the Jesus I believe in.
I don’t, however, side with the “Christians” that love to dress up on Sunday and go to church and applaud each other for being so pious, only to go home and look at internet porn or beat their kids senseless. My brothers in Christ are doing Gods work. The funny thing is most of them don’t even realize who they are working for. So the way I see it, you have a choice. You can be like Bill Gates and be a proclaimed atheist, but give nearly half your income to charitable works or you can get dressed up on Sunday and drop $5 in the collection plate.
I have come to a place were I believe good works will be smiled on much more by God then hypocrisy. I always hear fundamental Christians say “only through Jesus can you be saved.” That is the truth. By his example, you can be saved. Doing bad things and then asking for forgiveness will not get you into heaven. Would love for you to show me where that is in the Bible. It’s OK, I’ll wait…right, see it isn’t in there. Jesus was setting an example, not giving you a get out of jail free card.
So when I meet the same ending we're all going to meet, I’m happy to say I don’t fear it anymore. The most effective tool towards keeping the masses in check is fear. The way I look at it, when I die, Jesus will tell me I did his work. Worse case scenario, I’ll just find emptiness and darkness, but at least I left the world a better place. I doubt very seriously I’ll be met with a bouncer at the pearly gates with an abacus checking off how many Sundays I came to church. Who is better, the man who is good with a hope of reward in the afterlife, or the one who is good because he knows in his heart that is the right way to live?
I have trouble believeing Hitler (A Christian) is in heaven and Ghandi and my grandma are in hell, but maybe that is just me.
“Empty prayer, empty mouths, talk about the passion”
1 Comments:
Amen, brother!!!
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