The Sunday Thought, April 12, 2015: Who Do You Trust with Your Soul?

Have you seen the television commercial where the disc jockey masquerades as a financial advisor, asking potential clients if they consider him trustworthy, knowledgeable, and if they'd trust him as their financial advisor?  My view of financial advisors is, if they were any good, why would they be working for someone else?  And why would you be listening to anything they say when they should be on a beach in Costa Rica enjoying their own wealth, if they were any good at their job?  So why would you trust a total stranger with your hard earned wealth you are hoping to have for retirement?

“It amazes me how people are often more willing to act based on little or no data than to use data that is a challenge to assemble.”

-- Robert J. Shiller, economist, academic, author

Why would you trust a total stranger with your immortal soul?  Why would you trust a stranger to invest your soul with God?  Just as it's your money, so it is also your soul.  What makes a spiritual advisor more capable of interacting with the Almighty on your behalf?  Do they know your innermost self?  Do they really understand who you are and how you feel?  And, most importantly, have they actually been through what you may be going through?  Most of us fall into this trap of relying on someone else to make decisions because we are too damned lazy to do the simple task of our own due diligence.  Ask yourself this:  If you were an employee of a company, would you trust a manager to speak to the CEO on your behalf, or would you rather speak for yourself?  If you were the CEO, would you rather hear what the manager has to say, or would you like to get the unbiased, honest, heartfelt view of the employee?  Now, what if you were God?

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

-- Romans 15:13

If your own faith was strong, why would you require anyone else to stand for you in the presence of your God?  The mere fact that many find it necessary to ignore the biblical instructions to pray in private, and, instead, seek our a minister and the support of parishioners in order to have a relationship with an omnipotent God who already knows your heart seems wastefully self serving.

I see only one reason for ministry.  To assist those in need to discover their own path to salvation.  A minister cannot do the work for you.  There is no magic bullet of absolution from some minister of with unknown moral values of their own.  Absolution can only come from God, and the request can only come from you.  From your mouth, to God's ear.  If  God is truly as great as we believe, why would God have any need of a middleman.

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

1 John 3:18-21

Who do you trust with your soul?  Like any personal investment, ultimately you must trust yourself.  It is only through your own heartfelt love, faith, and confidence in God that you will realize your soul, much less save it.  Many can help you to find your path to this end, however, they cannot find it for you.  While on your path they can assist you when you stumble, but they cannot carry you or you will be on their path, not yours.  If anyone joins you on your path, it is only because they have made it part of their path to do so; it is part of their journey.  You must always remember - it is your path, your journey, and it is up to you to invest yourself in it.  

Have faith and take the first step.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

-- 2 Timothy 2;15

Editor's Note:

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Frank Anthony Villari

Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."