"Protestantism has the method of Jesus with His secret too much left out of mind: Catholicism has His secret with His method too much left out of mind; neither has His unerring balance, His intuition, His sweet reasonableness. But both have hold of a great truth, and get from it a great power.
-- Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), poet, educator, cultural critic
I get reminders from God, more often than I used to, of why I sought ordination as an interfaith minister, why I founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance, and why I started "The Path," a blog discussing the personal spiritual path each of us is on. A little more than a week ago I published a post, Faces in My Darkness because a dear friend was in anguish over her so-called "minister" talking about her behind her back and spreading untrue rumors. A couple of days ago I posted a story about the "miracle" of how another minister, Lucy the Clown, seemed to draw the first "I love you" from a mother's autistic child. God reminds me through the numerous emails and comments I have received, thanking me for honest, plain language posts and stories that have touched another's life in some small way, and those from those folks encouraging me to keep writing.
As many of you have read, I began this journey after yet another, of many, self-righteous Christian damned me to hell for my personal spiritual beliefs, and thrust their Bible at me like a weapon or a shield. Their hypocrisy was another one of hundreds and broke the camel's back. That their faith in God was minimized by having to hide behind scripture or wield it like a weapon and evidenced, for me, a lack of personal faith; personal faith which loves and praises God and Jesus Christ without the crutch of scripture which is required by many to offset crippling misinterpretations of God's "Word" with further misinterpretations of their own.
These are people who are so wrapped up in their own heretical agenda they have forgotten it is not their place to judge the servant of another Master because they forget what they read in their own Bible, like Matthew 6:5-6, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen." And they forget also, Matthew 6:9-13, "This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name..." Yet they continue to spend money on churches for worshipping together with their countless other prayers instead of the doing for the poor and hungry - the least of us. These are the Christian who say they have read the Bible, but they seem to have understood nothing. They put their nose in the air as well-meaning hypocrites, constantly offended by me and always up in my grill.
These are people who are so wrapped up in their own heretical agenda they have forgotten it is not their place to judge the servant of another Master because they forget what they read in their own Bible, like Matthew 6:5-6, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen." And they forget also, Matthew 6:9-13, "This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name..." Yet they continue to spend money on churches for worshipping together with their countless other prayers instead of the doing for the poor and hungry - the least of us. These are the Christian who say they have read the Bible, but they seem to have understood nothing. They put their nose in the air as well-meaning hypocrites, constantly offended by me and always up in my grill.
One of these self-appointed "soldiers of Christ" was my latest reminder, from Himself, just the other morning. In my role as chaplain, I occasionally stop in to visit patients twice a week. I also do a Sunday meeting for some patients each week where we discuss various topics. This particular morning one gentleman waved for my attention. It took one sentence, and his obvious body language, for me to realize I was up against an old nemesis - the Christian self-righteous judge; a member of one of the 33,000 distinct Christian denominations in 238 countries, all believing their interpretation of scripture is the only correct interpretation, he would have us all condemned to hell because his belief is the right belief and everyone else is wrong. I politely listened to him try to bait me into a "discussion," for several minutes - he was unsuccessful. However, as I turned to leave, he did manage to have the last word by condemning me to hell for all eternity. I dismissed the opportunity to tell him that hell would give us more opportunity to talk. I exercised restraint and tolerance, two of the three things in my life I lack much of. The third is patience, which is why I left before I lost it.
I am anything but perfect, none of us are, but at least some of us are trying to make the world a better place in our own inimitable way, instead of spewing negativity, divisiveness, and intolerance toward others. This man's credibility would have been beyond question, for me, if he'd simply stated, "I hope you can be a better Christian than I am."
I am anything but perfect, none of us are, but at least some of us are trying to make the world a better place in our own inimitable way, instead of spewing negativity, divisiveness, and intolerance toward others. This man's credibility would have been beyond question, for me, if he'd simply stated, "I hope you can be a better Christian than I am."
I couldn't help but feel pity for him, and forgiveness for his lack of tolerance, love, and understanding, and for a misdirected faith which I felt was not directly his fault. Here, after all, was a person at odds with their own mind, their own safety or the safety of others, and he was passing judgment on someone willing to listen, to give up some time, and to show him some tolerance and understanding which he was seemingly incapable of showing as a "Christian" to anyone with a differing opinion or faith. I felt his attempt to verbally attack me was an attack on his own Christian inadequacies, his lack of true faith, and his need to be in control of something, or someone if he couldn't be in control of himself. Most importantly, though, it seemed the reason I was there, giving of my time, totally escaped him. I was there because his caring clergy wasn't. I was there trying to do what I could because many clergy who took a vow to serve God seems too wrapped up in the business of running a church and were unable to find time for the least of us. I took his attack in stride. You get used to it after 40 years.
I think Abrahamic religions have it all backward. God made it simple for us and we continue to complicate it. Instead of learning to love God and Christ through scripture written by men and "inspired" by God, perhaps we should learn to know, love, and praise Christ and God first, ourselves before we can receive "inspired" scripture. Maybe a person should understand their own strength of faith before being handed a sword and shield, words bound between two covers, which are worthless without a faith which comes from within the individual. People need to understand it isn't the Bible, Holy Water, or any Christian symbol which holds the demons at bay; it is the faith of God within the living vessel that accomplishes the feat. When you strip a person of the accouterments of their religion, all they have left is what God gave them, to begin with - faith!
The problem I see with the logic of my idea is that people will flee in droves from the control of the church, which the church would frown upon. I have found through life when you learn something on your own before you get the instruction manual; you tend to have a more critical eye on which accomplishes the task better, your way or someone else's. It doesn't mean you can't learn something new, it simply allows you the freedom to make that choice if you see it benefits you and, in this case, God and your immortal soul. God wants us to seek the truth because the truth will set us free; the church would rather we not, for the same reason.
This might sound, to some, like I'm also standing in judgment of this person and religion as a whole... and perhaps I am. I have, after all, held with the notion that it takes one to know one, and I have never denied my own sins, hypocrisy, and other shortcomings. No one is perfect; we can but try in this life to do what we can with that which is given, in order to do something wonderful.
I will continue to try and scoop up those Christian who have fallen, for one reason or another, by the wayside of their faith. Mine is a ministry to convince them to not give up on God. I try to offer them another thought on faith so that, in their future, they might find their own spiritual path once again. My faith lies in the belief that any personal relationship with God is better than no relationship at all.
If the Christian churches are going to drive some people away from their path to God, someone has to show them a detour so they don't get lost. Got a map?
This is just a thought, my Sunday Thought, for August 28, 2016. What are your thoughts?
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. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint.
The problem I see with the logic of my idea is that people will flee in droves from the control of the church, which the church would frown upon. I have found through life when you learn something on your own before you get the instruction manual; you tend to have a more critical eye on which accomplishes the task better, your way or someone else's. It doesn't mean you can't learn something new, it simply allows you the freedom to make that choice if you see it benefits you and, in this case, God and your immortal soul. God wants us to seek the truth because the truth will set us free; the church would rather we not, for the same reason.
This might sound, to some, like I'm also standing in judgment of this person and religion as a whole... and perhaps I am. I have, after all, held with the notion that it takes one to know one, and I have never denied my own sins, hypocrisy, and other shortcomings. No one is perfect; we can but try in this life to do what we can with that which is given, in order to do something wonderful.
I will continue to try and scoop up those Christian who have fallen, for one reason or another, by the wayside of their faith. Mine is a ministry to convince them to not give up on God. I try to offer them another thought on faith so that, in their future, they might find their own spiritual path once again. My faith lies in the belief that any personal relationship with God is better than no relationship at all.
If the Christian churches are going to drive some people away from their path to God, someone has to show them a detour so they don't get lost. Got a map?
This is just a thought, my Sunday Thought, for August 28, 2016. What are your thoughts?
Editor's Note
(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)
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. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint.
It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, 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 Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.
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