God. A really big subject I have bee quiet on for a while. Not because I have lost my faith or because I have become complainant. More because I have been spending time growing deeper into what I truly believe because of my personal experiences with God and not because of what I have been taught or told. Today I read a post on Facebook that bothered me so that I had to speak up. It was one of those "Christian" posts letting another group of people know hell was waiting for them because of their beliefs, and even if this individual posting this was wrong wasn't it worth believing in case he was right as an insurance policy against hell? WHAT??? And this is so often how God is represented. Vengeful. Condemning. Out for blood, literally. Dear God, and we wonder why people fall away from the church and often Christianity and a whole. The fact that God doesn't strike "His own people" dead for their gross misrepresentation of who God is should be a shining example of His love and grace. This individual posted how Jesus spoke of hell more than heaven. Hell is mentioned 31 times in the entire Bible. The pit 3 times. And the grave another 31. Love is mentioned over 300 times in the KJV and over 500 in the NIV. Such a massive contrast don't you think?
My beliefs have grown so much since I first became that firey Christian who believed she was set apart from the world and therefore somehow better than the sinners. I have grown to see the falicy of that belief. Choosing to live a life that shows love instead of selfishness does set you apart, but it doesn't make you so special. I believe where the Bible says there is none righteous is not a statement of condemnation or to make us all afraid we are going to hell without saying a prayer and taking out our insurance policy, but a truth that puts us all back on the same level. We all fail. We all sin. The priest and the murderer, the faithful housewife and the prostitute. We all carry sin in our lives. Judgement, strife, envy, gossip. If it hurts someone else you can rest assured it shouldn't be part of our lives. But it is. For all of us. I fail in it everyday and if you are honest with yourself I know you will say you do as well. Yet God keeps loving us and seeking us This is the God I have come to know God is not this vengeful, blood thirsty deity so many paint him as. He is this unending sea of love, that looks at us with the same eyes we see our children through. With those same rose colored glasses that we wear when our hearts are first captured by our true love. When my children make a mistake my heart hurts for the consequences I know they will face, but that error doesn't define who my child is. I see their hearts, their potential, and even the growth that will come from having messed up. I see my family and friends through love. God sees us all this way. Not just those special people who have said the right prayers and made the right public confessions. I can't say it enough. God is much bigger than the little box we keep trying to stuff him in.
Now let's get to the real sticky and controversial part of my belief. Do I believe Jesus had to be put to a horrific death on the cross and shed his blood to pay for my sins? Yes and No. Let's start with No. No I do not believe God required his son to be brutalized for me to go to Heaven. No I do not believe blood sacrifices erase sin or it's consequences. This makes God beneath us. I do not require a gift or a sacrife to forgive someone and I am far from perfect so why would God. I don't buy that interpretation. But Yes for another set of reasons. Jesus came to show us who God is. At the time when God came to earth in the form of man blood sacrifices were the way to earn forgiveness. God literally spilled his own blood not just to set man free from that practice but to show this massive love for us. The willingness to give all for us. The type of love we all need to feel valued and to be able to breathe life into others. Was a death necessary for me to be forgiven by God? No. Was it necessary for me to see how much I am loved and be able to forgive myself and accept that forgiveness? Yes
Today I just really wanted to share this part of my belief with those of you who had a moment to listen. If you have time to comment please share an important part of your faith with me. I believe we all have a lot to learn from one another.
