Yahoo “picks of the week” led me to your site, and I am sure you will have many others visit. I find your comments very thought provoking and challenging, especially since I am a pastor of church. Most of your ideas have spun around in my mind from time to time and I too grew tired of much of the religion I saw expressed not only on TV but in local churches. I suppose that the biggest reason to believe in Christ is the transformed lives of His followers, but then again, I the biggest objection people have with Christianity is the lack of transformation in the lives of His followers. To be honest with you, there are days when I look at my own life and wonder if I am making a dent. It seems to me that you both are not into bashing – and that is good. When I left a mainline church I grew up in, it was quite tempting to do some bashing to justify leaving, but that didn’t seem like it was in the spirit of Jesus whom I want to serve. Two points for that attitude!
I can imagine the anger rising up in many who find your site threatening to their faith or religion. Their anger or harsh words don’t seem to line up with their Master’s. Jesus never seemed to defend himself, but defending the child, the women, the poor, the oppressed, that is another thing. Since the beginning of history, I suppose, man has found ways to use religion to control others. I personally don’t want anything to do with that stuff. I prefer to see people set free.
I believe that God is not threatened in the slightest by your comments or current disillusionment with the state of religion in America. In fact, He probably agrees with you more than you know. I wanted to be one Christian who encouraged you to keep honest, believing that the truth sets people free. Any story told in the Holy Vible that has more allegory than actual fact, more imagery and figure of speech than is understood by those who need to interpret the Holy Vible “inerrantly” will ultimately be valued more for the truth it hides than the truth it makes plain. Jesus’ disciples describe themselves plainly as clueless, they just didn’t get what was going on around them – until they experienced a man die and then, being a goner, come back to life. I have never seen anything so dramatic. I hunger for the clear direction of those “clueless men of the gospels” once they started living in Acts. I wish that I was so completely transformed by another that life’s choices were made simpler. If there is one thing that they knew – it was this: People Matter to God. I believe that too, but I lose focus so easily and worry about the car or the way the Cleveland Indians are playing or how to pay my bills, and sometimes miss out on the miracle of life God placed all around me. Whatever you do, don’t let puny man’s religion allow you to miss the miracles around you. What is Holy Vible
God Bless,
-Ken
