Destroy Your Bar

I ran through a possible scenario in my head tonight that ended up with me yelling at a bunch of people. Yeah, I do that. The daydreaming thing from childhood hasn't gone away, but now I'm loud and angry in my daydreaming, and what I'm angry at is religion.

I hate religion. I am so prone to religion.

Here's an example. In watching a non happy Disneyland world TV show tonight with the family, that wickedness came out in the way I thought about one character's immoral actions who professed to be a Christian. It also came out in thought in something I almost said to Novalee after joking that Jamie was going to kill me and I'd see her in heaven later -- "be a good girl and I'll see you there." Yuck, vomit. Filth. Judgmental and performance based nonsense that divides people into "good and bad" instead of "bad and Jesus."

Think I just went off the deep end and said Christians have license to sin willy nilly? No. Those born again of the Spirit of God don't want to sin; however, when we do -- and we all do -- God doesn't love us any less.

Don't believe that we all still sin and think you're "good" now? You're prideful. Pride is the worst sin and the one that got Satan kicked out of heaven. Pride and religion go together a lot. If you think you're "good" like I have and sometimes do, maybe you should think about that and examine the motives behind your actions and examine the how you think.

Don't believe that God still loves us the same when we sin? He loved us so much that he died on a cross while we were sinners and hated him. If he loved us less after he bought us with his blood and our hearts were turned to him, that would be insane. Last time I checked to the best of my ability, God isn't insane.

Now I'm off on a tangent, so back to the ranting in my head. It made me think of one thing religious people do, and that is make bars. Not places you serve drinks, but lines that divide -- on one side is the good people who get a pat on the head and on the other side is the bad people who get a pat somewhere lower than their head and a lot harder.

Consider a vocational or lay leader in a religion. If you can tolerate disagreement and discussion easily and you're trapped in religion, then I'm talking about yours. If you spin up easily and I might piss you off if I disagree with you, then I'm talking about someone else's. Whatever you like to keep reading, I don't care. For the record, this equally applies to mainline protestant denominations, evangelical Christians, and whatever other labels are out there. Just get a picture in your head and pay attention to the point.

Okay, this leader, he's good at what he does. He checks off all the do this boxes and the don't do that boxes. He's respectable and the church looks up to him. He reads his Bible every day. He goes to the Wednesday night service regularly. He gives ten percent. He doesn't smoke, drink, cuss, or waste his time on frivolous pursuits. He's the one to imitate in behavior -- except in thought, he's all screwed up. He's better than the others in the church. Some poor soul comes in off the street who's a broken mess and he wants to help this pathetic person become an upstanding gentleman just like him. He thinks God blesses him more than the rank and file members because he dots all his i's and crosses all his t's.

How about that rank and file member of the church? Maybe he works a tough job that's really demanding on his time, and he doesn't get paid that well. He has a hard time reading his Bible as much and giving as much as the first guy. He smokes and drinks, but he kind of hides it and feels a little guilty about it because those uppity people at his church give him funny looks when they smell something on him. But he thinks to himself that he's trying, and that at least he's not as bad as his neighbors who don't even go to church and are fighting all the time.

How about those neighbors? They work hard. They pay their taxes. Their kids don't cause trouble in the neighborhood. They don't really invite the previous family over a lot though; they feel a little ashamed about that shouting match and don't want to risk it coming up in conversation. They declined the same neighbor's invitation to church in the past, saying that they were glad Jesus worked for them, but that they didn't really need him. After all, they were decent people, not like those scumbags in prison who murdered and stole and set buildings on fire.

How about those scumbags? Bottom of the barrel right? Not much more to say? You know what they think? "At least we're not as bad as that child molester and that rapist over there."

All these people are the same. Yes, that's right, the same. They're all blinded by some form of religious pride. There's concern for image and obligating God and not needing God and all of that as we go through the list, but there's also one thing that all of them have in common. That stupid bar. That piece of crap that they use as a measuring stick to say "I'm above the line and you're below the line, so let me pat myself on the head and give myself a gold star." It is so easy for us to compare ourselves with other people and make ourselves look good, and it's so wicked.

That's not the gospel.

You know what the gospel is? The real bar is so high we can't reach it. Our religious effort and moral behavior won't get us there. God's not grading on a curve here. The standard is perfection and to be with God we have to be perfect. How the heck are we going to do that? In comes our intercessor Jesus, God in the flesh. He took the punishment for our sins on himself and when we put our trust in him, he gives us his righteousness. When we are in Christ, we look perfect before God. Now that's good news!

In short, those in Christ are not better people -- just sinners who are loved and forgiven, and who God is working on to make more like his Son Jesus Christ -- so if you've got a bar forged by religious pride, destroy it.