The Debate
Over the last week I have enjoyed a theological as well as religious debate with several people across the country. It was a friendly spirited conversation that prompted me to consider how much our human emotion plays in our level or search for faith.
You ever wonder why a Baptist is a Baptist, or a Catholic a Catholic, or why a Methodist switches to become a Church of Christ. There are hundreds of possibilities in the religious landscape and all vying for the opportunity to prove that their variation is closer to God than the others.
I know many people, me included, that have been on a spiritual journey for years. That quest has helped me to discover some cool treasures of theology that I am confident I would never had found had my life been balanced in one religion.
Our debate centered around the differences of the various religions and not the similarities. The funny thing is that there were only minor issues that divided each one yet most members were or are unable to separate the facts from the fiction.
We took some time to talk about the human aspect of how each church found or made its mark on the world. I think the best part of the discussion was that the majority of the religions or churches that have sprung up over the last few hundred years have all been well intentioned to draw people closer to God.
So why the division? Why are peoples lives changed and in some cases relationships destroyed over a simple interpretation or misunderstanding about a faith based matter. Remember the earlier question, why is a blank a blank or why does a person leave one church to land in another only to leave it as well. Is our spiritual compass so out of sync that we cannot find dry land no matter how much we search. These were all wonderful discussion points.
For me the question became what are we looking for. Is it something or someone that validates the choices we make. Or could it be that our lifestyle and friendships are so dependent on being one thing that we lose the courage to seek God's truth for the sake of the social status. The possibilities are endless in the human pursuit of spiritual faith and existence. We are spiritual beings seeking our human balance which complicates things somewhat because we seek our knowledge through the places and people we encounter.
The complexity of it all is caused by the influence we face from the social circles we place ourselves. In many cases religions or churches have created such a culture that they truly do come across as a country club with limited access or a list of criteria that has to be met to enter and remain a part of the elite. In this case the well intentioned segregate the rest of the spiritual field and allow it to rot before it ever had a chance to mature. Oh the damage to faith done at the human level. I think if most people knew the true statistics of how much harm has been done to people's faith in the name of religion it would be astounding.
To conclude in the theological side of the debate. My part centered around the model of the Gospels. What church today teaches the simple steps laid out in the Word. The fact as we know it is that few if any teach what Christ truly taught. The need to change the spin is so important to keep the members and the money coming that the real work has been lost. Like Jesus clearly says the harvest is bountiful but the workers are few. How cool would it be if we could leave the 99 for the sake of the one. How wonderful would it be to love the lowest person by society standards as much as the person at the top of the social ladder. What a blessing we would all find if we reached out to those that could give us back nothing.
The debate will go on for generations to come. It is my hope that each person seeks the love of faith and spirituality first and religion or church second. The Holy Spirit is in you just waiting for the fire to be lit. Give it one more chance and this time believe that the way to salvation is through the spreading of love and peace.
Just my summation from a fun thought provoking friendly debate.
peace to you
Dale
You ever wonder why a Baptist is a Baptist, or a Catholic a Catholic, or why a Methodist switches to become a Church of Christ. There are hundreds of possibilities in the religious landscape and all vying for the opportunity to prove that their variation is closer to God than the others.
I know many people, me included, that have been on a spiritual journey for years. That quest has helped me to discover some cool treasures of theology that I am confident I would never had found had my life been balanced in one religion.
Our debate centered around the differences of the various religions and not the similarities. The funny thing is that there were only minor issues that divided each one yet most members were or are unable to separate the facts from the fiction.
We took some time to talk about the human aspect of how each church found or made its mark on the world. I think the best part of the discussion was that the majority of the religions or churches that have sprung up over the last few hundred years have all been well intentioned to draw people closer to God.
So why the division? Why are peoples lives changed and in some cases relationships destroyed over a simple interpretation or misunderstanding about a faith based matter. Remember the earlier question, why is a blank a blank or why does a person leave one church to land in another only to leave it as well. Is our spiritual compass so out of sync that we cannot find dry land no matter how much we search. These were all wonderful discussion points.
For me the question became what are we looking for. Is it something or someone that validates the choices we make. Or could it be that our lifestyle and friendships are so dependent on being one thing that we lose the courage to seek God's truth for the sake of the social status. The possibilities are endless in the human pursuit of spiritual faith and existence. We are spiritual beings seeking our human balance which complicates things somewhat because we seek our knowledge through the places and people we encounter.
The complexity of it all is caused by the influence we face from the social circles we place ourselves. In many cases religions or churches have created such a culture that they truly do come across as a country club with limited access or a list of criteria that has to be met to enter and remain a part of the elite. In this case the well intentioned segregate the rest of the spiritual field and allow it to rot before it ever had a chance to mature. Oh the damage to faith done at the human level. I think if most people knew the true statistics of how much harm has been done to people's faith in the name of religion it would be astounding.
To conclude in the theological side of the debate. My part centered around the model of the Gospels. What church today teaches the simple steps laid out in the Word. The fact as we know it is that few if any teach what Christ truly taught. The need to change the spin is so important to keep the members and the money coming that the real work has been lost. Like Jesus clearly says the harvest is bountiful but the workers are few. How cool would it be if we could leave the 99 for the sake of the one. How wonderful would it be to love the lowest person by society standards as much as the person at the top of the social ladder. What a blessing we would all find if we reached out to those that could give us back nothing.
The debate will go on for generations to come. It is my hope that each person seeks the love of faith and spirituality first and religion or church second. The Holy Spirit is in you just waiting for the fire to be lit. Give it one more chance and this time believe that the way to salvation is through the spreading of love and peace.
Just my summation from a fun thought provoking friendly debate.
peace to you
Dale
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